Lady Hawks clip rival Eureka 5-2

Fall off the horse they say, and the best remedy is to get back on and ride again.

That adage was in play this past week for the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks fast pitch softball team, which took to the road in hopes of finding a cure for the blues that often accompany a losing skid.

So, after dropping a heartbreaker when the Trotters from Plains staged a late innings rally for the second time this year and scored a 9-6 win over the Hawks for their fourth straight loss, the young T-Falls team hit the road for three challenging games.

And they accomplished part of their mission this past Thursday when they defeated regional rival Eureka 5-2 in the first of three roads games. The win halted their four-game skid and was no doubt good for the softball soul.

Unfortunately, the Hawks ran into a pair of very good, experienced softball teams over this past weekend and fell 14-3 to Ennis in the first game, then were routed 24-4 by Manhattan, the second of two tournament, neutral site games at the Anaconda tournament.

The good news came at the expense of Eureka this past Thursday.

T-Falls jumped to a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, then added another in the top of the second to go up 2-0. In the meantime, Blue Hawks pitchers Liv McCormick and Cheyla Irvine, both promising juniors, kept the Lions’ hitters off balance, holding them to single runs in the fourth and seventh innings while limiting Eureka to four hits for the game.

And while the pitching was shutting down the Lady Lions, T Falls batters were doing just enough damage to build a 4-0 lead after the top of the fourth. They added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to wrap up the win. Thompson Falls batters banged out 10 hits in the win.

Two days later, T-Falls went up against a resurgent Ennis club which came into the Anaconda tournament riding a three game win streak.

And once again, T-Falls drew first blood with a solo run in the bottom of the first inning.

However, Ennis erased that deficit and took a 2-1 lead in the top half of the second inning, then put the game away with a big third inning.

The Lady Mustangs scored nine runs in the top of the third to build a commanding 11-1 lead. T Falls scored a single run in the bottom of the third to avoid the 10-run Mercy rule, but the damage had been done.

Ennis, which slapped out 13 hits for the game, added three more runs in the top of the fourth, then withstood a brief T Falls rally in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win in the five-inning game which was at that point subject to the Mercy rule.

Thompson Falls hitters banged out nine hits for the game, but committed three costly errors along the way in absorbing the loss. A bright spot for the Hawks was a home run by Irvine, her first of the year.

In their second game this past Saturday in Anaconda, the Hawks misfortunes continued as they were routed 24-4 by the Lady Tigers of Manhattan, who amassed 26 hits during the game. T Falls now has a 5-7 record on the year.

Manhattan scored early and often, putting up three runs in the top of the first, duplicating that in the top of the second, and added a pair of runs in the third as they built an 8-0 lead.

Meanwhile, T Falls was held in check by Tigers’ pitching and did not score until they plated a single run in the bottom of the fifth.

However, Manhattan answered that lone run with a single tally in the top of the sixth to make it 9-1.

The Hawks then strapped on their rally shoes and showed no signs of quitting as they pushed three runs across in the bottom of the sixth.

Then the wheels fell off.

Manhattan erupted for 15 runs in the top of the seventh inning, taking advantage of several untimely Hawks’ errors as they rolled to the lopsided victory.

Thompson would finish with eight hits for the game.

The Lady Hawks next action is a pair of home games beginning tonight (Tuesday) with another game versus Eureka. They play Mission at home this Friday afternoon.