The Fayette Lady Falcons won their own tournament for the sixth-consecutive year on Saturday, outscoring opponents 43-2 in three games. Fayette eased past Sturgeon in round one of pool play 11-0 before dominating Slater 21-0 to move on to the championship game. 

Fayette took down Jamestown 11-2 in the nightcap to once again claim the tournament crown.

This was the fourth straight championship win for the Fayette seniors. Slugger Megan Lewis said she and the rest of the seniors on the team felt the pressure to win after doing so three straight years prior. “We didn’t have really any stress, per se, but we were really focused and determined to win,” she said.

The tournament championship came just one week after Fayette had won the New Franklin Tournament, which was also the fourth straight for the seniors. “It feels amazing. I have no words to describe how it feels to win this four times in a row,” Lewis said.

The senior third-baseman is leading the team at the plate with a batting average of .500 and a slugging percentage of .750. She has 22 hits in 44 at-bats with three home runs, a triple, and two doubles. She also has 23 RBI, second only to fellow senior Hannah Quint, who has driven in 30 runs so far in 17 games.

“I’m just trying to focus on one thing, and that’s the ball,” Lewis said. “Not trying to hit it over every single time.”

Against Jamestown Saturday, Lewis notched two hits in four at-bats, including a double in the first. She drove in two runs and scored twice.

“I’m really trying to focus on just getting base hits. I know Hannah [Quint] is going to hit me home if I get on base,” Lewis said.

That’s exactly what happened in the first inning in the championship game against Jamestown. With two outs, Lewis smashed a 1-1 pitch to center field for a double, then was driven home on a line-drive single to right field by Quint to put Fayette on the board first.

That one-run lead would remain until the third inning, when Fayette broke loose for four runs. Following a single by freshman Browyn Eubanks, senior Addison Newell delivered a hard shot to left field to drive in Fayette’s second run of the game.

Senior Preslee Sunderland then singled to put runners on the corners for the Falcons. 

Fayette’s aggressive baserunners were able to take advantage of one of four total errors committed by Jamestown. After reaching base on a single to right field, Lewis advanced to second, and two runs crossed the plate on an error by the Eagles.

Lewis later scored from third on a double to left field by freshman Leah Thies to push Fayette’s lead to five runs in the top of the third.

Fayette scored again in the fourth. After reaching on a line-drive single to right field, sophomore Cayle John rounded second and slid into third base on a sacrifice ground ball by Eubanks. She came home on another sacrifice grounder by Newell to put Fayette in front 6-0.

Fayette poured it on in the top of the sixth with three more runs. Eight players game to the plate for the Falcons in the inning, as errors piled up for Jamestown. Sophomore Skylar Sunderland led off with a line-drive single to center field. With two outs, sophomore Rylee Finley, courtesy running for pitcher Skylar Sunderland, scored from third on a wild pitch by the Eagles’ freshman pitcher Olivia Meisenheimer. Another error by Meisenheimer allowed sophomore courtesy runner Whitley Sunderland to score from third after stealing the bag three pitches prior.

Fayette would increase its lead to 9-0 on another error by the Jamestown pitcher. With two outs, Lewis reached base on the error, scoring Preslee Sunderland from third.

The Lady Falcons broke into double digits in the top of the seventh inning. John sent a fly ball to right field for a sacrifice RBI that scored senior Madi Lawson from third base. With two outs on the board, Newell drove in her game-high third run of the game with a ground-ball single to center field. 

Down 11-0 and facing the inevitable, Jamestown refused to roll over in the bottom of the seventh. The Eagles led off with a single. Later with two outs, the Eagles hit back-to-back doubles to score two runs. 

Fayette finally shut the door on ground ball to Fayette shortstop Preslee Sunderland who made the throw to Lawson at first base for the third and final out.

Despite the late rally by Jamestown, Fayette ace Skylar Sunderland said she felt no pressure in that final half inning. “We had 11 runs on the board. I wasn’t really nervous.”

Skylar improved to 10-2 on the season with the complete-game victory from the pitching circle. She struck out an incredible 14 Jamestown batters while allowing only two runs on four hits. She struck out the side in the third inning and delivered two strikeouts in the first, second, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings.

“I think it just shows that we can finish off games and that we don’t have to run-limit everybody. We can handle the pressure no matter what,” Sunderland said.

At the plate, Skylar helped her own cause, going 2-for-4. She hit one of her team’s four doubles on the day, along with Newell, Thies, and Lewis.

Newell led the Falcon hitting. The catcher and leadoff hitter finished 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Lewis, Quint, Thies, Lawson, and Eubanks all finished with two hits each in the game. Quint, Thies, and John each collected one RBI.

Game 1

Fayette 11

Sturgeon 0

The Fayette Lady Falcons won the opening round of their own tournament Saturday morning, 11-0 over Sturgeon, behind the steady hitting of senior Preslee Sunderland and the solid pitching of freshman Payton Kindle.

Preslee finished the day hitting 3-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored. A hard-hit ground ball double to left in the top of the fifth inning put two runners in scoring position for Fayette. 

The senior shortstop led three Falcons with multiple hits in the game. Leadoff hitter Addison Newell finished the day with two hits and one RBI. Junior Addison Powell delivered two hits and a run scored. 

Fayette power hitters Megan Lewis and Hannah Quint had one hit each on the day but combined for three RBI. Lewis’s single in the top of the first inning drove in the first two runs of the game for Fayette.

In the top of the fourth, Quint homered on a blast over the right-field fence to give Fayette a commanding 8-0 lead with one out. The solo home run with Quint’s fifth in 15 games.

Fayette scored 11 runs on 11 hits and drove in seven runs, with six walks and one strikeout. Freshman Leah Thies finished the game with one hit in two at-bats. She drove in a pair of runs and scored once and walked twice. Sophomore Skylar Sunderland rounded out the Falcon hitting with one hit in two at-bats and a run scored.

Kindle notched her third win of the season from the pitching circle with the morning shutout. She allowed only three hits all game and issued zero walks.

Game 2

Fayette 21

Slater 0

Fayette made easy work of the Slater Lady Wildcats, 21-0, in round two of pool play to advance to the championship game 

The Falcons scored 21 runs off of 10 hits and 13 walks in three innings. Fayette jumped ahead 5-0 in the first inning before exploding for 13 runs in the second. Three more runs in the top of the first ended the game after just three innings.

Senior Hannah Quint and sophomore Skylar Sunderland both hit triples. Quint finished with a game-high three RBI, followed by Sunderland and senior Megan Lewis with three each.

Freshman Payton Kindle earned her fourth win of the season from the pitching circle. She delivered two strikeouts while allowing zero hits, runs, or walks in two innings pitched.

Skylar Sunderland toed the rubber for one inning, allowing one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.

Fayette has now won 10 straight games with two tournament titles heading into the last eight games of the season. On Tuesday, they were set to host Knox County (5-4) in a Lewis & Clark contest after this newspaper had gone to press. On Thursday, they travel up Highway 124 to L&C rival Harrisburg (6-7) for the first of three away games. The Lady Falcons return home on Thursday, September 29, for a 5 p.m. conference game against Marceline. 

“I feel like we have such a good team,” Lewis said. “We have great chemistry as a team. We have each other’s backs. So we’re not stressed about anything.”