Thompson Falls-Noxon heads into post season after road trip

A rare tie, a big win and a loss highlighted the last week of the regular season for the Thompson Falls-Noxon girls fastpitch softball team with post-season play coming into view.

The 1-1-1 weekend of play left TFN with a 12-9-1 season record as the playoffs get underway this coming weekend (May 16-17) in Florence. 

The Lady Hawks began their weekend Odessey with a game versus Glasgow-Hinsdale in Cut Bank.  Glasgow will host this year’s state tournament two weekends from now. 

The Lady Scotties put up two runs in the top of the first to take a brief lead that was erased by Thompson Falls which scored three in the bottom of the first as senior Sarah Koskela drove in two with a single, then scored on a double by Teagan Saner. 

Glasgow regained the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the third, giving them a 4-3 lead.  After surrendering a solo run to the Lady Hawks in the bottom of the third that tied the score, the Lady Scotties scored once in the top of the fourth, restoring their one run advantage. 

But that lead was also short-lived as T Falls plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a double by Oliva Fitchett, putting the Lady Hawks ahead, 6-5. 

The Scotties tied the score at 6-6 in the top of the sixth.  Neither team scored the rest of the game, which was declared a tie after TFN failed to score in the bottom of the seventh. 

Glasgow out hit the Hawks 8-6. Koskela led the Hawks with a 2-4 day at the plate that produced two RBIs.  Fitchett was 1-3 with a pair of ribbies for the Lady Hawks. 

T Miller led Glasgow with a 2-4, two RBI day at the dish.  T Falls pitching struck out 11 Scotties during the game, while Glasgow pitches racked up nine strikeouts of their own. 

Next up was an early Saturday morning game versus Huntley-Project, which took a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. 

The score remained the same until the top of the third when T Falls erupted for five runs, powered by a two-RBI double off the bat of Annalise Fairbank along with three singles fueling the offensive outbreak. 

T Falls-Noxon added a single run in the top of the sixth to close out the game’s scoring and preserve the Hawks 6-3 win. Both Fitchett and Fairbank were 1-4 at the plate, with Fitchett picking up one RBI in the process. 

H Hernandez led Glasgow with two RBIs via a double and a home run. 

Koskela went the distance on the mound for TFN, striking out eight Scotties batters along the way. 

The Lady Hawks concluded their week with an 8-3 loss to the Conrad Cowgirls Saturday. 

The Cowgirls struck first, plating two runs in the top of the first inning, then holding T Falls scoreless until the seventh. 

Conrad scored four in the top of the fifth to take a 6-0 lead, then added two more in the top of the seventh, putting them up 8-0. 

But T Falls rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome the early Conrad lead. 

The Cowgirls out hit the Lady Hawks 12-5 for the game. 

Marley Robinson led the Hawks offense with a 2-3 day at the plate, while Fitchett, Fairbank, Koskela and Kylee Borgmann all had one hit each for T Falls.  Lady Hawks pitchers Fitchette and Saner combined to strike out 13 Conrad batters during the game. 

Next up for Thompson Falls-Noxon is the Western Divisional tournament this coming weekend (May 15-17) in Florence.  Their opponent will be set this week.