The discs flew straight over the new condo building on North 19th where alfalfa grew two summers ago. Eight teams took the painted lines at 6 p.m. sharp. The league runs Mondays through October.

“The stack held on the first pull,” said league commissioner Dale Hargrove, 42, who sells septic systems in Belgrade and plays handler for the Midvalley Merchants. “When the line holds, the offense flows. Same as football. Same as life.”

The field sits between a 1920s cottage with a rusted tractor in the yard and a four-story building the developer calls “mountain modern.” Rent for the two-bedroom units starts at $2,800. The cottage pays $600 in property tax.

Players stretched beside a portable toilet the league rents from a company in Three Forks. A yellow lab retrieved errant throws and dropped them at the feet of a woman in a Patagonia vest who works remotely for a Boston firm.

“I just want the disc to land flat,” said Juniper Ellison, 29, a first-year player who moved from Missoula in March. “The wind comes off the Bridgers weird here.”

The Merchants won their opener 15-11 behind three layout catches from Hargrove. He iced his knee afterward with a bag of frozen peas from the concession cooler.

Next week the league plays the team sponsored by the orthodontist.