Lady Hawks, Trotters meet on field

PLAINS – The girls wore shades under their helmets in preparation for the sunny day out in the field. The light breeze carried the smell of hotdogs roasting next to the concession stand. The crowd grew quiet as the first batter stepped up to the plate while her teammates cheered her on.

The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks Softball team did not have to travel far for their first game of the season. They arrived in Plains on Tuesday, April 1, to go head to head against their county rivals, the Trotters.

The Lady Hawks were still green, but the Trotters had a boost of confidence after crushing Troy in a double-header the week before. That confidence seemed to carry them through the game against Thompson Falls.

Trotter pitcher, Tia Thompson, gave a solid performance and racked up some impressive stats. In the five innings, she had 11 total strikeouts and only gave up two hits and one walk.

The two hits were by Lady Hawks Kaylee Cox and Maddie Fitchett. The two hits resulted in the only point Thompson Falls earned against the strong pitching and field work of the Trotters.

The Trotters were even stronger at bat. They came out swinging, literally and figuratively, and earned 13 runs in the opening frame.

Sami Kinzie finished with three hits out of her four times at bat that produced 5 RBIs for the Trotters. Diana Woodard added three RBIs for her team and Alex Green contributed two more.

The final score was 19-1, Trotters. Assistant Coach Jeff Rude was pleased with how the girls did at bat, especially Kristin Josephson. Josephson was three for three at bat and had a triple as well.

Because there are not enough Trotters for a JV team, all of the freshmen play varsity no matter what their experience level is. A lot is expected of them, but they have stepped up to the plate and contributed to the team. The Trotters are doing well so far this season with a 3-0 record.

“We played well and did a good job of hitting the ball. This has been such a good start for us,” Coach Rude said. “If we can come out strong like that in every game we will do well this season.”

Something the Trotters have been working on in practice is being smart when running bases. Coach Rude said he saw significant improvement from their first game and he hopes the girls keep improving.

“I hope we can keep learning throughout the season. You see it happen a lot where a team becomes stale in the midseason,” Coach Rude said.” We need to continue improving to be at the top for post-season tournaments.”

The Trotters went on to face Florence on Saturday, April 5 where their luck turned. Plains was swept in the doubleheader losing 1-17 and 10-14.

The first game ended in five innings. During the second game, the Trotters were able to stretch the game to a full seven innings and Kinzie went 4 for 4 with a home run, double and three RBIs.

The Trotters will go on to compete against Eureka in a double header on Saturday, April 12.

As for the Lady Hawks, the team played against Eureka on Monday, April 8, in a rescheduled game. The two teams were scheduled to play on March 29 but both games were canceled. The scores for the Monday games were unavailable at the time of press.