Carrying a 17-game winning streak into senior night can be a daunting task, but the Fayette Lady Falcons faced the challenge head-on by defeating the Pilot Grove Tigers 8-6. With a standing-room only crowd filling the confines of their home field to honor the three seniors, the Lady Falcons managed to grab their 21st win of the season with a combination of pitching, offense, and speed. They also became proud owners of an 18-game winning streak.

With only one blemish on their season record against 21 wins, Fayette showed a high degree of confidence going into the game. On September 28, the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association had named the Lady Falcons the No. 1 Class 2 team in the state. Losing only to Columbia’s Class 5 Battle High School (17-8), the Lady Falcons are soaring. “Being ranked first is a great accomplishment for us,” said senior Bella Asbury. “We just need to keep working hard and playing like I know we can.”

In Monday’s home finale, Pilot Grove came out roaring, taking an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Fayette junior Hannah Quint knotted the game at one each with a home run to center in the bottom of the second. Classmate Madi Lawson then drew a walk and stole second, followed by a walk of Skylar Sunderland.  Senior ace Jordyn Ball then hit right back to the pitcher who failed to get the out on a throw to third to load the bases for Fayette.

After a strikeout, sophomore Kaylea Felten popped up to the shortstop who, perhaps intentionally, dropped the ball to attempt a double play. The Pilot Grove shortstop tossed to second for the forceout then the second baseman tried to throw out Skylar Sunderland at third. While the out on Sunderland was recorded, it did not occur until the speedy Lawson had already crossed the plate giving Fayette the 2-1 lead.

That lead was not to last long. Pilot Grove came back to score two runs in the top of the third to take a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the third, junior catcher Addison Newell led off with a single then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Preslee Sunderland. Newell then advanced to third on an error by the third baseman and scored on a passed ball tying the score once again at three. Quint followed with a walk then stole second and third. When the ball got past the third baseman, Quint jumped to her feet and scored the go-ahead run. Fayette then led 4-3. 

Pitching and defense ruled the fourth inning as neither team was able to scratch out a run. Pilot Grove pushed a run across in the top of the fifth to draw even at four going into the bottom of the fifth.

The bottom of the fifth opened with a walk and a steal by Newell. She advanced to third on a sacrifice by Preslee Sunderland. Junior Megan Lewis reached base when she was hit by the pitch to load the corners for Fayette. Lewis then took second while Newell scored when the third baseman missed the throw. After working the count to 2-2. Quint then hit her second home run of the night off the scoreboard in left field to drive in herself and Lewis, making the score 7-4 in favor of the Lady Falcons. 

“Tonight was a tough game,” said Quint. “We were able to pull through and it was nice to see the team work together through all the ups and downs.”

Following a strikeout for the second out, Skylar Sunderland and Ball walked. Junior Leah Lembke ran for Skylar Sunderland and freshman Whitley Sunderland ran for Ball. Lembke advanced to third on a passed ball. With senior Bella Asbury at the plate, the two runners executed a double steal. Lembke scored to make the score 8-4 after five innings.

With Ball in the pitching circle, Pilot Grove’s first two batters went down on strikes to open the sixth paving the way for an easy inning for the Lady Falcons. But the next batter reached base on an error and the following two batters drew walks to load the bases. Pilot Grove then scored two runs on a defensive error by Fayette making the score 8-6.

Fayette was not able to add insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth so the Lady Falcons needed to make quick work of the Tigers in the top of the seventh to nail down the victory. The Tigers were not going away without a fight. With two outs the third Tiger batter took Ball to a full count before finally striking out looking to end the game.

Jordyn Ball struck out 14 batters in seven innings of work. She allowed six hits on only four hits and five walks. Ball faced 34 batters.

Hannah Quint led the offense going two-for-two with two home runs and three RBI’s. 

Addison Newell singled, while Ball, and Kaylea Felten each had doubles.

Fayette now stands at 21-1 with a busy week ahead of them. The Falcons were set to face conference rival Salisbury (12-7) on the road Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press. On Thursday Fayette heads to Marceline to make up a rained-out game from last week. The Class 2 District 3 tournament will begin on Tuesday, October 12 in Harrisburg. The brackets have yet to be revealed. In addition to Fayette and Harrisburg (6-13), Montgomery County (14-6), New Bloomfield (11-8), North Callaway (4-11), Salisbury (12-7), and South Callaway (6-9) will compete for the district title. 

“I thought tonight’s game was a challenge,” said senior Jordyn Ball. “But that’s what we need going into a hard district and we battled through and I’m proud of my team.”

On the season, Jordyn Ball has taken the lion’s share of the pitching duties for Lady Falcons. She has thrown 109.2 of the team’s 131 innings. Backup hurler Skylar Sunderland has thrown the remaining 21.1 innings. 

Facing 410 batters, Ball has given up only 41 hits and 16 earned runs, earning an ERA of 1.02. She strikes out an average of 1.57 batters per inning with a whopping 206 Ks on the year. 

Sunderland has struck out 38 of the 97 batters she has faced with an ERA of 1.31 She has averaged 1.8 strikeouts per inning. 

Offensively, the Lady Falcons has been paced by shortstop Preslee Sunderland. She is currently batting .500 with a .571 on-base percentage. She has stolen 26 bases and scored 36 runs.

Megan Lewis is currently hitting a .435 pace with 13 singles, 13 doubles, three triples, and one home run. She also leads the team in RBIs with 31.

Hannah Quint leads the team in at-bats with 74 and is hitting at a.432 clip. She has 32 hits and leads the team with three home runs, and follows Lewis very closely with 28 RBI’s.

Addison Newell is hitting .338 with 24 hits. 

Bella Asbury and Madi lawson are each hitting .333. Lawson has driven in 18 runs to go along with Asbury’s 14.

Ball and Skylar Sunderland each have picked up 17 hits for a .274 average.

As a team, the Falcons are hitting at a .354 average with an on-base percentage of .454, striking out only 90 times.

With the No.1 ranking, the Lady Falcons know they have a target on their backs. “I think this week will be a challenge with Salisbury and Marceline, but it will be good,” said Ball. “We are a good squad with good girls. Being ranked No. 1 is an honor and I hope we can continue to play up to that level. I’m proud of the hard work my teammates put in and couldn’t do any of it without them.”