Lady Hawk softball in full swing

THOMPSON FALLS – The girls on the Thompson Falls Softball team have been learning quickly – a good sign for their future.

“They are like sponges right now. Everything you teach them, they pick it up and they do very well with it,” Head Coach Randy Pirker said. “I’m very happy with how they’ve progressed over the last four days.”

As the sun warmed up the field on Friday, the girls worked on the basics. Although the ones who have played before are fine, the other girls were described as raw talent. The goal is to get them through the motions and to their first game of the season, where Coach Pirker will see what they are made of.

The girls are going to dive right into the season with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 29 at home. Their first opponents for the year will be Eureka.

“(Eureka) has been down for the last few years but they are getting better all the time. I think it will be a good ball game between the two of us,” Coach Pirker said.

So far things look good, but nothing is known until they get those first couple games under their belts.

“It will be a good beginning game for us to figure out where we are at and what we want to do with the girls. You never know how they are going to react to the game until after they play,” Coach Pirker said.

The team lost two seniors last year and have four this year. Kelsey Fitchett was the biggest loss but the veterans are ready to step up to the plate. Seniors Lindsey Owens, Kaylie Cox, Erica Sorlie and exchange student Sayo Shingo are prepared to lead their team.

Coach Pirker has high expectations and is looking for a solid season from seven of his girls: Madison Fitchett, Tammara Brubaker, Sam Johnson, Shelby Bowden, Cox, Owens and Sorlie. He also thinks freshman Hailey Wilson will show him big things.

Wilson will be one of the team’s pitchers and with plenty of experience from the youth league, she is ready to take on the roll.

Although Sorlie pitched last year, she will take it easier due to health complications.

“She’s there if we need her but I don’t think I’m going to push her a whole lot,” Coach Pirker said.

Right now the team sits at 15-16 girls – a number that pleases Coach Pirker.

Last year, it was unknown whether the team would continue on without needing to co-op with Plains, but a healthy number of girls came out.

“That’s a really good number because we can still do our JV games and still fit a couple varsity girls to train with them when we need them,” Coach Pirker said. “I’m really happy with that number.”

Right now enthusiasm is high as the girls work together to become one solid team. But the enthusiasm started well before the first day of practice.

Because of a large amount of snow, it was unknown whether the girls would be able to practice on the field, but Coach Pirker would have none of that.

He manned the shovel and dug out trenches to help the snow melt off the field. His plan worked well and on Monday, March 17, the girls were on the field.

That enthusiasm continues to carry into practice and will remain for the rest of the season.

“I’m really excited,” Coach Pirker said. “We are just training and trying to get better. They want to play ball and it will come to them. They are all ready to play.”