The Lady Hawk softball team dove into the season head first, playing host to the defending B-C state champion Florence Falcons on Saturday. The Hawks suffered a tough loss 16-0 in five innings, but that's not deterring first-year coach Jared Koskela.

"After two years of not having a team and then knowing that you're playing the state champs," Koskela said, "you can't have any more nerves than that. That's the elite competition, and now the team knows where they need to be."

Koskela said now that the team has faced Florence, they know where they stand and what they need to work on. With a team of 12 girls and only two with high school softball experience (Haley Morgan and Maya Stiles), Koskela said they have been working on basics in practice, but look forward to the games to gain experience.

"Getting games out of the way is a good thing," Koskela said, "instead of trying to drill them in practice on stuff that they might not understand." He compared the first game and first hit to getting your first tackle or touchdown in football, the other sport Koskela coaches at Thompson Falls. He said that coaching softball is a complete 180 from football. "It's a challenge. It's fun."

With not much high school play under their belts, Koskela said several of his players have experience in the younger divisions. He said they know the rules, so they can work on perfecting their skills and getting everyone up to the high school level.

John Hamilton

AND THE PITCH - Sophomore Kelsey Frank pitched through four innings against Florence on Saturday.

Sophomore Kelsey Frank pitched four innings for the Lady Hawks on Saturday, with freshman Faith Frields coming in for the final inning.

"Pitching and catching are a year-round perfection," Koskela said. "You can't just come in after a week and a half of practice and perfect something like that. Learning how to pitch is a lot different than learning how to throw."

Koskela said pitching is also hard to coach. He noted that even veteran coach Randy Pirker can't pitch himself, though he can coach it and has been doing so for years.

The Lady Hawks played host to the Plains Trotters on Tuesday. Results were not available at press time.