Playing against Scotland County Monday evening the Fayette Falcon baseball team mounted a late comeback but fell short in the end, 12-7.

“We know we have a long way to go as a program,” said Fayette coach Andy Oeth. “So every game to us is an opportunity to get better. We keep preaching it, and I’m sure it’s cliché, but we want to get better every day. To get better every day, you’ve got to get better every single pitch, every at-bat. Sometimes that means that you struggle for six innings then come back in the bottom of the seventh.”

Fayette’s starting pitcher, junior Haden Kelly, gave up a leadoff double but struck out the next batter and enticed the following two batters to fly out to center.

Fayette then took an early lead in the bottom of the first when Kelly singled. Senior Chris Brown and junior Alex McBain followed with walks to load the bases.

Senior Tyler Bartholomew was hit squarely in the back with a pitch to bring in Kelly. Junior Gage Sulltrop then walked to force in Brown, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead.

Scotland County pulled to within one when a run in the second and added three more in the third. But Fayette came back in the bottom of the frame when McBain singled and was moved to second on a walk to Bartholomew. McBain and Bartholomew then executed a double steal, moving up to second and third. Sulltrop and junior Mason Sappington both walked, forcing McBain home to make the score 4-3 in favor of Scotland County. 

Scotland County added one run in the fourth, three in the fifth, and four in the sixth while holding Fayette scoreless to take a 12-3 lead into the seventh. 

With McBain on the mound in the seventh, Fayette held Scotland County scoreless after the first two batters had reached base. McBain struck out the third batter, induced the fourth to pop out to Brown at first, then retired the side on a strikeout to end the Scotland County half of the inning.

Never giving in, Fayette battled back in the bottom of the seventh with four runs on two doubles, two walks, and a hit batsman. Senior Dalton Collins provided one of the doubles along with Kelly. Sappington, senior Logan Wiswall, sophomore Jayden Shiflett, and Collins each crossed the plate in the inning to make the score 12-7. A flyout to first, a flyout to second, and a groundout to short ended the rally and the game for the Falcons.

Defensively, Falcon pitchers were the beneficiaries of some great defensive play. Twice during the game, left fielder Collins ranged to the left-field line to make fantastic catches, one of which he dove to make the catch for the out.

McBain had four running catches in centerfield to haul in potential hits.

In the sixth inning with a runner on third, a Scotland County batter hit a fly ball to shallow left field. Bartholomew, from his position at short, sprinted into the outfield and called for the ball. The Scotland County runner broke from third after seeing Bartholomew catch the ball. Bartholomew alertly fired the ball into the catcher Sulltrop who applied the tag to complete the double play.

On the offensive side, every Fayette batter reached base and seven scored. 

Kelly led the team with three hits including a double, going three-for-five on the night. Kelly struck out in the fifth which is notable only because it was the first time the junior has struck out in a varsity game.

Collins notched a double and Shiflett singled.

Fayette will travel on Thursday to take on Schuyler County in a 5 p.m. game.