The Fountain Hills High School softball team was eliminated from playoff contention, but that didn’t stop the Falcons from having fun and playing competitive ball with two top-ranked teams last week.

The Falcons fell 12-6 to No. 7 Northwest Christian on Tuesday, April 19, and they lost 11-8 to No. 9 Wickenburg last Friday, April 22, on senior night.

“That’s what’s different about this team,” head coach Lawrence Hughes said after Tuesday’s loss. “What’s amazing is they don’t give up. It’s just, we’ve got to start early. We’re digging ourselves out of our own hole that we create. We just have to figure that one out.”

The Falcons had five errors in the first two innings and allowed Northwest Christian to build a large 6-0 lead. The Falcons didn’t allow another run until the sixth inning, and the Falcons made it 6-4 in the fifth inning.

Senior Kalista Johnson got a base hit in the fourth inning and junior Mia Duda brought her home for the Falcons’ first run. The Falcons’ offense was in a groove, and they got the bases loaded in the next inning. Johnson stepped up and brought home freshman Shania Rivera, senior Nicolette Barker and sophomore Hailey Chandler with a triple to make it 6-4.

The Crusaders responded with another four-run inning in the sixth. They got one run early, and another three runs from a home run. The Falcons didn’t score in the following inning, and they let Northwest Christian score twice more in the seventh inning, but the Falcons scored two runs of their own to wrap things up.

Johnson got her fourth RBI of the evening by bringing Chandler home in the seventh. Johnson also stole home after an error by the catcher in the last inning.

“We’re fighters. It’s the Falcon way,” senior Michaela Quintana said.

“It was the same way for basketball season with us. Even when we got down to the wire, at the end of the season, we still went out and fought every game, every minute, like it was going to be our last.”

The seniors played their final home game of their high school careers last Friday against Wickenburg. The Falcons’ cheers were loud and proud, and some players waited until the end to cry, while others couldn’t hold back their emotions.

“One of our freshmen was crying the moment we got on the field today,” Quintana said. “There are relationships here that are unbreakable, and it’s going to be a tough season [next year] without us, heart-wise, but I think they’ll see what we did and see what they’re missing and find a way to keep it alive.”

The Falcons showed grit and determination on senior night, but they couldn’t quite keep up with the Wranglers. Wickenburg scored in four innings and the Falcons scored in three.

Wickenburg started with two runs in the first. After they built up a 5-0 lead in the third, the Falcons responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third. The Wranglers scored three runs each in the sixth and seventh innings, and the Falcons scored two runs in the sixth and three runs in the seventh.

The Falcons racked up 12 hits with Quintana, Duda, senior Gianna Barker and freshman Jordan Marcello each getting two hits. Gianna Barker and Duda each had two RBIs and Nicolette Barker threw five strikeouts to four walks. Against Northwest Christian, Nicolette threw two strikeouts and four walks.

The Falcons have two more games this week, both after press time. They traveled to Camp Verde this past Monday, April 25, and they travel to Tucson later today, April 27, to play Pusch Ridge Christian Academy at 6 p.m. in the last game of the regular season.

The Barker twins and Johnson have all played for the Falcons since their freshman years. Quintana joined her sophomore year after transferring to the school.

“With the way our school is, we’re all one big family,” Gianna Barker said. “We have a small school, and we all know each other and grew up with each other, and we fight until the end.”