The Fountain Hills High School baseball team finished the regular season with a difficult loss at home.

Fountain Hills played against American Leadership Academy Gilbert on Monday, April 22, with the local boys going on to lose the game 7-4.

FHHS played in the first round of the state playoffs on Tuesday, April 30, against Show Low.

If the Fountain Hills baseball squad wins its game against Show Low they will play in the second round of the playoffs on Saturday, May 4, at Surprise Baseball Complex starting at 11 a.m.

For the majority of the April 22 game, the Falcons had the upper hand on a team that head coach Joe Merklin considers one of the best in the division.

Senior Elijah Vargas was on the mound for the first six innings and was able to shutout ALA while the Falcons scored four runs.

Then in the top of the seventh, Merklin had to pull Vargas who had hit his pitch count for the week. Then, as Merklin puts it, “the wheels fell off.”

Instead of nabbing the three outs to finish the game, well-placed hits from ALA and errors by the Falcons allowed the visiting team to score seven runs.

The Falcons were unable to rally in the bottom of the seventh.

Thanks to northern schools having to reschedule some of their earlier season games for the week of April 22, the Falcons had a week to put the tough loss behind them before the postseason started.

“After Monday’s game we had two days off to reset,” Merklin said. “Then we practiced Thursday and Friday night and a team dinner on Friday to help settle and get in that team mindset.”

Merklin believes that the guys have put the April 22 game behind them and said he felt confident going into Tuesday’s game.

“I told the guys that this is a new season, that everyone is starting 0-0,” Merklin said. “I think we have a legitimate chance to beat Show Low; all the guys have to do is show up and play.”