The Fayette softball team won its season debut over Wright City, 6-3, on Saturday in the opening round of the Boonville Tournament but fell to the host team after a late rally and lost the third-place game to nearby rival New Franklin to begin the season 1-2 overall.

Fayette hoped to have a final tuneup before the start of the season, but the Lady Falcons’ jamboree was canceled last Tuesday due to high temperatures.

This marks the first season at Fayette for coach Bri Moore and her first season as a head coach. She arrives just as Fayette is transitioning to a new conference, the Central State 8.

Wright City 3

Fayette 6

After trailing by two runs after the first, Fayette strung together back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth to open the season with a 6-3 win over Wright City in the opening round of the Boonville Tournament on Saturday.

Falcon ace Skylar Sunderland opened her senior season with a 10-strikeout performance while surrendering just two earned runs on five hits with no walks.

Three of those hits came in the first inning. Wright City put its first two runners on the corners with a leadoff double and a single. Both would score on a one-out fly ball single to center field.

Fayette answered in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff single by senior Whitley Sunderland, followed by a double to center by senior Cayle John. A walk to junior catcher Leah Thies loaded the bases.

A sacrifice fly to right field by Skylar Sunderland allowed Whitley Sunderland to score from third for the Lady Falcons’ first run of the season. Senior Rylee Finley then smashed a two-base fly ball to center field to score John and courtesy runner Kennedy Vroman to put Fayette in front 3-2.

Wright City tied the game at three-all in the top of the fifth. After bunting on to first base, the Lady Wildcats’ shortstop stole second, then scored on a Fayette error to even the score.

Fayette took advantage of three errors by Wright City to take a three-run lead in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on, an error on a ground ball hit by Thies allowed baserunners Whitley Sunderland and Cayle John to score, with Thies landing on second. She then scored on another error on a fly ball from Skylar Sunderland to give Fayette a three-run cushion.

Skylar Sunderland closed out the game in the top of the sixth, inducing ground outs for the first two outs. She then caught the final batter looking with a strike on a full count to clinch the win.

Fayette 5

Boonville 6

After Fayette took a 5-2 lead midway through the fifth inning, Boonville rallied with three runs in the bottom of the frame to tie the game and walked off with a run scored on a Lady Falcons’ error for a chance to play for the tournament title.

Boonville went on to finish runner-up after falling to Kirksville 15-1 in the tournament final.

Boonville took a two-run lead in the bottom of the first after leading off with a double and two singles. 

Fayette got onto the scoreboard in the top of the third after John reached first on a line drive to center field. She crossed the plate when the Boonville infield mishandled a pop-fly by Finley with two outs.

The Lady Falcons strung together a pair of doubles and a single in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Thies led off with a line-drive double, followed by an RBI single by Skylar Sunderland to even the score at 2-2. 

Finley then gave Fayette two runners in scoring position with a two-base liner to center field. Sophomore Brooklynn Wies drove in both runners with a fly-ball single to right, then scored on a pair of infield errors by the Lady Pirates to give Fayette a 5-2 lead.

Boonville tied the game in the bottom of the inning with one swing of the bat. With two runners on base thanks to a walk and an infield error, Lillian Newham blasted a line drive to center for a three-run homer to knot the score at five-all.

Fayette stranded two runners on base in the top of the sixth with a pair of fly-outs and a line-out that ended the inning.

Boonville rallied once again in the bottom of the sixth and final inning, leading off with a single by Kameryn Sosa. She plated the winning run on back-to-back Fayette errors to send the Lady Pirates to the title game.

Sunderland took the loss for Fayette after pitching the final one-and-a-third innings for the Falcons. She allowed just two runs (1 earned) on three hits while striking out three of nine batters faced.

Starting in the circle for Fayette was junior Payton Kindle. In four innings, she allowed four runs (3 earned) on four hits and two walks and retired two batters on strikes.

At the plate, John and Wies led the way with two hits each. Wies finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. John went 2-for-4 with a run scored and swiped a base. Paige Vroman, Thies, Finley, and Skylar Sunderland each had one hit. Thies and Finley both doubled.

Fayette 4

New Franklin 13

The Lady Bulldogs were dialed in against Fayette pitching, scoring nine runs over the third and fourth innings en route to a dominant 13-4 victory.

New Franklin finished the game with 14 hits, with multi-hit games by Lily Chitwood, Emerson Eads, Brynn Belstle, and CannaRassa Jennings. Leading off, Chitwood finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Jennings drove in three runs with a 3-for-4 performance and scored two runs batting cleanup. Eads went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Belstle drove in a game-high four runners while batting 2-for-3 and scoring twice.

Sophomore Callie Chitwood earned the win from the circle for the Lady Bulldogs with a complete-game performance. She struck out four batters in six innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits without issuing a walk.

Despite displaying legitimate power at the plate, Fayette couldn’t string enough hits together to plate more than four runs. Paige Vroman led off the game with a double to center field but was picked off a second base. With two outs, John doubled on a fly ball to left but would remain stranded on base.

Leading off the second inning, Finley rocketed a line drive to center field for the game’s only triple. She scored the game’s first run when Emma Hilgedick laid down an sacrifice ground ball.

Fayette opened a three-run rally down 10-1 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. With the bases loaded, John sent a hard-hit ground ball to center field to drive in three runs. But the comeback ended when John recorded the third out while trying to advance to third.

New Franklin added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 13-4 win for the third-place trophy. 

Sunderland took her second loss of the weekend after allowing nine runs (8 earned) off 10 hits with two walks and two strikeouts over the first four innings. Kennedy Vroman surrendered four runs (3 earned) on four hits with two walks and a strikeout in the final frame.

Fayette, now 1-2, was set to open its home schedule against Class 5 Battle on Tuesday. The Lady Falcons travel to Sturgeon on Thursday before getting a rematch at Boonville on Monday.

Fayette returns home to face its first Central State 8 Conference opponent, New Bloomfield, next Tuesday. Games begin at 5 p.m.