Hawks gear up divisional

With five games played last week the Blue Hawk softball team was getting amped up and dialed in for divisionals. "We played together really well in all the games. We are playing together more than previous games which gives us some nice confidence going into divisionals," said Coach Jared Koskela.

On Thursday, Senior Night, the Hawks fell to Mission-Arlee-Charlo (MAC) 6-1. Honored were seniors Liv McCormick, who plays catcher, center field, and pitches for the team, and Cheyla Irvine who pitches, plays third base and left field.

With several highlights, the game kept fans enraptured. In the first inning both teams were phenomenal in the field with fast outs. An exciting second inning followed with a double out; Gabby Hannum with the out on first base and Mackenzie Robinson on second base. In the third inning, Teagan Saner hit a double and Olivia Harnett caught two fly balls. In the fifth inning Hannum got hit by the pitch then went on to steal second and third bases. In the sixth inning catcher Sarah Koskela ran after a MAC player, catching her in a suicide squeeze and pitcher Olivia Fitchett struck out two players for fast outs. Up to bat in the sixth inning, Irvine hammered a base hit and Fitchett made it home for a run to end the game.

The Blue Hawks knocked out six hits and grabbing bases were: Robinson, Harnett, McCormick, Irvine, Saner and Fitchett. MAC struck out 6 and got 11 hits.

On Friday the team traveled to Cut Bank. The first game against the Conrad CowDawgs was a 12-1 loss. "They had to be the best East side team there, so we were put to the test right away after a 4.5 hour drive," said Koskela.

Fitchett hit a double, Koskela stole bases, Robinson nabbed an RBI and McCormick struck out five of the CowDawgs. Grabbing bases were Koskela, Saner, Irvine, Fitchett, Brooklyn Cork and Robinson. The team had seven hits to Conrads 12 and the CowDawgs belted out three home runs.

Koskela said the team came back strong against the host, Cut Bank, grabbing 17 runs against their six. "That game was the most fun and Cut Bank is a good team. That game shows what damage we can do when we are hot."

The team came out strong with four runs in the first inning and 14 hits overall. Smacking out doubles were: Saner, Cork and Koskela and cracking a triple was Robinson. Fast on her feet, Saner stole three bases and Fitchett threw six strikeouts. "Dingers by Cork and Fitchett were highlights of the weekend," said Koskela.

On Saturday the team beat the Shelby Coyotes 12-0 in one and a half innings. Koskela's turbo pitches didn't give the Coyotes a chance for even one hit. Irvin and Cork hit doubles and seizing bases were: Irvine, Saner, Cork and Robinson. Quick-footed for the steals were: Fitchett, Koskela, and McCormick.

The last game against the Glasgow Scotties was a 7-4 loss for the Hawks in seven innings. Koskela said it was their most challenging game. "We were evenly matched and it came down to the last inning when we could have walked it off but we got our last three outs with two runners on base," said Koskela.

Batting doubles were Robinson and Harnett and stealth on their feet with the steals were: Fitchett, Koskela, McCormick, and Hannum. The Hawks busted out a total of nine hits. Harnett got 2 RBI's. Fitchett struck-out three and McCormick struck-out two. Making it to base were: Robinson, Harnett, Irvine, McCormick and Hannum.

"We feel good about being #2. We know we can hang with any of the teams at divisionals. I've always said softball is weird based on the fact that whoever adjusts to the field conditions, umps, and opposing pitchers will win the game regardless of who we play. That is our focus," said Koskela.

Starting in second seed, the Hawks will be playing in the divisional tournament Thursday-Saturday in Anaconda.