Wardens handcuff Lady Hawks

She who hesitates is lost.

Thompson Falls Lady Hawk softball coach Jared Koskela doesn't want his girls waiting around for things to go their way; he wants them to be the ones forcing the action by putting the ball in play.

"We have to be more aggressive at the plate, we left way too many runners on base against Deer Lodge," Koskela said. "We had chances for some big innings but couldn't get the runners around."

The Lady Hawks finally played their home openers in Thompson Falls last week after miserable weather in March forced a slew of early-season delays, rescheduled contests and cancelled games, falling to Deer Lodge 13-8 and 9-3.

The Lady Hawks were to have played another doubleheader at home Tuesday against Troy, but results of those games were not available at press time. The Hawks' next games are in Anaconda Friday against Manhattan and Ennis. Thompson Falls will play Plains-Hot Springs in Plains next Tuesday.

The Lady Hawks had two of their best outings of the weather-interrupted season against Deer Lodge.

Thompson Falls used a seven-run uprising in the bottom of the fourth inning to take an 8-7 lead in the first game before Deer Lodge answered with one run in the fifth inning to tie it and five more runs in the sixth to win the game.

The Lady Hawks stayed close to the visiting Wardens in the second game as well and trailed only 3-2 into the bottom of the fifth inning before falling back.

The seven-run inning the Hawks posted in the first game was encouraging to Koskela.

"We needed a big inning like that to build our confidence," he said. "We got some big hits at key times and made a pretty good run there."

Dual sports specialist Jody Detalff (who is also one of the better high jumpers in western Montana) led the Hawk offense with a 4-for-4 performance from the plate and drove in three runs.

Freshman Abbigayle Lane had two hits, including a triple to the leftfield corner during that fourth inning uprising, also knocking in three runs. Melaina Goodman added a hit and an RBI, and Kelsey Frank, the pitcher of record in the game for the Hawks, hit two singles and drove in another run.

Riley Wilson and Belle Cooper each had a hit and a run scored and Faith Frields also scored a run.

With Frields pitching in the second game, the Hawks stayed close but never could quite grab the lead.

Goodman hit two singles and drove in two of the Hawks' runs and Frank also had two hits and drove in the other run for Thompson Falls.

Lane and Cooper hit a double and a single each, and Detlaff and Brooke Bowlin each hit a single.

Rachel Nicholson had two base hits, including a triple and drove in three runs for Deer Lodge, Alyssa Lamb had three hits, including a pair of doubles and Shanina Allen added two more runs batted in for the Wardens.

Koskela looks forward to seeing continued improvement from his still-young Lady Hawks as the season quickly moves into its last few weeks.

"I have been impressed with how Kelsey and Faith are pitching, they are getting better each time out," he said. "They have been adapting well to the situation in each game and learning from it as they go."