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Baseball: Important stretch of home games

Posted 4/19/22

The Fountain Hills High School baseball team beat region opponents Chino Valley and Bourgade Catholic last week, and the path to the playoffs remains challenging, but is in clear view.

The Falcons …

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Baseball: Important stretch of home games

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The Fountain Hills High School baseball team beat region opponents Chino Valley and Bourgade Catholic last week, and the path to the playoffs remains challenging, but is in clear view.

The Falcons got their third win in a row with a 14-1 victory at Bourgade Catholic last Wednesday, April 13. The Falcons had 10 team hits, and sophomore Ty Langer, junior Zack Mendello and senior Zack Langer all had two hits each.

Zack Langer led with three RBIs, and junior Kyle Biebrich had two RBIs on one hit. Sophomores Ty Flynn, Nathan Hughes, and Ty Langer each had one RBI, and freshman Cooper Loyet added one RBI on one hit.

The Falcons received eight walks from the Bourgade pitchers, and sophomores Lucas Williams and David Goldapper threw none in return. Williams allowed three hits and struck out two in four innings, and Goldapper struck out three and allowed zero hits in one inning.

The Falcons went to Bourgade Catholic with the same mentality they had for their home win against Chino Valley last Tuesday, April 12. Every game has playoff implications now, and every game matters.

“Same thing we did today,” Hughes said. “We played well. Defense did good, hitting did well. I’d say it’s the same approach for tomorrow.”

The Falcons beat the Cougars 7-5, and they survived a five-run inning in the top of the sixth.

“Walks, dropped a pop up, and they scored two with two outs,” head coach Bob Langer said. “So yeah, they should’ve had two or three. Anything in the air was an adventure today, with the wind blowing. They dropped some, we dropped some.”

The Falcons had their own four-run inning in the third, and they scored one run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-5. Chino Valley smelled blood in the water and got the bases loaded with one out in the seventh. Before the Cougars could score again, however, freshman Aidan Cronican took to the mound and got the Falcons out of trouble.

“Big time,” Langer said. “That’s a freshman coming in with bases loaded. Great job by him.”

Langer also praised Hughes for a good day on the mound. Hughes pitched 5.1 innings, allowed three hits, struck out nine and walked three. Senior Brogan Hardison pitched one inning and struck out two. Despite the shaky finish, Langer was pleased with the offensive output and defensive play by the Falcons at home.

“We scored in four of the six innings, so we kept the pressure on,” Langer said. “Flynn’s on fire. Tyler Flynn hitting did a real good job again today. They’re competing at the plate. Putting the ball in play. Pretty solid game, everything on the ground we made plays on.”

Flynn had two hits, including a double and two RBIs. Junior Devyn Hernandez had two RBIs on one hit, Mendello had one RBI on one hit, and freshman Lucas Grieco had one double and an RBI on one hit.

The Falcons are on a three-game winning streak and ranked No. 24 in the state as of this writing, which is high enough to qualify for the play-in tournament on Saturday, April 30. The Falcons are currently second in their region, but they have a tough stretch to finish the regular season.

Three of the Falcons’ final five opponents are ranked in the top 10 of 3A. Yesterday, Tuesday, April 19, the Falcons hosted No. 1 Northwest Christian. Tomorrow, Thursday, April 21, the Falcons host No. 3 Eastmark at 3:45 p.m.

This Friday, April 22, the Falcons host Wickenburg at 3:45 p.m. at the Fountain Hills Middle School baseball field. Next Monday, April 25, the Falcons travel to Camp Verde to play at 5:30 p.m. before hosting No. 7 Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in the regular season finale on Wednesday, April 27, at 4 p.m.