Who stole our defense?

For a while there, Michele Bangen thought she was watching a bad movie and not witnessing her Plains-Hot Springs Trotters playing a softball game. It all happened in Florence Thursday during the Falcons' 17-1 win over the Trotters.

"It was like I was watching the movie 'Space Jam,'" she said. "It was as if a monster came and stole all our defensive skills. We just could not seem to field the ball there for a while."

Bangen said pitcher Kassidy Kinzie was doing her job. "Kass had them hitting grounders like we wanted," she said, "we just could not seem to execute the plays in the field. And Florence took advantage."

The defending State B-C champions and otherwise perennial title contenders, Florence scored four runs in the first inning, nine in the second and four more in the fourth to end the contest early, after four and a-half innings.

Stacy Gray and Jessica Thompson collected base hits to lead the Trotter offense in Florence.

Natalie Dulac had three hits and two runs batted in for the Falcons, Brooklyn Little added two hits and four RBIs, and Shannon Byrne two more hits. Brianna Hoffman picked up the pitching win for Florence.

In other Western B-C action last week, the Trotters took down the Lady Hawks 11-1 in five innings last Tuesday, March 27, in Thompson Falls.

Natalee Deschamps had three hits, including a triple, to lead the Trotters in that game, Gray added two hits and Kenzie Angle and Dakota Butcher each hit a double.

Kinzie, Brooklyn Stafford, Sydney Jackson, Sage Jackson, Danielle Graham and Emma Morgan also all had base hits against Thompson Falls, and Kinzie was the winning pitcher.

Hoping to avoid any more bad movie scenarios, the Trotters have five games on tap next week. Plains-Hot Springs will host Drummond for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Friday, will travel to Missoula for games with Loyola and Manhattan Christian Saturday and finally, will host Thompson Falls Tuesday.

"This is a big week for us," Bangen said, "with four conference games. We will keep working at it and hope to play well."