After leaning on its pitching for the first four games this season, the South Whidbey High School baseball team turned to its offense to win two games over the weekend.

The Falcons finished a three-game sweep of Granite Falls by beating the host Tigers 12-7 Friday, March 22, and then defeated visiting Bellingham 12-9 Saturday.

Playing four games in six days last week thinned out South Whidbey’s pitching, according to coach Tom Fallon. The Falcon pitchers tossed shutouts in the first four games this year but were hampered by control issues in the last two.

South Whidbey plays a three-game North Sound Conference series with King’s this week. The teams play at 4 p.m. in Langley on Monday and Friday, March 25 and 29, and at Shorewood High School Wednesday.

South Whidbey 12, Granite Falls 7

The game was called because of darkness in the top of the sixth inning. The Falcons scored twice in the sixth and had runners at second and third when the game was called. The runs were erased because the contest, by rule, reverted back to the last full inning.

South Whidbey scored six runs in the top of the first. After Alex Black opened the game with a base hit, Drew Fry, Jon Bartel and Kody Newman followed with consecutive RBI singles. Later in the inning, singles by Luke Rookstool and Ethan Petty and an error resulted in two more runs.

After the Tigers cut the lead in half, the Falcons added three runs in the fourth on three walks and an error.

South Whidbey tacked on its final three runs in the fifth with the help of singles by Rookstool, Nick Black and Bartel.

Bartel, Newman and Rookstool each finished with two hits.

Fry, Petty and Brent Batchelor combined to pitch a three-hitter and strike out 10 but were hurt by nine walks.

South Whidbey 12, Bellingham 9

The Falcons built a 12-2 lead and then Bellingham made it interesting in the top of the seventh by scoring seven runs.

South Whidbey pitchers Bartel, Alex Black and Newman didn’t give up a hit until the seventh (Bellingham finished with only two in the game) but surrendered 13 walks, eight of which scored.

The Falcon offense provided plenty of cushion by scoring in every inning but the first.

In the second inning, the Raider pitchers had their own control problems when four walks and an Alex Black single turned into three runs.

Bellingham scored two runs in the third inning, and South Whidbey quickly got them back and two more. Newman, Rookstool, Fry and Bartel singled and Alex Black doubled in the inning.

Batchelor singled and Dexter Jokinen doubled to score a run in the fourth.

In the fifth, Alex Black was hit by a pitch, Fry singled and Bartel doubled to make it 11-2.

Fry reached on an error in the sixth and scored the Falcons’ final run.

Alex Black paced the offense with three hits, and Fry, Bartel, Newman and Jokinen had two each.