Fourteen games into their 24-game season, the Fountain Hills High School baseball team finally had its first home game last week. The Falcons ended a three-game losing streak with a 14-1 win over …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Fourteen games into their 24-game season, the Fountain Hills High School baseball team finally had its first home game last week. The Falcons ended a three-game losing streak with a 14-1 win over Bourgade Catholic on Tuesday, March 29.
“It’s big,” sophomore Ty Langer said. “I feel like we needed it. We needed a home crowd.”
The Falcons had a slow start, save for senior Zack Langer, but the team exploded for 12 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Zack Langer hit a triple on his first at bat and stole home to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the first, and he also hit his first career out-of-the-park home run in the fourth inning.
The Falcons described their hitting as contagious, and they had 11 total hits and 11 RBIs against the Golden Eagles. Ty Langer had three RBIs and three hits, including a double and triple, and Zack Langer had two hits and three RBIs.
“Yeah, we get competitive with each other, but at the same time, we focus more on helping each other out,” Ty said about his brother. “If he hits a triple, I’ll try to hit him in, so he gets the batting average and I get the RBIs.”
Ty Langer follows his older brother in the lineup, but besides their hitting, the Falcons also got a great showing from a freshman pitcher last Tuesday. Aiden Cronican pitched all five innings, threw 11 strikeouts, and didn’t have any walks or errors on the day.
“I had my stuff,” Cronican said. “I didn’t walk anyone, so I think that was the reason I stayed in so long. I was hitting all my locations.”
Head coach Bob Langer liked what Cronican was able to do on the mound because the week before, the Falcons lost twice due to their pitching. Combined, the Falcons gave up 22 walks and hit seven batters in their 7-5 loss to San Tan Foothills and 7-3 loss to Chino Valley.
“We have good defenders, and our hitting will come, but we have to throw strikes,” Bob Langer said.
The Falcons only struck out twice against Bourgade. Junior Devyn Hernandez, freshmen Cooper Loyet and Zion Sidhu all had one RBI on one hit, and senior Andy Lloyd had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Sophomore Nathan Hughes had three hits and one RBI.
Pitching was also on the minds of Falcons after the win, because they were preparing for their toughest opponent yet. Last Thursday, March 31, the Falcons lost 14-0 at No. 1 Northwest Christian. The Falcons threw one strike and struck out 10 times against the top-ranked Crusaders.
“We saw the best pitcher we’ll see all year, unless he pitched Tuesday,” Ty Langer said.
Ty Langer said the coaches handle scouting reports ahead of games, but he could tell the Crusaders would be tough just by looking on MaxPreps. Northwest Christian lived up to the hype, and the Falcons aimed to bounce back against No. 18 Wickenburg yesterday, Tuesday, April 5.
This Friday, April 8, the Falcons will host Camp Verde at 3:45 p.m. at Fountain Hills Middle School. Next Tuesday, April 12, the Falcons will host Chino Valley at 3:45 p.m.
Fountain Hills is currently 1-2 in region play, and only Northwest Christian is undefeated in conference play so far. Wickenburg and Camp Verde are both 2-1 and Chino Valley is 1-2 in region play, so the Falcons could adjust their standings with a win at any point.
Including Camp Verde and Chino Valley, the Falcons have eight games remaining in the regular season. They will play each region opponent two times, and the Falcons also have two non-region games left against Eastmark and Pusch Ridge Christian Academy.
