The Plains-Hot Springs Trotters have the pitching and the hitting and, as a direct result of doing those two things so well, have been winning a lot of games lately.

Coach Michele Bangen and her Trotters won three of four games last week, splitting a doubleheader with Mission-Arlee-Charlo (MAC) in Mission Tuesday, losing the first game 7-4 before coming back to win the second 13-8, and returning to Plains Friday and sweeping the visiting Lady Trojans 11-1 and 14-0 in that twinbill.

Having already clinched the top seed from District 7B into the Western B-C divisional tournament in Florence May 18-19, the Trotters will complete regular season action Thursday with a game against Loyola in Missoula.

Bangen has been impressed with how her P-HS girls have been performing lately and is hoping their efforts will carry over into the post season.

"We are really happy with how everybody is hitting the ball lately, our team batting average is .362 right now," she said, "and we are getting strong pitching from Kass (Kinzie) and Jess (Thompson) too. If we can keep this up, we should do fine in the divisional tournament next week."

Doing fine would be a continuation of the process for the Trotters this season.

The Trotters started their week with the visit to Mission Tuesday. In spite of rapping out eight hits in the first game, the P-HS girls came up just short in that contest.

Stacy Gray and MacKenzie Elliott, who Bangen says are both hitting over .450 for the season, led the Trotters, Gray with three base hits and two runs batted in and Elliott with another hit and an RBI.

Natalee Deschamps had two base hits and Sage Jackson and Kinzie one apiece.

Summer D'Arcangelo drove in three runs for MAC and Haley Crawford two.

The Trotters broke open the second game in Mission with a seven-run second inning and scored four more times in the fourth.

Kenzie Angle and Deschamps drove in two runs apiece to lead P-HS in that game, and Gray, Syd Jackson, Sage Jackson and Dakota Butcher added an RBI each.

D'Arcangelo and Tori Olsen drove in two runs apiece for MAC.

Friday's wins over Troy featured domineering pitching performances from Thompson and Kinzie.

Thompson celebrated senior day for the Trotters by limiting the Lady Trojans to only three hits and one run, in addition to slamming a home run and driving in a team-high four runs. Kinzie chipped in with three more hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs, and Gray singled, doubled and knocked in another run for P-HS.

Kinzie was flawless in pitching the Trotters to the second game win, no-hitting the Trojans, striking out nine and walking only two. On the other side of the equation, Angle hit two doubles and Deschamps another, Thompson drove in three runs, Deschamps two and Syd Jackson, Sage Jackson, Elliott, Butcher and Angle one apiece.

Bangen likes the look of things heading into the stretch run of the season.

John Hamilton

HERE'S THE PITCH - Plains senior Jessica Thompson pitches against Troy last week. Also a standout track and field performer for Plains, Thompson pitched a 3-hitter and hit a home run in this game and will be counted on by both of her teams in the the next few weeks.

"We are feeling good and looking forward to the rest of it," she said. "If we can beat Loyola, Florence will be the only team in the division we haven't beaten yet, and that will be a good way to go into the tournament."