The Fayette Falcons have now won three straight games. After handling Slater 18-5 on Wednesday of last week, they returned home to escape with a two-run win at home over conference rival Westran on Thursday, 7-5. On Saturday, Fayette defeated Northwest at Mendon 10-2 to cap off the week.

Slater and Northwest are both Class 2 District 7 teams that Fayette could face again in the postseason.

The Falcons, now 6-4 overall, are having their best season since the team finished 9-9 in 2014. This marks the first six-win season since finishing 6-9 in 2019, and they are only halfway through the season. 

Second-year head coach Andy Oeth doesn’t think his team has played its best baseball yet and said he is having the most fun on the baseball field since his high school playing days.  

“It’s absolutely been a blast with these guys,” he said. “Baseball is changing here in Fayette. This isn’t just about this team; it’s about legacy. This is a special group. A lot of people have expectations for us this year because we are Fayette. And the fact of the matter is, we’ve broken those expectations. I’m really proud of them.”

Senior ace Haden Kelly picked up the win after pitching just 1.1 innings against Slater. The Fayette pitching staff won as a committee, with four players taking the mound. Moe Cisneros, Gage Sulltrop, and Alex McBain each pitched an inning. As a staff, they allowed five earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and 11 walks.

Fayette’s offense got back on track after a two-game slump, exploding for 14 hits. The Falcons drove in 16 of their 18 total runs while aggressive base running swiped eight bases. Kaleb Friebe led the charge, going 4-for-4 with three RBI, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Payton Oeth finished 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and a game-high four RBI. Leadoff hitter Gage Sulltrop went 2-for-3 with one RBI and a run scored. Thomas Elliott drove in three runs on a 2-for-4 performance with a double and a run scored. Kelly helped his own cause with one hit, an RBI triple in the top of the fifth. McBain, Cisneros, and Malakai Graves each produced one hit. Graves and Cisneros scored twice, while McBain scored once and recorded three RBI.

Fayette’s biggest test of the week came against Westran on Thursday. Kelly again picked up the win, his third of the season. He allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits in four innings on the mound. He issued five walks and struck out four. 

Fayette jumped ahead early with five runs in the bottom of the first as freshman Westran pitcher Gage Boeger struggled. After reaching base on a catcher’s interference call, Oeth then took third base on a fielder’s choice that landed Kelly on first. Oeth then stole home when Westran attempted to throw out courtesy runner Austin Kunze stealing second. 

Fayette went up 2-0 on an RBI single by Cisneros. Elliott then scored when Boeger issued a bases-loaded walk to Graves. Two more runs would score when Cisneros and Friebe crossed the plate on wild pitches. 

Westran got on the board in the second inning when second-baseman Connor Haynes unloaded on a 1-0 pitch, sending the ball over the left field wall for a solo home run.

The Hornets tied the game with four runs in the top of the third inning. This time it was Kelly who struggled with command on the mound. He walked three of the first four batters of the inning, then gave up a two-run double to Boeger on a line drive to left. After issuing his fourth walk of the inning, an infield error by the Falcons allowed two more runs to score, tying the game at five runs apiece.

Kelly buckled down and got out of the inning with a strikeout and a groundout.

Oeth said despite Kelly’s difficulties on the mound in the third, he trusted his ace to find a way out of the inning. “He’s a guy I trust to struggle. I’m not going to push the panic button if he walks a couple of guys.

“I told them when they tied it up, it’s 0-0, it was a new ball game,” Coach Oeth said. “We’re going to beat him the rest of the game, period. That’s our job.”

Kelly struck out two batters in the top of the fourth, with the third out coming on a fly ball to left, stranding two base runners that reached on a walk and a single.

The Fayette bats answered the call in the bottom of the fourth. Sulltrop led off with a triple on a fly ball to center that found the gap. The one-two punch at the top of the Falcons’ lineup delivered when McBain drove in Sulltrop for the go-ahead run with a ground ball that was mishandled by the Westran infield.

“He stroked it,” said Coach Oeth about Sulltrop’s three-base hit. “He’s got speed, and he can put the ball in play.”

Fayette added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on another bases-loaded walk. Caleb McComb took ball four on a 3-2 count, sending Elliott home to make the score 7-5. 

Fayette rallied on the strong relief pitching by Cisneros. The junior right-hander shut down the Westran offense in the final three innings of the game. He allowed just one hit but struck out three and issued zero walks to pick up the save. 

“He’s a good ballplayer, and he can really throw,” Coach Oeth said. “He’s a good shortstop and a good third baseman. He can play second if we need him to. He really can do anything. And he’s been a great addition to our pitching staff.”

The Falcons drove in four of their seven runs on six hits. They struck out five times and tallied 11 walks. Sulltrop led the offense, going 2-for-5 with a triple. Oeth finished 1-for-3. Elliott went 1-for-1 with three walks and two runs scored. Cisneros had one hit in three at-bats with an RBI and a run scored. He led the team in stolen bases with two.

Fayette won its third consecutive game on Saturday against Northwest in Mendon. The Falcons drove in seven of their 10 runs on five hits with nine walks. Payton Oeth picked up his second win of the season, striking out 11 batters in a complete-game performance on the mound. He allowed two runs (one earned) on just four hits in seven innings of work.

The Falcons scored 10 runs in the first four innings. Sulltrop had another multi-hit day, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, and had a team-best two stolen bases. Kelly, Oeth, and Cisneros each had one hit. Oeth drove in two runs. Cisneros finished with a game-high three RBI.

“Everything clicked into place today, including the weather,” Coach Oeth said about Saturday’s win. “Wins like this are important, not just for our squad but the program as a whole. Northwestern is another team that, since they have been on our schedule, we have failed to beat. So, a win like this says a lot things about who we are.”

The Falcons return to the diamond for three games this week, two of which are against Lewis & Clark opponents. On Tuesday, they were scheduled to host conference foe Knox County (10-4) at 5 p.m. at Estes Field. On Thursday, Fayette travels to L&C rival Harrisburg (6-3) at 5 p.m. The Falcons wrap up the week at Missouri Military Academy (4-4) on Friday. 

“We look forward to being challenged in the week ahead as we face two of our toughest conference foes,” said Coach Oeth.