Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Batting the ball around, scoring lots of runs and having tons of softball fun; that was what the Thompson Falls-Noxon Blue Hawks were all about this past spring.
With the numbers to back him up, Hawk coach Jared Koskela says his girls had an enjoyable season in 2021, one they should be proud of. The Hawks earned their first Western B-C divisional tournament berth in 10 years this spring, although they bowed out in two games at that tourney in Florence. The Hawks had defeated Plains-Hot Springs 2-1 in a tight playoff game at Pirk’s Place in Thompson Falls to earn their Western B-C bid.
“It was a good season,” Koskela said. “It would have been nice to win a game at the tournament but we still had a good time with it, and our offense was the biggest part of that.
“We went from scoring only 62 runs all season two years ago to scoring 261 this year,” he added. “It was nice seeing us generate some offense like that. We even had five home runs, that’s the most we’ve had in a long time, and that is a big stat.”
Western B-C all-conference selections Riley Wilson and Dylan Vigil led many of the categories on the season stat sheet, but seemingly all of their teammates posted gaudy numbers as well.
Both seniors, Wilson hit for a .486 average, rapping out 36 base hits (including 12 doubles, a triple and two home runs), driving in 26 runs and scoring 41, while Vigil was good for a team-high 38 hits (with 16 doubles), driving in 22 runs and scoring 35 while compiling an impressive .543 batting average.
Cella VanHuss hit .474 with 27 hits, 16 runs batted in and scored 23 runs, Danni-jo VanHuss .471 with 33 hits (including two home runs), a team-best 31 RBIs and 24 runs, Abbi Lane .412 with 25 hits, 20 RBIs and 25 runs, Cheyla Irvine .366 with 30 hits (also including a homer), 33 runs driven in and 33 runs scored, Shelby Lane .400 with eight hits, six RBIs and six runs, Olivia Harnett .361 with 22 hits, 12 RBIs and 26 runs and MacKenzie Robinson .250 with 13 hits 13 RBIs and 25 runs.
In the field, Vigil handled a team-high 83 chances and had a fielding percentage of .928, Wilson 68 chances with a .931 percentage, Irvine 67 chances for .985, Danni-jo VanHuss 69 chances for .899 and Abbi Lane 61 chances for .852.
Blakely Lakko, Shayla Micklon, Desani Bewick and Maggie Leaver also hit the ball well and played well afield when presented the opportunities this past season.
Wilson and Irvine were the only two players to pitch for Thompson Falls-Noxon last season, and those two combined to throw every inning of every game the Hawks played.
Following the season, the team voted on awards and Wilson was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player, Vigil the Most Valuable Defensive Player and Cella VanHuss, a sophomore, the Most Improved Player.
Judy Detlaff again served as assistant coach for the Hawks and Jordan Fisher and Nathan Cottingham were team managers.
Koskela hopes to keep the ball rolling in Blue Hawk softball next year, to build on what they accomplished in 2021.
“We will have a good core of talent coming back since Riley and Dylan were our only seniors,” he said. “And we have a good crew of players coming up. Our goal is to get enough girls out to get our JV program back on track.”
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