Fayette senior Skylar Sunderland led her team through a tight pitchers’ duel against one of the area’s best hurlers on Tuesday to defeat county rival New Franklin, 3-1, at home. The Falcon ace retired 11 batters on strikes while allowing just one earned run on four hits and a walk in a complete-game performance.

Fayette had lost to the Lady Bulldogs in a lopsided game in the semifinals of the Boonville Tournament to start the season. Sunderland said Tuesday’s redemption made the win even sweeter.

“It was super nice to get them back because we lost to them pretty badly. It was really nice to get that last out and to win against them,” Sunderland said after the game.

Tuesday’s game was the first time for Fayette to face New Franklin’s star pitcher. Senior Brynn Belstle has been on a hot streak and delivered a perfect five-inning performance against Westran in the championship game of the Lady Bulldogs’ tournament on Saturday. Belstle struck out 10 batters while allowing no runs, hits, or walks against the Lady Hornets.

“I have a lot of respect for her,” Sunderland said about Belstle. “It was nice because it was our first time ever seeing her. I told the girls before the game to just make contact. Don’t think anything of it. She’s just another pitcher. Just make contact, and we’ll get out of this game.”

Belstle cranked up her strikeout total to 13 against Fayette on Tuesday without allowing an earned run. She walked three batters and surrendered two hits. And four New Franklin errors helped contribute to three unearned runs.

New Franklin got on the board first. After three scoreless innings, Bulldogs’ junior third baseman CannaRassa Jennings belted a 1-2 pitch off the wall in right-center field to open the fourth inning with a leadoff triple. A sacrifice fly by senior Brooklynn Brown in the next at-bat plated the game’s first run.

In a pitchers’ duel, one run can often be the difference. But Fayette coach Bri Moore told her team to execute at the plate and answer back.

Belstle loaded the bases with two walks and hit batsman in the bottom of the fourth but delivered back-to-back strikeouts and induced a groundout to get out of the inning with three Fayette runners stranded on base.

She would not be as fortunate in the bottom of the fifth. Two consecutive errors allowed Fayette to put runners at the corners with no outs. Sophomore Brooklynn Wies then scored leadoff hitter Paige Vroman from third on a fly ball single to right field to tie the game.

Two batters later, with one out, Fayette senior Cayle John delivered a hard-hit ground ball to left field, sending Wies home for the go-ahead run. Wies then scored on a wild pitch in the following at-bat to give the Falcons a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth.

“We sometimes take a little while to wake up and get our bats rolling,” Sunderland said. “And when we did, and once I got a one-run lead, I knew I could handle it from there.”

Sunderland tightened the screws in the top of the sixth, striking out the first two New Franklin batters. Sophomore Kennedy Vroman made a routine ground-ball play at second base to make the last out of the inning, cutting the Bulldogs chances to one last half-inning to score.

Two more groundouts and a strikeout in the top of the seventh ended the game with Fayette on top 3-1.

New Franklin finished the game with four hits, two of which went for extra bases. Batting cleanup, Jennings led the lineup, going 2-for-3 with a triple, a single, and a run scored. Leadoff Lily Chitwood doubled on her only hit in two at-bats and stole two bases. Belstle helped her cause with a single, going 1-for-3.

First-year Fayette coach Bri Moore had nothing but positive things to say about her defense. After committing double-digit errors in Saturday’s tournament, the Falcons played a solid game, holding a hard-hitting New Franklin team to one run.

“I think with that pressure, they did great. Only allowing one run and runners in scoring position in multiple innings… that’s all I could ask for as a coach,” Moore said.

Leading the way was Sunderland’s outstanding pitching.

“Once she settled in a little bit more, it was lights out,” Moore said.” The 11 strikeouts bring a lot more confidence, knowing that she’s going to perform. I think we executed a lot more at-bats and on the field a lot more. We were behind our pitcher.”

Wies and John accounted for Fayette’s two hits, both RBI-singles in the three-run bottom of the fifth. Wies, Vroman, and senior shortstop Whitley Sunderland each scored a run.

But the Fayette lineup also struck out 13 times by Belstle’s outstanding pitching.

“We’ve never faced her,” Moore said. “We knew she was quick, and we knew she had a lot of movement, so that was what we’ve been working on. Executing that and seeing it in the in the strike zone, wherever it is.”

Tuesday’s game improved Fayette to 7-6 on the season and marks only the second loss for New Franklin against 10 victories so far this season. The Bulldogs have time to regroup before traveling to Ladonnia to face Community on Monday. They return home on Tuesday to host Glasgow.

Fayette faces two upcoming games against another area rival, Harrisburg. The two face off in Central State 8 action on Thursday in Harrisburg and are scheduled to play in the second round of pool play in the Fayette Tournament on Saturday.

“We played them over this summer, and there was definitely some competition there,” Moore said about facing Harrisburg. “It’ll be interesting to see how we have both progressed throughout the season. It’ll be a good game for sure.”

Tournaments’ have been a bit of an Achilles’ Heel for the Falcons this year. Fayette went 1-2 to start the season in the Boonville Tournament and finished with just one win and two losses last weekend in New Franklin.

Now, Fayette looks to reclaim their own tournament title. The Lady Falcons were in the hunt for their seventh straight championship last season when thunderstorms halted play in the second inning of a scoreless tournament final game against Jamestown last year. The game was never made up, so no championship was awarded.

Fayette opens Saturday’s tournament with a 9 a.m. game against Slater. The Falcons then face off against Harrisburg for the second time in three days at 12:30 p.m.