Noxon-Thompson Falls baseball claim wins over county rival

This year’s unofficial and non-existent local high school baseball wars trophy goes to the Noxon-Thompson Falls co-opers who could lay claim to the title following a pair of wins over Sanders County rival Plains-Hot Springs this past week.

NTF opened the Sanders County wars with a convincing 26-8 win over the Savage Horsemen, then laid claim to the crown two days later with a 19-9 victory. 

The two wins were the first and second of the year for Noxon-T Falls and came a week after Plains-Hot Springs won its only game of the year, a 19-4 road rout of Browning. 

Each team played one more game last week, with Plains-Hot Springs traveling north to Columbia Falls and dropping a 13-0 decision to the Wildcats this past Saturday. 

Noxon-T Falls also lost this past Saturday, losing 12-2 at home to Eureka. 

In the first game versus Plains-Hot Springs, NTF scored five runs in the top of the first inning in Plains, then held the home team scoreless in the bottom half of the inning. 

Noxon then took a seemingly commanding lead with eight runs in the top of the second, putting them up 13-0.  Plains got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second with a pair of runs. 

Neither team scored in the third inning. 

In the top of the fourth, Noxon pushed a lone run across the plate, then yielded three to the Savage Horsemen in the bottom of the fourth, making it 14-5 NTF. 

Plains added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth after holding the Red Devils scoreless in the top of the inning, cutting the NTF lead to 14-8. 

Then, after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, the visiting Devils erupted for 10 runs in the top of the seventh to clinch their first win of the season. 

Noxon-T Falls outhit Plains 16-4, led by three hits each from Bryson McCormick, Shane Hatchel and Justice Kayser.  Hatchel drove in four runs to lead the team, while McCormich had three RBIs. 

Hatchel had a pair of doubles, while McCormick and CJ Yoder also had a two-bagger each. 

NTF pitching struck out 13 Plains-Hot Springs batters on the day. 

Mathew Thurston, Wyatt Butcher and Calvin Timmer had one hit each for the Horsemen, with Thurston and Butcher each recording an RBI.   

In the second game of the two-game series, this time in Noxon, the home standing Red Devils jumped out to a 6-0 lead after one inning of play, then tacked on two more in the second and five in the third while holding Plains off the scoreboard. 

With Noxon-T Falls leading 13-0, Plains pushed seven runs across the plate in the top of the fourth to cut the Red Devils lead to 13-7. 

NTF scored once in the bottom of the fourth, building their lead back to 14-7. 

Plains scored solo runs in the top of the fifth and sixth inning, but those runs were matched by NTF, which scored three in the bottom of the fifth and two in the sixth, bringing the game to an end after six innings via the Mercy rule. 

Logan Buckner had a game-high three hits for NTF, while McCormick, Michael Koskela and Payton Chambers had two hits each.  McCormick and Hatchel had a pair of RBIs each for the Red Devils. 

Butcher and Timmer had two hits apiece for Plains-Hot Springs, while Beau Crabb was 1-2 with a team-best three RBIs. 

In their game with Eureka in Noxon, the home team fell behind 9-3 after four innings on their way to the 10-run loss. 

Eureka outhit NTF 7-3 and had six errors in the loss.  All seven of the Eureka hits were singles.  The loss to the Lions left Noxon with a 2-8 record on the season.  The Red Devils host Eureka today (April 29). 

Plains’ fate was similar Saturday, as they fell behind Columbia Falls 12-0 after the first two innings, including surrendering eight runs in the bottom of the second. 

The Wildcats added a lone run in the bottom of the third as the game was called after three innings with Columbia Falls leading 13-0. 

The loss to CF left Plains with a 1-8 mark for the year.  Next up for Plains is a road game today (April 29) in Troy.  They return home this Thursday to take on Bigfork at Amundson Sports Complex. 

    Red Devils' Justice Kayser (7) slides safely home under the tag attempt from Plains-Hot Springs catcher Tyler Barton during their game this past week.  (Tracy Scott, Valley Press)
  

    Plains-Hot Springs senior Wyatt Butcher (grey) slides safely into second base during the Horsemen's game with Noxon-T Falls this past week. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)