Fayette won its second consecutive home game by way of an extra-innings walk-off by sophomore Kaleb Friebe on Monday. 

The victory welcomed a burgeoning Fayette team back to the win column after a 7-0 loss to Harrisburg on Thursday and a 12-10 loss Friday at Missouri Military Academy.

Fayette’s previous win came against Lewis & Clark foe Knox County on Tuesday, April 18. That game took extra innings to decide as well. In the bottom of the ninth, tied 2-2 with two outs and facing a 3-2 count, Friebe hit a line drive to right field to score junior Moe Cisneros for the winning run.

Fayette found itself in a similar situation during Monday night’s conference bout against Paris. Tied 2-2 after regulation, Fayette loaded the bases on three straight walks from left-handed Paris reliever Evan Smothers to load the bases with no outs. The Falcons had Chase Allen-Jackman, one of the fastest high school players in the state, on third base, and once again, Friebe was at the dish.

The Coyotes decided the situation warranted a pitching change and called right-hander Leo Bounds to the mound. Fayette took the opportunity to huddle while the new pitcher warmed up.

Falcons coach Andy Oeth said he considered several options with Jackman just 90 feet from home plate. “Something we considered was maybe we could squeeze, or maybe we could suicide squeeze,” he said.

But in the end, Oeth elected to take the calm advice from starting pitcher Haden Kelly.

“We started noticing that their pitcher was having trouble finding the strike zone. It was Haden who said, ‘He hasn’t thrown a strike yet. Let’s let Kaleb see if he can hit it.’ And that’s what we did.”

On a 2-1 count, Friebe lifted the ball into deep left field, allowing Jackman to easily score from third on the tag-up and give Fayette a much-needed conference win.

“Friebe did it again, just like he did against Knox,” Oeth said. “He got under the ball to get a sack fly, and I’m proud of him. He executed the way we hoped he could.”

But despite the thrilling ending, Oeth said his team should have put the game away much earlier. The Falcons entered the game with seven wins on the season, compared to Paris, which has struggled this season with only two wins. But the Coyotes weren’t going down without a fight. 

Paris laid down nine hits against Fayette’s ace. Many of which were shallow flies that dropped in the gaps.

“They were putting tough pitches into tough places to catch,” Oeth said.

After two scoreless innings, Paris broke onto the scoreboard in the top of the third on three singles and a Fayette error. 

The Falcons answered with one run in the bottom of the inning. Senior Caleb McComb walked and advanced to second when Cisneros was plunked. He then scored on a ground ball by Gage Sulltrop that was mishandled by the Paris shortstop.

The Falcons tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. Friebe led off the inning with a single and stole second base. He scored on a ground-ball sacrifice by McComb to make the score 2-2.

The game would remain knotted up over the next three and a half innings. Fayette starter Haden Kelly allowed four hits but no runs in those final frames. 

After seven innings on the mound, Kelly had thrown 92 pitches. But as the tied score brought on an eighth inning, he was back at the center of the diamond.

“I thought that if he could do it quickly, we would be good to go,” Oeth said about keeping Kelly in the game. “He did what we’ve come to expect from him in tough situations. He’s a guy I trust to hit his pitch max if we need him to.”

Kelly gave up a single but induced two flyouts and a popout in the top of the eighth inning, facing just four batters.

“He was very efficient and kept runs low,” Oeth said. “They got a few hits off of them. I’m very confident of him in those situations. If he has to go long, I trust that he can do that.”

Kelly earned the complete-game win after allowing just one earned run on nine hits with two walks and five strikeouts. It was the senior righty’s fourth win in seven starts.

Smothers took the loss for Paris after hitting a batter and issuing two consecutive walks on eight straight balls.

Paris starter Colton Poddany, a right-handed senior, allowed one earned run on four hits and two walks with five Ks.

Monday’s game was a contest filled with missed opportunities for both teams. Paris stranded 11 players on base. The Falcons left five players on base.

“It’s been our ailment all year. For some reason, we can’t get hits with guys in scoring position,” Oeth said. “We had a lot of opportunities to put it away early.”

Cisneros led Fayette at the plate, hitting 1-for-3 with a double. Friebe finished 1-for-3 with the team’s only stolen base and drove in the winning run. Alex McBain had one hit in three at-bats. Sulltrop finished 1-for-4.

Oeth and the Falcons have now earned their eighth win of the season, the most since Fayette went 9-9 in 2014. Fayette has not won more than nine games, stretching back to the 1990s.

Fayette was set to open a three-game road trip on Tuesday night at Jamestown after the Advertiser had gone to press. The Eagles held a record of 4-9 entering Tuesday’s game. Fayette has lost the last five meetings against Jamestown, dating back to 2017.

Wednesday, Fayette travels to conference rival Marceline.

“Those are two places where our club has not had a lot of success,” Oeth said. “Jamestown is one that we should have beaten every time we’ve been there.”

Next Tuesday, the Falcons close out road play with a 5 p.m. game at conference powerhouse Salisbury. They return home May 4 to post Prairie Home/Bunceton for the first of four home games to close the regular season.