For two innings on a blustery Monday afternoon, the Plains-Hot Springs Trotters and the Thompson Falls-Noxon Blue Hawks were locked in a classic pitcher’s duel during their high school fastpitch softball showdown.

The Plains pitcher, sophomore Aubree Butcher, held T Falls-Noxon scoreless and drove in the Trotters' only run, driving in eighth grader Emery Josephson who was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third base courtesy of a passed ball. 

Butcher blooped a ball which landed in centerfield, driving in Josephson from third in the top of the first inning. 

It would be the only run the Trotters scored as Thompson Falls senior pitcher Sarah Koskela settled into a rhythm that kept Plains off the scoreboard the rest of the game. 

The Blue Hawks got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, putting together four singles and some aggressive base running as they plated six runs to take a 6-1 lead. 

It was small ball at its best. 

Then, in the bottom of the fourth, T Falls showed it can also play power ball when Koskela led off the home team half of the inning with a towering home run to right field that cleared the Pirks Place outfield fence by at least 25 feet.  The round-tripper was Koskela’s third of the season. 

In the bottom of the fourth, after Koskela shut down the Trotters in what was a complete game outing for the Miles City Community College bound standout, senior Teagan Saner led off with a triple, and scored on a wild pitch, making it 8-1 in favor of T Falls-Noxon. 

Before the fourth was over, the Blue Hawks scored three more runs on four singles and a few wild pitches to make it 11-1. 

When the Trotters were unable to score in the top of fifth frame, the game was called via the Mercy rule, which halts games if one team has a 10-run or greater lead. 

The win upped Thompson-Falls season mark to 3-6, while Plains, which is loaded with young underclassmen, fell to 0-8 on the year. 

Koskela was 3-3 at the plate, while Saner went 2-3 with three runs batted in for T Falls.  The home team out-hit Plains-Hot Springs 10-4 for the game. 

Josephson, a promising eighth grader, went 2-2 at the plate for the Trotters, while Butcher was 1-3. 

On the mound, Koskela, who is an-all state catcher from last season, pitched all four innings for the Hawks, striking out five Plains batters without a walk. 

The two teams meet again, this time in Plains, May 1. 

    Plains pitcher Sarah Koskela winds and fires during the Blue Hawks game against Plains this past week in T Falls. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)