Lady Hawks earn 4 straight wins

To say the Thompson Falls High girls fast pitch softball team has shaken off its season-opening heartbreaking loss to Sanders County rival Plains would be like saying a little snow will slow them down.

The Lady Hawks are now 4-1 on the young season after their latest blow-out win, all stark contrasts to the 9-8 bottom of the seventh loss they suffered in their first game of the year in Plains.

In the week-and-a-half since their opener, the Lady Hawks have been on a tear, outscoring three opponents 60-24, including a double header road sweep of Kellogg, Idaho.

Over that span of four games, only one has gone seven innings while the other three were halted early due to the softball Mercy Rule that stops games when one team is behind by 10 or more runs.

And along the way, not even a sideways blowing snow squall could slow their run totals from piling up behind hot bats and solid pitching.

Their latest victim was Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho’s Lady Badgers, who journeyed to Thompson Falls Saturday despite threatening skies and occasional snow pellet storms that dropped the temperature into the low 40s and upper 30s.

T Falls got on the scoreboard first against the Badgers, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first as junior pitcher Liv McCormick held the visitors to five hits while striking out seven Bonner’s Ferry batters.

On a winter-like day that made fielding a risky business, only three of the Badger’s runs were earned on one Hawks’ error and four bases on balls.

The home team, meanwhile wracked up 11 hits, including a solo home run by freshman Sarah Koskela. Three other Hawks had two RBIs each for game, including sophomore McKenzie Robinson, junior Celia VanHuss and McCormick.

The win over Bonner’s Ferry followed a 10-0 shutout win Thursday over Western 7B rival Troy in what was the Hawks home opener.

Junior pitcher Cheyla Irvine allowed only two Troy hits during the game in picking up her first win of the year. She walked six and struck out six for the game, which was halted after five innings by the 10-run Mercy rule.

Meanwhile, T Falls batters banged out 12 hits and broke the game open in the second inning with six runs to build a 7-0 lead. Four Lady Hawks had two hits each on a day when the home team swatted five doubles to secure the win.

The T Falls crew opened their Idaho road trip with a rain out and a double header sweep. Their game against Wallace was postponed but they managed to get in a pair of games during their Kellogg stop.

The Blue Hawks took the opener when they plated three first inning runs, then added four more in the second frame as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead against the Wildcats. T Falls built their lead to 9-2 after five innings before the Lady Wildcats were able to push across three runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth.

Freshman Olivia Harnett went four for five at the plate and drove in a run for Thompson Falls, while teammate Irvine banged out three hits in four trips to the plate, while racking up four runs batted in. Another Lady Hawks freshman, Olive Fitchiett also had three hits and scored two times during the game for Thompson Falls.

McCormick and Irvine shared pitching duties for the Hawks and struck out four batters while walking six between the two of them. Irvine was credited with the victory.

Thompson Falls opened the second game of the double-dip with five runs in their half of the first inning, then tacked on four more in the second after Kellogg had scored four runs in the second.

By the end of inning number four the Lady Hawks had built a 17-6 lead, only to see Kellogg push across five runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 17-11. T Falls added two runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth as the game was called because of the 10-run lead rule, giving the Blue Hawks a 21-11 victory.

Thompson Falls returns to action tonight (Tuesday) with a road game in Whitefish, then travels to Anaconda for a Thursday encounter with the Copperheads.

The Hawks return home Saturday when they will take on Powell County in an afternoon game.