Lady Hawks lose heartbreaker in championship

The Thompson Falls softball team was one strike away from being crowned state champions, but let victory slip out of their hands on a rain-soaked field in Anaconda Monday, May 26.

The Lady Hawks had a 3-2 lead over the Stillwater Renegades in the championship with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and two strikes on the Renegade batter, but two infield throwing errors let Stillwater escape with a 4-3 victory and the Class B-C championship.

Pirker said that it was hard to lose that way, but his team should not hang their heads. “We will not let that define our season,” he said. “We had 25 wins.”

“To lose it like that is heartbreaking, but we’re still champions in my eyes. We know it and Stillwater knows it.” Pirker said. “We gave it to them,” he added.

Thompson Falls started the tournament on Thursday in Great Falls with a 6-1 victory over Huntley Project. Lady Hawk pitcher Bria Howard only allowed three hits in the game. Thompson Falls scored five runs in the third inning on singles by Katelyn Jedlicka, Karli Cavill, Nicole Hagedorn and a triple by Jessica Pfister. Hagedorn, the senior shortstop, also added solo a home run later in the game.

Friday games were rained out and the tournament was moved to Anaconda Saturday, where the Lady Hawks were blanked by the Renegades 6-0 at 9 in the morning.

In their next game Saturday, the Lady Hawks used a four-run rally in extra innings to get by Shepherd and continue their season. Trailing 7-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Lady Hawks scored four runs to continue their season.

Pirker said after losing to Stillwater and trailing by three runs in their last-at-bats, most teams would have packed it in and called it quits. “It showed extreme character, they’re definitely champion material,” he said. Pirker said the comeback win lifted his team spirits and started an incredible ride. “We were on a roll after that,” he said.

The Lady Hawks were leading Glasgow 8-5 in the fourth inning, when they had to switch Howard with their third basemen Mohlzhon. Molzhon only allowed one run and Thompson Falls won 8-6. “She came right in and did what she was suppose to do. She held her own,” Pirker said of the sophomore.

The win over Glasgow set up a rematch with Loyola. The two teams had split their regular season games, with each team winning a game, “As far as I was concerned this was the rubber game and we annihlated them,” Pirker said. The game was called in the sixth inning on the 10-run rule, with Thompson Falls winning 16-6. Molzhon only allowed seven hits in the game.

The win gave Thompson Falls the chance to redeem their earlier loss to Stillwater and the two teams took the field at about 6:30 p.m. Howard only allowed seven hits in the Lady Hawks 2-1 victory, setting up Monday’s championship match.