The Falcon baseball team played two games last week, losing a close battle with Chino Valley on April 6 before dropping a more decisive showdown against the team from Valley Christian. The April 9 game against Chino Valley was cancelled.

Play resumed Monday, April 12, with a road game against Payson. This Saturday, April 17, the Falcons are scheduled to play a double-header against the Page Sand Devils on the home field. The first game is set for 12 noon while the second is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. Next Tuesday, April 20, the Falcons are set to host Bourgade Catholic at 3:45 p.m.

Chino Valley

Head coach Bob Langer said pitcher Gabe Armstrong delivered a nice start during the Chino Valley game, saying he “pitched well enough to win but we could only manage one hit on offense.”

Chino Valley managed to earn a single run off an error in the top of the first inning but, with cool bats from the Falcons, that proved to be enough for the 1-0 victory. Langer said pitching was a big part of the day, with the Falcons striking out nine compared to Chino Valley’s 10. The sole hit for the Falcons came from Hunter McAloon in the seventh inning.

Valley Christian

Shane Davenport started on the mound against Valley Christian, with Langer saying that, although the numbers don’t show it, he was solid on the mound against a very strong team at the plate.

Valley Christian managed to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and found bursts of additional momentum every other inning. They scored another four runs in the third and another four in the fifth to claim an 11-0 run-rule closing after five innings of play.

“We struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing Valley Christian, giving up 11 runs,” Langer said.

Outside of a single from Ty Langer in the second inning, the Falcons were unable to find an offensive spark to respond to Valley Christian.

Davenport was backed up on the mound by Dylan Shipman and Marc DeNinis, pitching two-thirds of an inning and a third of an inning, respectively. The Falcons didn’t commit a single error in the field, but strong bats from the opposition allowed Valley Christian to move ahead early and claim the decisive victory.