Notice to future opponents of the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks fastpitch softball team: Do NOT take them for granted.

The Lady Hawks showed they belonged in Anaconda this past week for the Montana State Class B fast pitch championship games when they opened the show with a convincing 12-4 upset of the Shepherd Fillies, the No. 1 seed from the Eastern Division.

Thompson Falls came into the tournament as the fourth seed from the west, having earned the trip to Anaconda’s Yeoman Softball Fields by surviving the always-tough Western Division tournament with a 2-2 record. Their win over Three Forks in the divisional gathering clinched a spot in the field of eight in Anaconda.

In Thursday afternoon’s state tournament opening game, T-Falls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in a game that was plagued by off-and-on rain showers from start to finish.

After neither team scored in the first inning, Lady Hawks’ sophomore Sarah Koskela opened the top of the second with a single, only to be the first out of the inning on a fielder’s choice grounder off the bat of Gabrielle Hannum. A walk to the next batter, MacKenzie Robinson moved Hannum to second.

Both base runners advanced a wild pitch. Brooklyn Cork then drew a walk, leaving the bases loaded with one out.

Hannum scored when Teagan Saner drew a base on balls. Robinson scored when senior Liv McCormick walked, giving the Lady Hawks a 2-0 lead. A pop out in foul territory left the sacks full, eventually contributing to another run for T-Falls when Cheyla Irvine walked and Cork scored.

Before the top of the second was over, Saner scored on a wild pitch, boosting the Lady Hawks to a 4-0 lead.

The score remained unchanged until the top of the fifth, when the Hawks pushed across four more runs to make it 8-0. Olivia Harnett opened the inning with a single, then advanced to second on an error. Koskela got her second hit of the game, a base hit up the middle, driving in Harnett.

Hannum then doubled to left, scoring Koskela. Saner came to the plate with two outs and belted a round-tripper to center, pushing the Lady Hawks lead to 8-0.

Shepherd got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs, but T-Falls matched those scores with two tallies in the top of the sixth on a two-run homer by Koskela.

The Fillies struck back for two more in the bottom of the sixth, making it 10-4 in favor of Thompson Falls heading into the seventh inning. Thompson added two more in their half of the inning when Harnett laced a single up the middle, scoring Fitchett and McCormick who had reached base on an error and a single.

Fitchett, who went the distance on the mound for T Falls, held the Fillies scoreless in the seventh, clinching the 12-4 win and sending the Lady Hawks to the winner’s bracket, where they faced Conrad.

Saner and Koskela had three hits each for the Hawks, and both drove in three runs during the game. T-Falls outhit Shepherd 10-8, while Shepherd had four errors during the game.

Friday morning T-Falls and Conrad squared off, with a berth in the state title game on the line for the winner.

Conrad got on the board first with a pair of runs in the top of the opening inning, then added four more runs to make it 6-0 after two innings of play. The CowDogs tacked on four more scores in the top of the fourth, pushing their lead to 10-0.

However, Thompson Falls struck back with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, shaving the Conrad lead to 10-4. Saner and McCormick smacked back-to-back singles and Saner scored a few pitches later on a wild throw during a fielder’s choice play. Koskela then drove in Irvine and Harnett with a single to center.

Neither team scored in the sixth inning. Conrad added a single insurance run in the top of the seventh to make it 13-4 CowDogs.

Thompson Falls pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh as Harnett and Koskela singled. Koskela scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Robinson for the Hawks second run of the inning but it was not enough to overcome the early CowDogs lead.

Saner recorded her second three-hit game of the tournament by going 3-4 at the plate versus Conrad. Harnett was also 3-4, while Koskela was 2-4 with a team high two RBIs for the Hawks.

Conrad had 13 hits for the game paced by the two home runs belted by M. Bender. Teammate Z Pogreba also had a home run for the CowDogs.

The loss to Conrad dropped the Lady Hawks into the consolation round, where they played Stillwater High.

The Renegades got on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning when they plated a pair of runs on a pair of fielding errors and a sacrifice grounder.

Thompson Falls quickly erased that lead in the bottom of the first when they scored five times, pushing their first run across via a walk, a Fitchett single and an error. Koskela ripped a single to left, driving home Irvine to make it 2-2. Koskela scored on a Hannum single, while Harnett crossed home thanks to a Renegades throwing error. T Falls held a 5-2 lead at the end of the first inning.

The Lady Hawks added another solo run in the bottom of the third, with Harnett scoring on Hannum’s base hit to left.

Neither team scored in the fourth inning.

Stillwater added a lone run in the top of the fifth, cutting the T Falls lead to 5-3. The Hawks failed to score in the bottom of the fifth, but Stillwater erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead, thanks in part to a timely, run-scoring double.

The Hawks put runners on first and second in the bottom of the seventh, both via singles by Saner and McCormick. A strikeout and ground out closed out the Thompson Falls threat and handed the win to Stillwater.

Thompson out hit the Renegades 8-7, while both teams committed four errors during the game. Hannum paced the T-Falls offense with a 3-4 night at the plate and three RBIs.

The loss eliminated T-Falls, which closed the season 16-12 overall.

Most of the Lady Hawks team will return next season, with the loss of three seniors, McCormick, Irvine and Cella VanHuss finishing their careers Friday.

Conrad won the Class B title Saturday afternoon when they beat Mission/Arlee/Charlo 8-3 in Anaconda.