Knock, knock, you win.

Thompson Falls High was a school of hard knocks for the host Blue Hawks against the visiting rival Plains Trotters May 5.

Using the two hardest knocks of the game, timely home runs from Bri Kulawinski, a two-run blast in the third inning, and Karissa French, who connected on a three-run shot with two outs in the top of the seventh, the Trotters knocked off the homestanding Hawks 6-4 in a crucial Western B-C Northern conference game.

Rounding out the week with a pair of doubleheader wins, coach Jon Zigler and his suddenly hard knocking Trotters scored bushels of runs in streaking to doubleheader wins over Anaconda in Anaconda Friday and over Deer Lodge in Plains Saturday, and have now won five games in a row.

Having no time to rest at this critical juncture of the season, due largely to several rescheduled contests, the Trotters face three important games this week, games which will determine not only their playoff fate but also that of the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks, who await in the wings.

The scenario is this: the Hawks are 3-4 with one game remaining at MAC Tuesday while Plains is now 2-3 with three conference games remaining, at 0-6 Eureka Wednesday and a doubleheader with league-leading 5-0 MAC in Plains Thursday. Since Troy sports a 5-2 conference record and MAC and Troy have clinched first and second place, the only thing left to decide is third and fourth.

This is important because the third place team is automatically in the Western B-C divisional tournament in Anaconda May 21-23 while the fourth place team will need to defeat fifth place Eureka in a one-game play-in game early next week to get to Anaconda.

Zigler has it figured out. “If we beat Eureka and MAC in one of the two, it'll be Eureka at Thompson Falls in the play-in game,” he said. “If we lose two of the three remaining games, it will be Eureka at Plains in the play-in game.”

Whatever happens in the future, the past week of action was a good one for the Trotters as the five straight wins proves.

“The girls are confident,” Zigler said. “They are starting to really play their best ball of the season.” And at just the right time for Trotter fans, heading into the postseason.

Against Thompson Falls, French smacked Plains’ most important hit of the season to date, that three-run home run in the top of the seventh that helped the Trotters escape Thompson Falls with a two-run win, the same margin they lost to the Hawks by earlier this season in Plains.

Kulawinski played an even bigger role for Plains, going three for four with a double and the big third-inning homer, scoring three runs and driving in two more. Montana Taylor added a base hit, a run and an RBI, and Cooper Spurr hit a double and scored a run.

Kulawinski pitched the complete game win, scattering nine Thompson Falls hits, walking only three and striking out five.

The Trotters struggled in the first game at Anaconda Friday, winning only 12-10 but bounced back nicely in the second game there, winning 16-1.

Kulawinski continued her torrid hitting in Copperhead country, blasting another home run, hitting two doubles, scoring three runs and driving in four more in the 12-10 win. Saner hit three doubles, scored twice and drove in two more runs, Randi Kilgore doubled and drove in two runs, and French also doubled driving in another run.

Emery Josephson was two for three with two runs and an RBI, Taryn Merdith two for four with two runs and an RBI and Ginger Nestor added a hit and a run.

Kulawinski bashed out a double and a triple, scoring once and driving in four runs to lead the 16-1 win over Anaconda. Saner hit another triple and scored twice, Kilgore doubled and scored three times and French went three for three with two runs and an RBI.

In the first game with Deer Lodge, Saner hit a double and a triple, scoring two runs and driving in two, and French, Kulawinski and Kilgore all hit doubles. French finished the game with four RBI, Kulawinski two and Taylor, Madi Carter and Meredith one apiece.

Finishing up their busy week with the 19-12 win over the Wardens in the second game Saturday, Kulawinski and Josephson both clobbered home runs, Saner and French blasted triples and Meredith and French hit doubles.

French ended the game with five RBI, Saner and Kulawinski four each, and Josephson and Meredith two apiece.

    SWINGING A HOT BAT for the Trotters, freshman Bri Kulawinski hit three home runs in five games for Plains last week, including one in this game against Thompson Falls May 5. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)