Lady Hawks punch ticket to state

For the third straight year, Thompson Falls’ fastpitch softball team has made it to the big dance. 

As in the Montana B-C state championship finals as the No. 4 seed from the Western Division. 

T Falls clinched a spot in the 2025 championship tournament, which this year is being hosted by Glasgow, with a 7-5 consolation round win over Anaconda this past Friday, sending them to the consolation final where they faced 7B conference foe Troy. 

Troy prevailed 12-8 Saturday morning, giving them the West’s number three seed, while T Falls made the state tournament as the fourth seed. 

The Lady Hawks opened the Western Division tournament in Florence with a win over Troy, 7-5, in round one.  That sent them to a semi-final encounter with host Florence, which defeated T Falls 15-1 to advance to the division championship game against Mission (MAC) Saturday afternoon. 

Thompson Falls beat Anaconda in the consolation round to set up the game versus Troy. 

In Glasgow, the Lady Hawks will take on unbeaten Shepherd at 2 pm Thursday (May 22).  The winner of that game will face the winner of the first-round game between MAC and Huntley Project. 

In the Western Division opener this past week, Troy took an early 1-0 lead, which held up until the top of third inning when T Falls pushed four runs across the plate, giving them a 4-1 lead.  The four runs came via a two-run single by Callie McGillis, a walk and a fielder’s choice. 

Troy came back in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs, then scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, giving them a 5-4 lead at the end of five innings. 

Then, in the top of the seventh, T Falls scored three runs on a single by Annalise Fairbank, a walk and a costly Troy error, putting T Falls on top, 7-5. 

Teagan Saner, in relief of starting pitcher Sarah Koskela, shut down the Trojans in the bottom of the seventh to seal the T Falls win. 

Koskela and Saner combined to strike out 11 Troy batters during the game, while walking just two. 

Troy outhit T Falls 10-4 during the game, but the Lady Trojans committed four errors and gave up seven walks, most of which proved costly for Troy. 

Halle Wallace belted a home run for Troy and drove in two runs for the game.  Teammate K. Jellesed and L. Gravier had two hits each for Troy. 

McGillis led T Falls with two RBIs, while Fairbank and Saner had one run batted in each. 

Next up was eventual tournament champion Florence, which took a 2-0 lead after one inning.  T Falls plated their only run of the game in the top of the second to cut the lead in half. 

Florence regained the lead in the bottom of the second on three runs, then increased their advantage to 13-1 with an eight-run third inning.  The Lady Falcons added two in the bottom of the fourth, then held T Falls scoreless in the top of the fifth inning, invoking the Mercy rule and ending the game. 

The Falcons outhit T Falls 14-3, including home runs by Kaylee Crawford, Jayden Fisher and Taylor Pyette, who drove in four runs for the home team. Crawford had three RBIs. 

Olivia Fitchette, Marley Robinson and Teagan Saner each had a hit for the Lady Hawks. 

Later Friday, T Falls squared off with Anacona in a loser-out, winner to state game and downed the Lady Copperheads 7-5. 

Anaconda held a 2-0 lead after the top of the second, but T Falls plated four runs in the bottom of inning number two on run-producing singles by Robinson and Neveah Christensen and a two-run error by the Copperheads. 

The Lady Copperheads tied the game with three runs in the top of the fifth, but T Falls tied the game at 5-5, with a lone run in the bottom of the fifth, one of the runs via a passed ball. 

T Falls then scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win and clinch a trip to the state tournament.  Awaiting the Lady Hawks will be Shepherd, the number one seed from the East and owners of a 19-0 season record. 

Kassidy had a pair of hits for the Lady Hawks, while McGillis was 1-3 with two RBIs.  Kylee Borgmann drove in two runs and Robinson had one RBI for the Lady Hawks.  Koskela was 1-3. 

Koskela went the distance on the mound for T Falls, surrendering one earned run and striking out nine Anaconda hitters. 

The Lady Hawks then took on Troy in the consolation championship game and gave up three Troy runs in the bottom of the first. 

T Falls fought back with a single score in the top of the second, but Troy plated two runs in the bottom of the inning, giving them a 5-1. 

After a scoreless third, both teams scored three runs in the fourth, giving Troy an 8-4 lead.  T Falls tied the game in the top of the fifth with four runs, but Troy matched that total in the bottom of the fifth inning, putting them ahead 12-8. 

Neither team scored the rest of the way, preserving the Troy lead and giving them the number three seed from the West. 

Troy outhit T Falls 13-5 in the game, led by Halle Wallace, who was 2-4 with five RBIs.  Teammate Autumn Fisher was 3-4 and knocked in three runs for the Trojans. 

Robinson led T Falls with a 2-4, four RBI day at the plate. Saner, who was 0-1 during the game, scored three runs for the Lady Hawks, while Fairbank, McGillis and Koskela all had one hit each. 

The tournament left T Falls with a 14-11-1 record for the season so far, while Troy’s tournament games lifted their record to 15-7.