Lady Hawks softball remains perfect on season

When potential becomes reality, good things often happen.

Such is the case in the early going of the 2023 softball season for the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks, who ran their record to 3-0 this past week with home wins over Whitefish, 16-4, and Eureka, 12-3.

All that potential waiting and getting better last year has blossomed into a well-rounded team with what could now be called “unlimited” potential.

All three facets of the game, hitting, pitching and fielding were on display within the friendly confines of Pirk’s Place, the scenic ball park adjacent to T Falls High.

The Lady Hawks, who have been plagued by weather cancellations since their season opening win over Sanders County rival Plains, wrapped up the two game home stand with a convincing win over Eureka Friday afternoon.

A passed ball allowed sophomore Teagan Sander to score from third base in the bottom of the first, giving the Lady Hawks a 1-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Olivia Fitchett, another of coach Jared Koskela’s talented pool of sophomores, held Eureka scoreless the first two innings. However, Eureka managed to tie the score in the top of the third with an RBI single.

The Lady Hawks came right back in their half of the inning and tacked on a pair of runs, on an RBI double by McKenzie Robinson and a run batted in via a sacrifice fly by Saner.

Heading into the top of the fourth, Koskela dipped into his deep pool of pitchers and Sarah Koskela took the mound and snuffed out a minor Lady Lions rally to preserve the Hawks 3-1 lead.

T Falls added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth when two runners scored on a wild pitch and overthrow from the catcher, boosting the home team’s lead to 5-1.

Back to back singles in the top of the fifth inning, along with a sacrifice fly, enabled Eureka to tack on two runs and cut the Thompson Falls lead to 5-3.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Hawks used two singles and a sacrifice fly to negate the two runs scored by Eureka and once again held a four-run, 7-3 lead going into the sixth.

Senior Liv McCormick took the mound in relief of Koskela and held the Lady Lions to a single without allowing a run.

The Lady Hawks then erupted for five runs in the bottom of the sixth, taking advantage of three runs scored off wild pitches, with a bloop single and a sacrifice fly along the way.

McCormick shut down Eureka in the top of the seventh after allowing a pair of one-out singles before stranding runners on second and third until a ground ball became the final out of the game.

McCormick and Saner each went two for four at the plate as the Hawks scored 12 runs on six hits. T Falls was aided by six Eureka errors.

Fitchett was the winning pitcher of record, striking out five Eureka batters and allowing one unearned run.

T Falls opened the week with a 16-1 win over Whitefish in a game that was called in the bottom of the fourth due to the Mercy rule.

The Lady Hawks, who had not played since their March 27 opening win over Plains, took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, then stretched it to 3-0 going into the top of the third.

Thompson Falls then blew the game wide open in the bottom of the third when they pushed across 13 runs as they strung together a scoring binge featuring two walks, two hit batters, two singles, a double and a triple. Both of the extra base hits came with two RBIs.

The game was called by the 10-run Mercy rule after Whitefish failed to score in the top of the fourth inning.

The Lady Hawks had ten hits during the game and allowed just two errors. Whitefish was held to four hits and also had a pair of errors.

McCormick and freshman Gabriel Hannum had three RBIs each for the Hawks, with McCormick the leading hitter via her three-for-three day at the plate.

She was also the winning pitcher, allowing two hits in two innings of work while striking out four Whitefish batters.

The Lady Hawks take to the road for three straight games away from home, beginning tonight (April 11) in Troy. The Hawks then travel to Mission Thursday, April 13, and conclude their three game week with a game this Saturday in Deer Lodge.