Thompson Falls out-slugs Loyola
You can’t measure the heart with even the finest of instruments. You can measure its dimensions, but not what it means to have it.
Case in point: The Thompson Falls fastpitch softball team, a young, promising and talented team on the rise.
A team that never quits. In other words, a team with heart.
Nowhere was that more evident than this past week, which began on a sour note, but finished with a sports symphony.
Young teams with young players make for some interesting times. But if those players have heart and the drive to win, the future is going to require sunglasses.
Such was the case with the Hawks games this past weekend on the road versus Loyola of Missoula.
After a few frustrating losses earlier in the week, T Falls showed the future is bright and the present ain’t so bad when they dispatched Loyola (Missoula) in a slugfest, beating the Breakers 20-16.
They followed that up with a convincing 11-1 victory over the Breakers later in the day as the Hawks pair of young pitchers, junior Cheyla Irvine and freshman Sarah Koskela limited Loyola to a single run while scattering seven hits in a game that was called after five innings because of the 10-run Mercy rule.
Thompson Falls, which starts only one senior and features two sophomore and two freshman starters, pounded out 10 hits and took advantage of some fielding errors by the Breakers as they recorded their seventh win of the year.
After a scoreless first inning, the Blue Hawks exploded for eight runs in the top of the second inning. Koskela was instrumental in the Hawks offensive fireworks on the night, going two for three at the plate with two RBIs while scoring two runs.
She was joined in the hitting attack by sophomore Blakely Lakko, who also went two for three. In addtion, the team’s lone senior starter, Abbi Lane, and junior Celia VanHuss had two runs batted in each.
Thompson Falls added a solo run in the top of the third, then two more in the upper half of inning number four to build an 11-0 lead.
Loyola finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with a single run, but it was too little, too late to prevent the Blue Hawks from closing out the game.
Koskela and Irvine struck out four batters during the game.
Earlier Saturday, T Falls jumped out to a quick 4-2 after one inning, then jumped on Loyola pitching for seven runs in the top of the second to go up 11-2. Loyola came back with three runs in the bottom of the second to pull within six at 11-5
The Blue Hawks added two more runs in the top of the third, then watched as Loyola came back with three in the bottom of the inning to make it 11-8.
But T Falls, which banged out 21 hits in the game, pounded Breakers pitching in the fourth, pushing five more runs across the plate to take a solid 16-8 lead.
Loyola added a single run in the bottom of the fourth, then held Thompson without a run for the first time in the top of the fifth.
Another Breakers’ run in the bottom of the fifth cut the Blue Hawks lead to 16-9 before Thompson Falls added two runs of its own in the top of the sixth.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Loyola’s bats came alive as they chased six runs across home plate to make it 20-16 after the Blue Hawks had scored twice in the top of the sixth.
Both teams got solid pitching efforts in the seventh and neither team scored, giving T Falls the four-run margin of victory.
Koskela had an outstanding game at the plate, getting three hits, including a home run, in six plate appearances and driving in five runs for the game. Sophomore MacKenzie Robinson also collected three hits on five at bats and drove in a pair of runs, while freshman Olivia Harnett was three for five and had four RBIs.
The two wins came as the Blue Hawks turn the corner toward District play, but first they will play Troy this afternoon (Tuesday) in a conference road game. They head to Anaconda Saturday the 14th for a contest with the Lady Copperheads before District action begins the week after.