The Fayette Lady Falcons committed six errors in a 15-5 loss to New Bloomfield in the championship game of the New Franklin Tournament on Saturday evening.

Fayette, the two-time defending champion, cruised to the final game with a pair of early-round shutouts. The Falcons dropped Madison 16-0 in three innings before dispatching Jamestown 10-0 in a five-inning semifinal.

But Fayette’s defense broke down in the championship game. It was the second game against New Bloomfield in less than a week. On Tuesday, the Lady Falcons defeated the Lady Wildcats 3-2 in New Bloomfield. 

“We didn’t play as solid of defense as we have before. We played them twice this week. And it went a lot differently a few days ago,” said Fayette coach Mike James.

New Bloomfield took an early lead in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles and a two-RBI single. Fayette got one run back in the bottom of the inning. Senior Addison Powell scored from third base when New Bloomfield sophomore catcher Myah Briggs threw out Whitley Sunderland stealing second.

New Bloomfield scored twice more in the top of the second to take a 4-1 lead. The Lady Falcons cut the lead to two runs in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore catcher Leah Thies led off with a line-drive double to left field. Courtesy runner sophomore Hailey Kuster then scored on a sacrifice groundout by Mariah Felten.

The New Bloomfield bats continued to rattle over the final four innings of the game. The Lady Wildcats plated two runs in the fourth and three runs in each of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings.

Fayette scored one run in the bottom of the fourth. Thies singled for her second hit of the day with a ground ball to center. Kuster then scored on a ground ball single by junior Cayle John.

Trailing 15-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Fayette scored two more runs but could not trim the lead to single digits. Fayette loaded the bases with two walks and a single. Freshman Addison Gibbs then singled to score Paige Vroman from third and Powell from second.

“They’re good. They are a solid, good team,” James said after the game. “Unfortunately, today wasn’t our day. We didn’t do a good job defensively to back up our pitcher. And we didn’t do a good enough job stringing hits together.”

Junior Skylar Sunderland took the loss for Fayette. She allowed five earned runs on 14 hits and a walk and struck out eight batters in 4.2 innings. 

Sophomore Payton Kindle gave up five earned runs on eight hits in two innings of relief.

Fayette recorded eight hits but struck out nine times. Powell and Thies finished with two hits apiece. Whitley Sunderland, Gibbs, Skylar Sunderland, and John each had one hit. Gibbs recorded two RBI, while John and Felten each drove in one run.

Fayette was set to return to New Franklin with a regular-season game against the Lady Bulldogs after the Advertiser went to press on Tuesday. The Lady Falcons return home Wednesday and Thursday to take on Russellville (1-4) and Westran (5-3), respectively. On Saturday, Fayette hosts its own tournament. The bracket had not been released by the time the Advertiser went to press Tuesday morning.