The Fountain Hills High School varsity baseball team lost two games at home last week, but they won their final game of the week on senior night. The one constant across all three games was sophomore Ty Langer, who hit a home run in each of the three games.

The Falcons started the week with a 12-1 loss to No. 1 Northwest Christian. The Falcons struggled against the Crusaders’ pitching and only managed three hits. Langer accounted for two hits, one being a single and the other a home run.

The Falcons used four pitchers against the top-ranked region opponent. Sophomore Lucas Williams threw one walk and one strikeout in two innings, sophomore David Goldapper threw four walks and three strikeouts in one inning, alongside two outs, freshman Aidan Cronican threw three walks and two strikeouts in one inning, and sophomore Nathan Hughes pitched an inning plus one out.

The Falcons put up a better fight against No. 6 Eastmark on Thursday, April 21, but their four runs in the sixth inning were too little, too late. The Falcons struggled to get on base earlier in the game, and finally put a rally together when they were all engaged.

“We need to be engaged every pitch from when the game starts, and it was a great example today how we turned it up in the last half of the game because everyone was into it,” senior Zack Langer said. “We didn’t start all into it.”

One of the more vocal players from the start of Thursday’s game was freshman Zion Sidhu. Sidhu sat in the dugout for the first few innings, telling teammates what he saw, but then Sidhu capitalized on the opportunities he had later in the game.

Sidhu had a single base hit on his only at bat in the sixth inning, which contributed to the Falcons’ four runs that inning. Sidhu also ran home after Eastmark’s third basemen made an error. In the seventh inning, Sidhu found himself in position to make the final out by fielding a pop fly in right field.

“He had an awesome game,” Zack Langer said about Sidhu. “It’s hard to come off the bench like that and perform that way, and it honestly reminds me of myself freshman year, which is really cool. When I got in, I was just battle, battle, battle. He came in with a good mindset. Just because you’re on the bench doesn’t mean you’re not going to play. He probably didn’t think he was coming in, and he was one of the biggest parts of the game.”

Hughes and Cronican each pitched three innings against Eastmark. Hughes threw one walk and three strikeouts, and Cronican threw one of each. Goldapper pitched one inning.

The Falcons had another slow start against region opponent Wickenburg last Friday, April 22. The Wranglers put up three runs in the first inning and led most of the game until the final run of the afternoon.

The Falcons put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning, bringing the game to 3-2. The Wranglers scored two runs in the fifth and the Falcons tied it 5-5 with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Falcon defense held down the fort until Hughes would get the walk-off run by stealing home in the seventh.

Hughes took some contact from the catcher and stayed down after, but he managed to score and walk away on his own power. Pitching coach Paul Langworthy said he wasn’t surprised to see Hughes go for the steal that won the game.

“I will tell you, if anybody has competitiveness get in the way, it’s him,” Langworthy said. “He’s overly competitive, and competitive to a fault, and if anybody did that, it’d be him.”

The Falcons put up nine team hits against the Wranglers, led by Zack Langer with three. Langer also added one RBI, and Ty Langer had two hits and two RBIs. Senior Brogan Hardison added a double on senior night as well.

Zack Langer hit his first and only home run of his high school career earlier this year. When asked about his brother’s three home runs in as many games, Langer spoke to how different the brothers are.

“It’s cool that we’re not the same player,” Zack Langer said. “That’s not my game, he’s always hit three or four while I’m hitting one or two. We’re brothers, but we’re so different when the game comes to it, and it’s cool to see him really unleash it sophomore year. It’s good that he’s learning just like everyone else, but he’s got big things coming.”

Williams and Goldapper handled all the pitching duties last Friday. Williams threw two walks and two strikeouts through the first four innings and one out, and Goldapper finished the afternoon with two walks and seven strikeouts.

This past Monday, April 25, the Falcons traveled to Camp Verde after press time. Today, Wednesday, April 27, the Falcons host Pusch Ridge Christian Academy at 4p.m. for the final regular season game at the Fountain Hills middle school baseball field.