Lady Hawks get chance to play

It's been a long time between games, but the Thompson Falls-Noxon Lady Hawks are finally ready to play some softball again.

Robbed of their 2020 season like everyone else due to the pandemic, coach Jared Koskela and his Lady Hawks were set to open the 2021 season Tuesday hosting Sanders County rival Plains-Hot Springs Tuesday for a single game Tuesday, but results of that game were not available at press time.

Not knowing a whole lot about the other teams and just learning about his Lady Hawks as he goes now, Koskela does not know quite what to expect going into the 2021 campaign, but he does have a few ideas.

"The games will tell us where we stand, we need to see everyone else before we know," he said. "Right now our goal is not necessarily about getting W's, it is about trying to keep getting better each time we play."

Riley Wilson and Dylan Vigil (who is the Hawks' only player from Noxon this year) are the seniors for the Lady Hawks, and juniors Shayla Micklon, Maggie Leaver, Abbi Lane and Dannijo VanHuss, sophomores Cheyla Irvine and Cella VanHuss and freshmen Mackenzie Robinson, Shelby Lane, Blakely Lakko, Desani Bewick and Olivia Harnett make up the rest of the current Thompson Falls roster.

Koskela says he plans on using Wilson, Irvine and Danni-Jo VanHuss as his main pitchers.

Entering the great unknown after no season in 2020, Koskela, like everyone else on the planet, is glad to return to a sense of normalcy.

"We are looking forward to it, these girls are eager to get out there and play," he said. "It's been a long time since their last real game."

Vigil has brought her A-game with her from the West End. "Dylan has been a nice addition, it would be nice to get some more Noxon girls interested in joining us," Koskela said.