16-14 win over Thompson Falls

The Lady Trojans softball team battled seven innings with Thompson Falls Tuesday for a spot in the divisional playoffs, winning 16-14.

Head Coach Keith Haggerty admitted Troy could have played a little tighter and maybe kept the score from getting so close at the end, but was pleased with how the Lady Trojans handled the comebacks by the Lady Hawks throughout the game.

“They were down, they battled back, they got down, they battled back — they stayed with it the whole way through, and that’s all we could ask for,” he said.

The Lady Hawks started strong, taking an early lead in the first inning with two runners making it home on a grounder to center field from Belle Cooper, and Sarah Detlaff sent another runner home with a line drive between second and third.

Troy made it on the board with a single run in the bottom of the inning, with junior Tristyn Winebark sending freshman Talise Becquart in with a line drive to left field.

The two teams held each other back in the second, but things began to turn against the Lady Trojans in the bottom of the inning, with three outs in as many batters.

In the third inning, Thompsons Falls’ Kelsey Frank stole home on a passed ball and Haley Morgan brought in two runners with a line drive to center field.

Morgan attempted to make a triple out of the play, with the ball passed to junior catcher Kaylee Tunison in a failed attempt to catch the runner heading home. But, a quick snap from Tunison to sophomore third baseman Montana Rice had Morgan out and put Troy up to bat.

Now facing a 5-run deficit, the Lady Trojans knuckled down in the bottom of the third.

Thompson Falls switched out pitchers, putting in Faith Frields for Frank. Yet, even though she pitched more than half strikes, Frields was not to have a good half inning, and made her way through Troy’s entire lineup.

With Rice at bat and bases loaded, Tunison started things off by stealing home on a dropped ball. Rice then singled with a line drive to left field, bringing in sophomore Izzy Ramirez and freshman Talise Becquart

Despite grounding out to first base, sophomore Harlee Huisentruit was able to get Rice home a couple plays later, putting the Lady Trojans within a single run of overturning the Thompson Falls lead.

By the time Troy was ready to score again, the lineup had come back to Tunison, with two outs on the board. A double from Tunison sent Winebark and junior Cami Finley home.

With 40 pitches already thrown in the half inning, the embattled Frields took a rest, and Frank returned to pitch. But the switch to Frank did not spell a switch in fortunes, and she gave Troy their final run of the inning, walking Becquart and sending Troy’s sophomore Mazzy Hermes home.

Troy’s 8-6 lead was too tight to hold, and the Lady Hawks pushed out three more runs in the top of the fourth in as many plays with only one out.

But the Lady Trojan defense kept fighting, and Hermes ended the half inning with a strikeout against Detlaff.

Coming into the game, Haggerty said that Hermes hadn’t been able to practice since Troy lost to Eureka in a double header May 11, and noted she seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.

“She came back and came right into this game, warmed up and went to work,” he said.

With a season where injuries and the dynamics of a small team have left the Lady Trojans relying on Hermes to pitch game after game with little relief, Haggerty acknowledged she has been a tough player who powers through.

Yet, Thompson Falls’ Frank looked ready to spell doom for Troy when they returned to bat in the fifth. Winebark managed to single off of a line drive to left field, but as Frank struck out both Finley and Huisentruit swinging, it began to look as if Winebark might find herself ending the inning on first.

With Hermes at bat, Winebark took the situation in hand, stealing second, and when Hermes singled on a hard ground ball to left field, Winebark hauled for home, tying the score.

With freshman Chloe Yeadon in for Hermes and junior Paige Chapel walked to first, Tunison came back to smack a hard ground ball to right field for a double, and as Yeadon crossed home plate, the Lady Trojans once again held the lead.

Frank gave Troy a run on a walk, sending Chapel home, and Tunison scored the final run of the inning on a ground ball to third from Rice.

Both teams fought hard in the fifth and sixth innings, with Troy’s Becquart catching a fly out at shortstop, and Winebark sending the Lady Hawks back to the dugout without a run in the top of the fifth after a ground out to Hermes. But, the Lady Trojans fared no better in the bottom of the inning, with all three batters out before they reached first base.

Thompson Falls managed a single run in the sixth off a line drive to left field by Betlaff, sending Cooper home, but Hermes ended the half inning with a strikeout without further gains.

Thompson Falls saw another pitcher change in the bottom of the sixth, with Detlaff replacing Frank. But though Troy loaded the bases early, the Lady Hawk defense fended off the first attempt to score by Chapel, tagging her out at home.

That was when Rice came to bat, bases still loaded. On the first pitch from Detlaff, she smacked a line drive across left field and over the fence, landing just short of the spectator’s cars parked on the other side.

Though they were the only runs scored by Troy in the sixth, Rice’s grand slam put the Lady Trojans into a 16-10 lead.

But Thompson Falls wasn’t finished, and in the seventh inning fought to overtake the lead. Cooper singled on a ground ball, bringing in Frields and Maya Stiles, and later reached home herself on a line drive by Riley Wilson.

Detlaff brought the score back to a two-run difference with a grounder to third, sending Wilson home.

But on the next batter, Hermes brought the game to a close with a strikeout.

Haggerty congratulated the team in the outfield after the game, but reminded them their win only got them into the playoffs, and they still have work ahead of them.

“I told them out there, they need to tighten up. We have to make the routine plays,” he said. “The simple plays that we missed here kept Thompson Falls in the game.”

Haggerty gave credit to the Lady Hawks and their coaches, but felt the Lady Trojans had yet to demonstrate their full potential.

“With what we’re capable of, we should play tighter, and that should not have been as close as it was,” he said.

Still, Haggerty couldn’t be more pleased with the dynamic Troy has developed over the season, he said.

“This is the most together team I’ve had in four years, as far as a group,” he said.

After the game, Winebark and Finley said the team started the season as a collection of groups, with some players favoring others, but the Lady Trojans have melded together into a single, coherent family.

“We’ve all come together really, really close,” Winebark said.

Haggerty said the Lady Trojans have come to enjoy playing with each other, and though they improve on their mistakes, they move on from them as a team.

“If they’re having an issue, if something goes wrong, they just skip over it and go to the next play.

They just move on,” he said. “And that is the best growth I could ask for out of them. Whether it’s hitting or fielding, they’re doing it.”

Troy is scheduled to play their first game of the 2018 divisional Friday morning at 10 a.m. against Florence. They will then play either Missoula or Mission, with the advancement game from the morning matchups at 4 p.m. and the loser-out game at 2 p.m.

Divisional play-in

Tuesday, May 15

Troy 16, Thompson Falls 14

T 303 301 4 - R:14 H:12 E:3

TF 107 404 X - R:16 H:11 E:9

AB-H

T: Kaylee Tunison 4-4, 4R, 1BB; Izzy Ramirez 2-0, 2R, 3BB, 1K; Talise Becquart 1-0, 2R, 3BB; Montana Rice 5-3, 2, 7, 1K; Tristyn Winebark 4-2, 2R, 1BB, 1K; Cami Finley 5-1, 1R, 1K; Harlee Huisentruit 5-0, 1K; Mazzy Hermes 3-1, 1R, 1BB; Paige Chapel 3-0, 1R, 1BB, 2K; Chloe Yeadon 1R (in for Hermes)

TF: Haley Morgan 5-2, 1R; Faith Frields 3-2, 2R, 2B; Maya Stiles 4-3, 3R; Belle Cooper 5-1, 3R; Kelsey Frank 3-1, 2R, 2BB, 2K; Riley Wilson 4-1, 1R, 1BB; Jody Detlaff 5-1, 2K; Sarah Detlaff 3-1, 1R, 1BB, 1K; Aidin Losure 1-0, 1K; Melaina Goodman 2-0, 1R, 1K; Lakayla Vancampen 2-0, 1K

Batting: 2B - Tunison 3, Frank, Detlaff; 3B - Morgan; Grand slam - Rice; ROE - Chapel, Finley, Ramirez, Frields, Cooper 3, Wilson, Detlaff, Goodman; RBI - Becquart 2, Hermes, Huisentruit, Rice 7, Tunison 3, Winebark, Morgan 2, Frank, Cooper 4, Wilson, Detlaff, Detlaff

Pitching: W - Mazzy Hermes 7, 168 P, .583 S%, 12 H, 14 R, 5 ER, 8 SO, 6 BB; L - Kelsey Frank 4.1, 101 P, .495 S%, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 SO, 7 BB; Faith Frields 0.2, 40 P, .575 S%, 3 H, 7 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Jody Detlaff 1, 20 P, .600 S%, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB, 1 HR