Exciting or nerve-wracking.
These are the extremes at which the Falcon girls fastpitch team plays. Excitement came — at least for the team’s fans — on Tuesday when the Falcons obliterated their first North Cascades Conference opponent of the season, Granite Falls. The Falcons opened the home game with a leadoff double by junior Bronwyn Russell and a two-run shot over the fence by sophomore power hitter Carolann Lubach. From there, the score just piled up, reaching 14-0 by the time the umpire called the game in the fifth inning on the 10-run rule.
The nerve-wracking part of the week took place Thursday, again on the Falcons’ home field. Matched against Burlington-Edison, the South Whidbey girls scrapped their way through the game, taking five innings to put their first run on the board on their way to a 4-0 win.
Of the two opponents, Burlington-Edison was the more challenging. After the Falcons came off a 2-1 eker over Sedro-Woolley last week and a 5-1 win over Lynnwood in the first week of the season, they were ready for a tight game.
After threatening in the third inning, South Whidbey made good at the plate in the fourth when Valerie Mock scored what would turn out to be the winning run off a Julie Robinson double.
With sophomore pitcher Christie Robinson holding Burlington scoreless on one hit and eight strikeouts over six innings, the Falcon offense was able to continue picking away.
The Burlington girls literally lost control in the fifth inning when, after Mock walked to first, reliever Chelsea Fead walked Mary Murphy and threw three wild pitches, allowing Mock to score and Murphy to get to third. Russell then knocked Murphy home with a hard hit to the right side.
The Falcons added a fourth run in the sixth inning when Shannon Brown turned her single into a score with help from a Julie Robinson single and two Burlington throwing errors.
Senior pitcher Ashley Lopez was the winner in Tuesday’s game, with catching help from Jenny Murphy. Both she and Christie Robinson are 2-0.
The Falcons, now 4-0, play Monday at Lynden Christian.
