The Fayette Lady Falcons opened the season with a 2-1 finish at the Boonville Tournament on Saturday. Fayette fell in the tournament opener to Class 5 Smith-Cotton, 8-0, before rallying back to defeat New Franklin 10-1 and Boonville 8-5.

Smith-Cotton 8

Fayette 0

Fayette had a chance to score early in a one-out situation with two runners in scoring position. Freshman Addison Gibbs, batting second, reached on a five-pitch walk and advanced to third on a double to right by junior Skylar Sunderland. But Smith-Cotton hurler Addison Snyder got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

Smith-Cotton scored its first run in the bottom of the second on a Falcon error.

The miscues continued to pile up in the third inning, allowing the Tigers to plate seven more runs on four walks and three errors without even registering a hit in the inning.

Fayette had one last chance to get on the board in the final half-inning of the game, the top of the fourth, before the time limit expired. Greycen Syferd reached on a walk, but Snyder retired three batters on strikes to end the game.

The Falcons committed four errors in the game behind Sunderland, who allowed just one earned run on three hits. She struck out four batters and issued five walks in her season debut.

The Falcons picked up just three hits, singles by senior leadoff hitter Addison Powell and junior Whitley Sunderland, and a double by Skylar Sunderland.

Fayette 10

New Franklin 1

Fayette reversed course in game two, defeating area rival New Franklin 10-1.

The Falcons scored three runs in the top of the first. Addison Powell led off with a walk on four straight pitches, then stole second. Whitley Sunderland then earned a walk after falling behind in the count. Both would score on a line-drive double by Addison Gibbs. Two batters later, she scored from second on a ground ball by Leah Thies.

Fayette added three more runs in the second on a pair of singles, a walk, a sacrifice, and two infield errors. Mariah Felten reached on an error to lead off the inning and then scored on another error during a sacrifice bunt by Paige Vroman.

Next, Addison Powell singled on a bunt before advancing to second on defensive indifference and took third on a passed ball. Whitney Sunderland was walked to put runners at the corners.

Powell scored during the next at-bat on a sacrifice fly by Addison Gibbs. Fayette followed up with a single by Skylar Sunderland to score Whitley Sunderland from third to go up 6-0.

New Franklin got on the board in the bottom of the third. Sophomore Lily Chitwood reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning. She stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Emersyn Eads before scoring on a wild pitch to plate the Lady Bulldogs’ only run of the game.

The Falcons added four more runs in the top of the fourth off singles by Gibbs and Leah Thies, along with two errors.

Skylar Sunderland allowed one earned run on just two hits to pick up her first win of the season. She walked one batter and struck out six.

The Falcons finished with six hits and five walks with just one strikeout. Gibbs led the team with the only multi-hit performance, going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI, and two runs scored. Powell, Skylar Sunderland, and Thies each recorded singles.

Chloe Chitwood took the loss for New Franklin after allowing six earned runs on six hits with one strikeout and five walks.

Chitwood recorded New Franklin’s only hit.

Fayette 8

Boonville 5

Fayette closed out the tournament with a big win over Class 3 Boonville, 8-5.

Skylar Sunderland led Fayette’s hitters with two hits, including a double, and four RBI in three at-bats. She also earned her second win from the pitching rubber, throwing the final three shutout innings of the game during which she allowed just one hit, no runs, and struck out three batters.

Sophomore Payton Kindle started the game for Fayette. She allowed five runs, of which four were earned, on five hits with a walk in one inning of work.

Fayette trailed 5-1 after one inning but rallied back in the second with five runs on four hits, including a two-RBI double by Skylar Sunderland, to take a one-run lead. The Falcons extended their lead with one run in each of the third and fourth innings to finish on top 8-5.

Fayette finished with five hits on the day. Addison Powell, Whitley Sunderland, and Addison Gibbs each singled. Whitley Sunderland and Gibbs had one RBI apiece.