P-HS's slow season starts speeding up

It’s been a relatively slow fastpitch softball season for the Plains-Hot Springs Trotters so far.

Things are about to speed up significantly for coach Michele Bangen and her base-stealing, hard-hitting Trotters as the Plains-Hot Springs girls face their biggest week of games of the season.

After hosting Thompson Falls for a single game Tuesday in Plains (results of that game were not available at press time), the Trotters will host a pair of crucial doubleheaders Friday and Saturday against fellow Western B-C contenders Mission-Arlee-Charlo and Florence. The Florence twinbill was originally set for early in the season but was moved back due to inclement weather the first time these teams were due to meet.

In a fight for playoff position with the post-season looming only a few short weeks away, Bangen knows both doubleheader days this weekend will factor into how the Western B-C race finally goes.

“We know that these are very important games,” she said. “We will just have to hit the ball well on offense and play solid defense behind our pitchers.”

The Trotters added two more Ws to the win column in a pair of neutral-field, non-conference games in Anaconda Friday, blasting past Ennis 20-7 and Manhattan 14-4.

The Trotters pounded out 19 hits in the win over Ennis. Sage Jackson went 4-for-4, Sydney Jackson 3-for-4 and Dakota Butcher 3-for-5 to pace P-HS at the plate, and Kassidy Kinzie, Natalee Deschamps and Madison Elliott added two hits apiece.

Kenzie Angle homered and drove in three runs, Butcher doubled twice and drove in four runs and Sage Jackson also finished with four RBIs.

Freshman pitcher Celsey VonHeeder scattered nine hits across the seven innings, walked only one and struck out three for the Trotters.

P-HS lashed out 16 more hits in the win over Ennis. Kinzie hit safely three times and Sydney Jackson, Sage Jackson, Dakota Butcher, Elliott, Angle and Izzy Butcher two apiece against Ennis. Kinzie and Izzy Butcher drove in two runs each and Syd Jackson, Dakota Butcher, Elliott and Angle one each.

Kinzie and VonHeeder split time pitching with Kinzie going three innings, striking out four and walking only two while VonHeeder went the final two innings and rang up three strikeouts.