The high school softball team ended the season on a high note, winning two games last week by wide margins. The Lady Falcons bested Gilbert Christian 20-4 on May 3 before topping AZ College Prep 14-1 on May 5.

This brought the season to a close at 1-8 in region play, 4-13 overall. While this means no trip to the postseason, the local squad had a big finish, winning the three last showdowns in a row, all in front of the hometown crowd.

Gilbert Christian

The Falcons began their final week of play on May 3, taking on the Gilbert Christian Knights. The local squad kept the Knights busy in the field, scoring two runs in the first, four in the second, and seven in both the third and the fourth. With the Knights only able to put up four runs of their own by the top of the fifth, the game was called at 20-4.

Head coach Randy Bragg highlighted Kimberly Hoyt’s performance at the plate, saying she helped lead the team to victory with four runs batted in. She drove runs in on a single in the first inning, a walk in the second, a double in the third and a hit-by-pitch in the fourth, just to keep things interesting.

“Nicolette Barker was the winning pitcher,” Bragg continued. “The righthander lasted five innings, allowing three hits and four runs while striking out four.”

The Falcons managed 13 hits on the day, with Sydney Loyet, Hoyt, Kalista Johnson and Michaela Quintana moving the ball the most for the Lady Falcons. In the field, the team managed to avoid committing even a single error.

AZ College Prep

Play resumed on May 5, with the Lady Falcons welcoming the AZ College Prep Knights to the home field for the final game of the season. Unlike the more spread out offensive performance from the previous game, the Falcons’ win against AZ College Prep was due to an especially successful inning, with a whopping 10 runs coming in the third.

The Falcons’ offense was led by Gianna Barker, Kalista Johnson, Sydney Loyet, Mia Duda and Sophia Buckley, all sending runners across the plate with RBIs peppered across the third inning.

Buckley was credited with the victory for Fountain Hills, allowing just two hits and one unearned run in the five innings of play, striking out three en route to the 14-1 victory.

While the majority of their runs come in the third, Bragg said the Falcon offense looked strong from the beginning.

“[We] socked three homeruns on the day,” he added. “Michaela Quintana and Mia Duda hit back-to-back homeruns in the first inning and Gianna Barker hit one in the third inning.”

Looking back over the season, Bragg said he is proud of how the girls managed to put together a strong finish.

“We won our last three games because our pitching and defense were relatively solid and our bats stayed hot,” Bragg said. “Sophia and Nicolette were both throwing strikes, which kept our defense ready as they made the plays behind them.”