Plains and Thompson Falls meet in softball season-opener
Thompson Falls base runners McKenzie Robinson stretches to beat the throw to first base ahead of Plains first baseman Faith McGonagle (25) and second baseman Teirainy Bellinger during their season opening fastpitch softball game last week, won by T Falls 18-6. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
Thompson Falls batter Olivia Fitchett eyes a pitch from Plains pitcher Piper Bergstrom during the first inning of their game last week to open the 2023 season. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
Plains senior shortstop Carlie Wagoner lets a high pitch go by during her first inning at bat in the season opener against Thompson Falls last week. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
For a while it looked like a repeat of last year’s softball season opener between Plains and Thompson Falls.
But the outcome was different this time around.
Last year in the season opener which was played in Thompson Falls, the very young Lady Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of two innings of play. However, Plains came back and tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the third.
But the 2022 T Falls team took the lead back the next inning and went ahead 6-3. In the end Plains scored four runs in their half of the seventh inning and wound up with a 9-8 win over last year’s Lady Hawks.
Fast forward to this year and it was, no pun intended, a whole different ball game.
This year the Lady Hawks, on their home field, scored three runs in the bottom of the first, then added four more in the second to take a 7-0 lead. This time around Thompson Falls was getting some timely hitting in support of sophomore pitcher Olivia Fitchett, one of several young and promising pitchers on the fast-pitch roster.
The Trotters rallied with four runs in the top of the third, to cut the lead to 7-4, but unlike last year the Lady Hawks matched that with five runs of their own in the bottom of inning number three to reclaim a comfortable 12-4 lead.
This year Lady Hawks’ fielders were making one good fielding play after another and used a variety of means to score, including a delayed steal of home in the bottom of the fourth. Plays like that chased Trotters’ pitcher Maddy Blood, who had come on in relief of starter Piper Bergstrom an inning earlier.
Blood was forced off the mound in the bottom of the third when she was struck in the foot by a low line drive.
She was replaced by Plains senior Carlie Wagoner, who’s batting helped kept things close before the Lady Hawks erupted for five runs.
Plains staged a brief rally in the top of the fourth, plating two runs on a bases loaded RBI off the bat of Izzy Crabb, making the score 12-6 entering the bottom of the fourth.
But Thompson was up to the challenge and with sophomore Sarah Koskela shutting off the Plains rally in relief, the Hawks pushed across two runs on a pair of hits and the delayed steal of home. Then took advantage of some wild pitching to score a total of six runs before the fourth was in the books.
That made the score 18-6 in favor of the Lady Hawks and invoked the Mercy rule which ends a game if one team is ahead by more than ten runs. Koskela put the Trotters down in order in the bottom top of the fifth, striking out two Plains batters and getting a soft line drive for the third out to end the game.
In the interim Thompson Falls has had three games postponed by weather conditions. They are scheduled to play Whitefish at home tonight (Tuesday, April 4) and then host Eureka’s Lady Lions this Thursday.
Plains has played two games since the opener, losing both on the road. They continued their season this past Monday at Mission, then play road games August 8 at Troy and August 13 in Missoula versus Loyola.
The Trotters finally return to their home field Saturday, April 15 when they take on Eureka.
