Lady Hawks take on top softball teams at Missoula tourney

A couple of things are certain about the Thompson Falls softball team.

They are competitors with high expectations that have produced a very good team.

They can compete with the best in the state of Montana.

They have one of the best, if not the best, players in this neck of the woods, Sarah Koskela.

To wit, seven games into the season, the Lady Hawks emerged from a major tournament in Missoula this past weekend where an impressive assemblage of teams were gathered.

And they came home nearing the halfway point of the 2024 fastpitch softball season with a team that will be a factor in post-season play like they were last year in their trip to the state finals in Anaconda.

T Falls opened the Missoula tourney facing a team with another outstanding player, Three Forks talented first baseman/infielder Nova Ervin, who is another of the players in that “best around” category. Ervin was instrumental in Three Forks' eventual 22-10 win over the previously unbeaten Hawks.

T Falls countered with junior catcher/pitcher Koskela, who leads the team in numerous categories at this point in the season.

The Wolves, who came into the contest with a 4-0 record on the year, the same as the Lady Hawks, jumped out to a quick 8-0 after the top half of the first inning in the game played at the Fort Missoula softball fields.

T Falls plated one run in the bottom of the first, then surrendered three more in the top half of the second to find themselves in an 11-1 hole.

But the Lady Hawks were far from done, adding another solo run in the bottom of the third, then plating seven runs in the bottom of the fourth after giving up a single run to Three Fork in the top of the fourth. At that point, the score was 11-8 in favor of the Wolves.

In the top of the fifth inning, the power laden Wolves struck for five more runs to push their lead to 16-8. After holding T Falls scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Three Forks plated two more runs in the sixth, gave up another run to the Lady Hawks in the bottom of the sixth, then iced the game with three runs in the top of the seventh.

Ervin, a sophomore, went three for four at the plate for the Wolves with five RBIs and five runs scored. Included in her offensive display was a home run, the only extra base hit for Three Forks, which banged out 21 hits for the game. She had belted two home runs in the Wolves previous game.

T Falls had 11 hits, including three doubles, one by Koskela, who went two for four in the game while knocking in two runners and scoring two runs for the Lady Hawks. She was joined in a multi-hit game by Olivia Harnett, who was three for five with two RBIs .

Right fielder K. McDermott had five RBIs in a one for five day at the plate for Three Forks.

The Wolves took advantage of 11 walks issued by T Falls pitching.

The loss was the first of the season for Thompson Falls.

Later that Friday afternoon, the Hawks met up with Ennis and showed they had shaken off the sting of the loss to Three Forks when they scored three runs in the bottom of the first, then added five in their half of the second inning. Meanwhile, Koskela held the Lady Mustangs scoreless for the first four innings, making the score 9-0 heading into the top of the fifth frame. That’s when Ennis erupted for six runs to get back in the game, with the big blow a home run by second baseman K. Rice. During the scoring outburst, Koskela was relieved by Oliva Fitchett who managed to hold the Lady Mustangs to two earned runs the rest of the way after Ennis tied the game at 9-9 in the top of the sixth.

However, Thompson Falls kept battling and pushed three runs across the dish in the bottom of the sixth to take a 12-9 lead. Fitchett held them to one run in the top of the seventh to secure the win for the Hawks and boost their season mark to 5-1.

Koskela, arguably one of the best, if not the best in 7B play, had an impressive day at the plate for the Lady Hawks, going four for four at bat with four runs batted in. Included in her hit total were her first home run of the season and a pair of doubles. She also scored four of the Hawks runs.

Ennis catcher R. Boggus also had a standout day at bat, going five for five with one RBI and two runs scored.

Next up for the T Falls girls was a meeting with unbeaten (4-0 coming into Missoula) Manhattan.

The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the top of the first inning, then tacked on three more runs in the top of the second to take a 5-0 lead after two innings.

Manhattan scored a solo run in the top of inning number three, then surrendered a lone run to T Falls in the bottom of the third. The Lady Tigers added three more runs in the top of the fourth to make it 9-1, then erupted for seven scores in the top of the fifth to push their lead to 16-1.

T Falls scored a solo run in the bottom of the fifth, but it was not enough to extend the game further as the Lady Tigers stayed unbeaten with the 16-2 victory.

Manhattan outhit the Lady Hawks 12-7 for the game, but also took advantage of an uncharacteristically high eight T Falls errors.

Harnett was 3-3 at the plate for Thompson Falls, while Manhattan batters C Holgate and M Pavik each homered to lead the Tigers’ offense.

Next on the schedule for Thompson Falls is a home game versus Class A Whitefish this Wednesday (April 17) at 3 p.m. Saturday (April 20) the Lady Hawks remain at home for a conference game against Mission at noon.