Softball teams prep for postseason play

The softball postseason has arrived, with two local teams waiting to learn their fate as far as opponents go, for the upcoming Divisional tournament in Plains this weekend.

Thompson Falls, which comes into the playoffs as one of two “play in” teams to complete the B divisional field, takes on Troy tonight (Tuesday) at 5 pm on their home field to determine which team moves on and which team’s season is over.

After a rocky patch a few weeks ago, T Falls has turned the corner with its young and promising team.

They began last week with a tough loss to tonight’s opponent, whom they fell to 9-8 in Troy. The Hawks rallied in the top of the seventh in that game before Troy was able to quell their two-run rally and hold on for a 9-8 victory.

The loss to Troy came despite out-hitting the Trojans nine to three, but included seven costly and uncharacteristic errors by the T Falls nine. They had battled back from a 6-2 deficit after two innings, then pulled within two, 7-5, after four. T Falls got another run on the board in the top of the fifth to make it 7-6, but Troy managed to push two runs home in the bottom of the fifth, to make it 9-6 before the Blue Hawks seventh inning rally came up just short.

Later in the week the Hawks took to the road for a pair of games against Anaconda and opened their road show with a convincing 13-1 win over the Lady Copperheads. They followed that win up later in the day with a 16-6 rout of Anaconda, giving them good momentum heading into tonight’s crucial play-in game.

Plains, which is hosting the B Divisional this weekend, had a rocky start to last week when they took on a tough Mission squad in St. Ignatius and were beaten 16-1 by the Lady Bulldogs.

Mission out-hit the Trotters 14-2 as Plains committed five errors during the game.

The next afternoon the Trotters returned to their home field where they faced the Missoula Loyola Breakers in a regular season final game.

Loyola put up a lone run in the top of the first, then added two more in the third to take a 3-0 lead on the hosts. However, Plains came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a score via a wild pitch, then an RBI double by Madison Elliot that cut the lead to 3-2.

Loyola came right back in the top of the fourth, plating four runs thanks to a run-scoring single and a two run double. They held Plains scoreless in the bottom of the fourth and held a 7-2 lead with three innings to go.

But the never-say-die Trotters were not done by any means, as they have demonstrated several times this year in the later innings.

Even after giving up another three runs to the Breakers in the top of the fifth, the Trotters came out swinging in the bottom of the fifth, picking up three runs of their own on some control problems by Loyola pitchers that loaded the bases twice and allowed three runs home. That put the score at 10-5.

Plains scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull within three, thanks in large part to a RBI triple by Elliot that hit the bottom of the left field fence. Loyola then went down in order in the top of the seventh, creating a stir in the stands as the crowd sensed another last inning comeback was in the works.

And despite scoring on a fielder's choice grounder that sliced the lead to 10-8, they could not bring in another run as the last out was a caught fly ball.

If T Falls wins tonight against Troy, they will join Plains in the Divisional tournament on the Trotters home field.