Savage Hawks softball post mixed results

It was a mixed bag for the Thompson Falls-Noxon varsity fastpitch softball team this past week as the team routed Eureka 14-1 Tuesday on the Lady Lions’ home field, their third straight win.

And even though they had a gut-wrenching loss this past Saturday at home, 9-7 to the Troy Lady Trojans, the Savage Hawks showed they will be a factor in post-season play next month. 

Glimmer of hope from a loss? When the fact Troy remained unbeaten on the season with the win is considered, the agony of defeat was at least tempered by the back-and-forth battle with Troy. 

In their tussle with Troy, T Falls jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning via some aggressive base running. 

Starting Thompson Falls pitcher Sarah Koskela, who is among a handful of seniors on the Hawks’ roster, held Troy scoreless for the first three innings of the game. 

Meanwhile, the T Falls batters pushed two more runs home in the bottom of the second, giving the home team a 3-0 lead on a cold, blustery Spring day at Pirk’s Place, the home field of the Savage-Hawks. 

Troy scored a solo run in the top of the fourth on a home run by Kylie Cole, cutting the Hawks’ advantage to 3-1. Koskela held Troy scoreless in the top of the fifth while T Falls scored twice in the bottom of the inning to stretch their lead to 5-1. 

However, in the top of the sixth, Troy exploded for seven runs, giving them an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, powered by a three-run home run off the bat of Troy’s Autumn Fisher. 

Plains answered with a single score in the bottom of the sixth, but Troy added one run of its own in the top of inning number seven. 

Trailing 9-6 in the bottom of the seventh, T Falls plated one more run, but it was not enough to erase the damage done in the sixth inning. 

Olivia Fitchette was 2-4 and scored two runs for T Falls, while Koskela was 2-3 at the plate with one run scored.  Fitchett and Annalise Fairbank each doubled for the Hawks. 

In her five innings on the mound, Koskela struck out 10 Troy batters and walked just one. 

Troy outhit T Falls-Noxon 11-5. 

The Hawks opened their week in Eureka where they took a 1-0 lead after one inning, then increased their advantage to 4-0 after two innings of play. 

With Fitchett holding Eureka to one hit for the game while striking out seven Lady Lions, T Falls exploded for 10 runs in the top half of the third, creating a 14-0 lead. 

Eureka broke the shutout in the fourth when they scored a single run. 

Fairbank had a good day at the plate, going 2-3 while driving in three runs for the game.  Teammate Callie McGillis was 2-4 with a pair of RBIs, going 2-4 with a pair of RBIs. 

Next up for T Falls-Noxon was a pair of conference games against Deer Lodge (Monday, April 21).  They then head to Anaconda for a double-header this Wednesday (April 23).