Howard throws no-no to shutdown Trotters

Bria Howard tossed a no-hitter and the Lady Hawks rolled to an 11-0 win in five innings over the Plains Trotters Thursday night in Thompson Falls. The senior Howard fanned a dozen batters as the Trotters could not figure out her command from the mound.

Plains coach Russ Heward said the Trotters were attempting to throw the Lady Hawks for a loop by sending out senior Gabby Reynolds to pitch. He described Reynolds as more of a “junk pitcher” and said he was hoping her changes in speed and pitches would catch the Lady Hawks off-guard.

“Gabby did a super job,” Heward said. “She just threw them out of their groove.”

Despite a seven run first and then three runs in the fifth to end the game, Thompson Falls was stifled a bit at the plate. Reynolds managed to keep the ball out of the sweet spots of Lady Hawk bats and it was four errors in the first inning that opened the door to the seven runs Thompson Falls put up.

The offensive attack was led by catcher Katelyn Jedlicka who went 3-for-3 and first basemen Karli Cavill who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs. The score was 8-0 going in to the bottom of the fifth inning when Thompson Falls was able to rally a string of hits and it was Erica Wilson’s double that drove in two runs and ended the game.

“I was tickled with the way that Gabby pitched,” Heward said. “We felt really good about where we were at, considering they’re the team to beat in the West.”

The Lady Hawks are 7-0 and have won six of those games by shutout. Howard has pitched six of the seven games and only Loyola has been able to cross home plate against her as the Rams managed two runs against Thompson Falls April 5. It was enough to end the Lady Hawks’ streak of shutouts at five but not enough to end their winning streak as Thompson went on to win 5-2.

The Lady Hawks also have two other pitchers on Varsity, sophomore Kyla Molzhon and junior Megan Fitchett. Thompson Falls coach Randy Pirker has said he will use Molzhon and Fitchett periodically in JV and varsity games to keep them developed in order to have some depth behind Howard.

Heward said if it wasn’t for the early errors he felt like his Trotters were very much in the game with Thompson Falls who he said is a championship-quality team and one of the best on the west side of the state.

“They’re a good team.” Heward said. “They may take state this year.”

Heward said although they were facing a dominating pitcher in Howard, his team has lots of room to improve at the plate.

“We do have to pick up our hitting,” Heward said. “We need to be more aggressive.”

He also noted that his Trotters had a hefty workload last week with five games in six days.

“That’s too many,” Heward said. “I feel like we were over-scheduled. I wish we had some days in between to work on some stuff.”

Thompson Falls will defend their unblemished record Thursday against another Sanders County foe, Noxon. The game is scheduled to be a home game for the Lady Red Devils who have not been able to play on their own field yet this year because of field conditions. The Trotters will play Thursday as well, taking on Florence in Plains.