Mixed results for Trotters softball

Nothing like a Montana “Spring” to throw a curve ball when you’re expecting heat.

That was the case this past week for the Plains High School Trotters fastpitch softball team in what became a weather-related jumble to play games.

Braving swirling winds, occasional snow pellets and temperatures flirting with freezing, the girls of Plains laced up their cleats and took to the field for three games this past week with results as mixed as the weather patterns under which they were played.

Thursday summed up the week in pretty good fashion when the Trotters entertained Anaconda for double-header at Plains High.

With threatening skies and finger-numbing temperatures the rule of the day, the two teams stage a thriller of a game that ended up going nine innings before Anaconda emerged with a 12-9 victory.

Plains followed that up with a 17-3 pasting of the visiting Lady Copper Heads that was called after two and a half innings...presumably by the 10-run Mercy rule with a nod to the snow flurries that had begun to intensify as several dozen hearty fans huddled and shivered under winter jackets and blankets.

The opener of the double-header got off to a rocky start for Plains when Anaconda pushed two runs across the plate thanks to some sloppy fielding aided by the swirling winds that kicked up mini dust tornadoes across the infield.

Undaunted, the Trotter came back and unleashed their offense in a display of hitting and base running that put them ahead 5-2 at the end of the first frame.

Plains scored another run in the bottom of the second to go up 6-2 but Anaconda answered that run with one of their own in the top of the third to make it 6-3 Plains.

Neither team scored in the fourth, but Anaconda batters began doing damage to Plains pitching in the fifth inning when they got a couple of runs home to pull within 6-5.

Those runs were matched by a single Plains tally in the bottom of the fifth, making it 7-5 in favor of the Trotters.

Anaconda came right back and plated three runs in the top of the sixth to take an 8-7 lead that with weather conditions worsening seemed as though it might hold up. Plains, however, answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the sixth as some smart and aggressive base running resulted in a lone run for coach Kati Mitchell’s squad.

With the score tied at 8 heading into the final scheduled inning of the game, both teams left runners in scoring position but could not get one home, forcing the game into extra innings.

Anaconda took a temporary 9-8 lead in the top half of the eighth inning, only to see Plains tie it up again in the bottom of the seventh.

But some timely hitting and base running by the visitors helped them score three runs in the top of the ninth as the Copperheads held on for the 12-9 victory.

With the thermometer falling and winds picking up, the two teams got game two underway with Anaconda scoring two runs in the top of the first. Plains got right back into things with three runs in the bottom of the first.

Anaconda then once again tied things at 3-each with a solo run in the top of the second.

Then, with everything clicking offensively, the Trotters erupted for 14 runs in the bottom of the second as every batter in the lineup scored at least one run, with five players scoring twice.

At that point Plains was up 17-3 and play was halted.

The Trotters had begun their week with a home game Tuesday, April 12 against the Mission Lady Bulldogs.

In this game the Trotters offense and defense deserted them as they committed eight errors for the game while giving up 10 hits to the Mission squad which took a 7-0 lead into the top of the fifth. Plains answered the five run barrage with a pair of runs in its half of the fifth but Mission got those runs back with a pair of scores in the top half of the sixth inning.

Neither team scored in the seventh inning as Mission walked off with a 9-2 victory.

Plains scored two runs on five hits but could not get the timely hits they needed to stay in the game. Along the way, Mission pitchers Payton Smith and Izzy Evans struck out 12 Plains batters while walking only two.

Saturday Plains rolled into Eureka for a double-dip with the Lady Lions and came away with a split, albeit in a somewhat heart-breaking manner.

The Trotters jumped on Eureka pitching in the first game of the afternoon, scoring seven runs while holding the Lions scoreless in their half of the first inning. Plains would follow that up with five more runs in the top of the second frame to take a commanding 12-0 lead.

The Lady Lions got some offense going in the third, putting three runs up on the scoreboard, but Plains countered that with two more runs of its own to build a 14-3 lead. Eureka scored one time in the bottom of the fourth but it was not enough to head off the loss thanks to the 10-run Mercy rule.

In the second game, things were looking good for Eureka early on when they took a 4-1 lead at the end of the first inning of game 2. Plains would tie the game at 4-4 in their half of the fourth inning, then take the lead in the fifth with another pair of runs.

The Trotters added to their lead in the sixth when they put three more runs on the board to take a 9-4 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Then the wheels fell off as Eureka pounded Plains pitching for six runs in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a come-from-behind 10-9 win.

The split left Plains with a 3-6 mark on the year.

Plains will play a pair of double headers this week beginning with a Thursday home game against Florence. They stay at home for a Friday double-header against Troy, with a rematch coming up against Sanders County rival Thompson Falls April 25th in T Falls.