This was what makes softball the great sport it is.

Bottom of the eighth, pitcher’s duel of a game tied at 2-2 with a potential path to the State championships this weekend in Billings on the line.

One potential game winning run was snuffed out at home plate in the seventh, sending the game into the eighth inning, overtime in the softball world.

After trailing most of the game, Thompson Falls rallied for a pair of game-tying scores in the bottom of the sixth.

T Falls pitcher Olivia Fitchett, who had thrown a masterful game keeping the Lady Hawks within striking distance of the lead, fanned two of the three Three Forks batters she faced in the top of the seventh, part of her 10 strikeouts for the game.

Then in the bottom of the seventh, with a runner on third base and the softball rolling away from the Lady Wolves third baseman, a base running miscue ended with the potential game winner being called out at the plate on a hectic throw home.

But Fitchett was able to get Three Forks out in order in the top of the eighth via two ground balls and a pop up.

Stepping to the plate for T Falls to lead off the eighth was Olivia Harnett, one of the Lady Hawks leading hitters on the year. Harnett laced an offering from Three Forks pitcher A. Thomas off the base of the left field fence. A slight bobble of the ball once it was retrieved by the outfielder was all the base running green light Harnett needed as she motored to third, safe with via a slide.

The next T Falls batter, Fitchett, who was one of three Hawks with two hits in the game, promptly ripped a single up the middle, scoring Harnett with the game winner.

The 3-2 victory touched off a controlled celebration at home plate.

It would turn out to be a crucial part of the Lady Hawks bid to qualify for a second straight state championship.

Their first game, ironically, will be Thursday at 4 p.m. against number one Eastern seed Shepherd High, the same team T Falls upset in the opening round of last year’s state tournament. Last year T Falls stunned the top ranked Shepherd Fillies 12-4 in Anaconda.

Shepherd returns to the state championship with a 23-1 record and another top seed. T Falls enters that game with an 18-8 record on the year and is the number four seed from the West Division.

The winner of the game moves on to round two Friday at 10 a.m. to face the winner of the Manhattan (number two seed from the West) versus Glasgow game.

T Falls catcher Sarah Koskela was one of three Lady Hawks with two hits against Three Forks, which came back and routed T Falls 20-3 in this past Saturday’s game for third and fourth place. Fitchett and Harnett also had a pair of hits for the winners.

Both T Falls and Three Forks advance to state, along with West Division champion and top seed Florence, host of the East Division tournament. The Falcons nipped tourney pre-favorite Manhattan 3-2 in the title game.

T Falls fell to Manhattan 11-1 in their second game of this past weekend’s tournament. T Falls held a 1-0 lead in that game until the bottom of the fourth, when Manhattan pushed four runs across the plate. The Lady Tigers followed that outburst with seven runs in the bottom of the fifth, giving them an 11-1 lead in the game, which was ended after five innings. Manhattan outhit T Falls 12-5 as three Wolves had three hits each.

Annalise Fairbank had two hits for the Lady Hawks.

Friday afternoon, and facing elimination from the tournament, T Falls’ bats came alive in what became a 16-5 win over Ennis. T Falls grabbed a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning, then put four more on the scoreboard in the top of the third and fourth innings to build a 9-0 advantage.

Ennis fought back with a single run in the bottom of the fourth, then watched as T Falls added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Ennis showed it was not done for the day when they plated four runs of their own in the bottom of inning number five, trimming the T Falls lead to 11-5. T Falls added to their advantage with two runs in the top of the sixth and three more in the top of the seventh.

Fitchett was once again dominant on the mound, striking out 13 Lady Mustangs and holding them to one earned run and six hits over her seven innings of work.

Both Fitchett and Harnett had three hits apiece for the winners, who outhit Ennis 16-6. MacKenzie Robinson had three RBIs for T Falls, while Harnett and Koskela added two RBIs each to the Lady Hawks’ cause.

The win over Ennis set up the game for third and fourth place between T Falls and Three Forks. At that point, both teams were assured of one of the four seeds up for grabs from the West.

This past Tuesday, in a play-in game involving West Division teams Troy and Plains, the Lady Trojans ended the Trotters season with a 12-2 win that sent Troy to the West Divisional in Florence.

The loss left Plains with an 0-14 record on the year, while Troy was eliminated in two straight divisional games.

    Thompson Falls senior MacKenzie Robinson is safe at first after hitting a single during the Lady Hawks game versus Three Forks this past weekend in the West Divisional tournament in Florence. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)