Last week, The Times recapped the major events of 2021-22 winter sports at Fountain Hills High School, and some of the spring sports as well. This week, The Times will look at the rest of the 2022 spring and fall seasons.

Baseball

The Fountain Hills High School baseball team graduated nine seniors in 2021 and rebuilt their roster with youth last year. Head coach Bob Langer used a flex roster to rotate his youngest players between junior varsity and varsity, and the Falcons won five of their last eight games to earn a play-in appearance.

The Falcons started the year 0-3 in the Cougar Classic tournament, but they went 3-1 in the Phoenix Country Day School tournament two weeks later. The Falcons evened out their record at 5-5 when they beat Payson twice in a double header.

They dropped five of their next six games, and the Falcons’ only win in that stretch was the first home game of the season. The Falcons were 4-3 at home, and the only home losses were to top-ranked teams like No. 7 Eastmark, No. 5 Pusch Ridge and No. 1 Northwest Christian.

Fountain Hills held Eastmark close, only losing 6-4, and Northwest Christian ended up winning the state championship. The Falcons had a chance to make the playoffs, but they fell 7-5 at Tanque Verde in the play-in game.

The Falcons were down 6-0 but mounted a comeback in their season finale. They had five first-year players and lacked experience, but the Falcons did have some players with serious firepower.

Shortstop Zack Langer earned all-region first team honors in his senior season with 28 hits, 17 RBIs, one home run and a .431 batting average. His younger brother, first basemen Tyler Langer, also earned all-region fist team honors as a sophomore. He had 37 hits, 36 RBIs, six triples and four home runs on a .462 batting average.

Catcher Ty Flynn and pitcher David Goldapper earned all-region second team honors as sophomores. Flynn had 20 hits and 18 RBIs on a .308 average, and Goldapper lead the team with 48 strikeouts.

Nathan Hughes batted more than other pitchers his sophomore season and earned an all-region honorable mention. Hughes threw 42 strikeouts and had 14 hits and six RBIs on a .246 average. Lucas Grieco and Cooper Loyet also earned honorable mentions as freshmen.

The Falcons graduated Zack Langer, Andrew Lloyd and Brogan Hardison, and there were only two juniors on the roster last year. Zacharie Gratton and Devyn Hernandez can lead the team as seniors this year, and the Falcons start the 2023 season hosting Show Low at home on Thursday, Feb. 23.

Softball

Head coach Lawrence Hughes led a much-improved group statistically last year, and that resulted in five more wins in 2022 than 2021. The Falcons also made the play-in tournament and had their first chance at playoffs in four years.

The Falcons lost their first game 25-6, but they rallied and got two big wins at the Phoenix Country Day School tournament. They beat St. Johns 17-13 and then beat Phoenix Country Day 21-7.

They won two more games in the Gracie Haught Classic, but the Falcons had a midseason slump and lost seven straight games before and after the Gracie Haught Classic.

The Falcons went 3-7 in their region and played better in the latter half of the season. The girls lost 8-6 at Chino Valley, but then beat Chino Valley 16-12 at home three weeks later. The Falcons lost to Wickenburg 9-6 and then 11-8, but they did beat Camp Verde twice, 10-0 and 17-2.

Six of the 10 Falcons earned end-of-season recognition, and Mia Duda was an all-region first team selection as a junior. She led the team with 43 hits, four home runs and a .581 batting average.

Graduated seniors Nicolette Barker, Michaela Quintana and Kalista Johnson all earned honors. Barker pitched 79 of the Falcons’ 85 innings, and she had 32 strikeouts and was an all-region second team selection. Johnson had a .449 average and led the Falcons with 25 RBIs and was third in hits with 35. Quintana hit 20 RBIs on 27 hits and had two homeruns on a .346 average. Both Johnson and Quintana earned all-region honorable mentions.

Sammantha Hughes earned all-region second team honors with 19 RBIs on 33 hits. She also had the second highest batting average at .465 as a freshman. Hailey Chandler was another all-region honorable mention, and she led the region with 24 stolen bases as a sophomore. She also had the second most hits on the team with 38, and the third best batting average at .458.

The Falcons won four of their last seven games and snuck into the play-in tournament at the No. 22 spot. They lost to ALA – Ironwood on the road 13-2, but it was good experience for the young players, like freshmen Shania Rivera and Jordan Marcello.

The Falcons will be a young team yet again this year. They graduated a fourth senior in catcher Gianna Barker, and they return only three upperclassmen. Junior Stella Grieco will help Duda and Chandler as they lead the Falcons in the next season, starting Thursday, Feb. 23.

Track and field

The Falcons soared under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin Clancy. Two Falcons competed as individuals at the state championships, and the team set 26 new school records.

Then sophomore Erin Hooley finished 19th in the 1600m and 22nd in the 3200m at state, and then junior Jentezen Behnke finished 11th in the high jump at state. Seven other Falcons met the qualifying mark for state, but they were not ranked high enough to make the competition.

The Falcons only graduated two seniors in Anthony Kasson and Sebastian Jackson last season, and over 30 athletes can return this year. Jackson finished the year fourth all-time in the 100m and eighth all-time in school history in the 200m.

The rising senior class is full of talent and seven juniors set top-five school records last year. JP Cahill improved his long jump from 19’5” to 20’3”, good for second best in school history, and Behnke holds the third best high jump (5’10”). Nick Ireton holds the fourth best triple jump (39’4.5”).

Zion Atwood ran the third fastest time in school history on the 300 hurdles (44.27), and Tyler Irvine-Violette set the fifth fastest time for the 800m (2:07.20).

Alumnus and former javelin state champion Stephanie Lies returned to Fountain Hills as an assistant, and the field sports benefited from her tutelage. Spencer Nelson holds the record for third best javelin toss after his first season (131’9”), and Tim Lamar has the fifth best toss (115’2”). Lamar also set top 10 records in the 200m and 400m races last year.

Katie Hampton set the record for fifth best javelin toss as a freshman (72’11”), and then sophomore Eliana Bartman set the record for eighth best discus for the girls (77’7”). Hooley came close to setting new records at state, but she still finished fourth best in school history in the 1600m (5:39.75) and third best in the 800m (12:18.42).

The Falcons welcomed Payson to town in the first home meet in four years, and they also hosted Veritas Prep in a second home meet. Clancy wanted his team to buzz with energy and excitement, and he also started preseason training for the 2023 season this past November. According to Irvine-Violette, it’s the earliest practices have begun in the last four years.

Football

The Falcons prided themselves on their defense, and it showed several times throughout the football season. The Falcons finished at 5-5, their best season in years under the direction of first-year head coach Sean Moran.

Several players stepped up and played bigger roles this year. Junior Gannon Young earned second team all-region honors in his first year as a wide receiver, and his quarterback, senior Spencer Nelson, also earned that same honor.

Nelson didn’t play quarterback in the opener, but his 1959 pass yards on a 57% completion rate over the next nine games led the region. He added another 363 yards on the ground threw for 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

The Falcons played with physicality, and senior running back Gavin Furi and junior center Nate Barnard were rewarded with second team all-region honors. Furi averaged 5.7 yards per carry and rushed for 591 yards. The Falcons ran for 1384 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per carry as a team.

Moran’s offense took longer than the defense to come together. The Falcons were held to just one offensive touchdown twice, in week one and in week four. After the 1-3 start, the Falcons went on a four game win streak and finished 5-5.

The defense kept the Falcons in each game of the season, and it was led by first team all-region selection senior Diesel Giger. Giger was second on the team in tackles, third in sacks, and first in interceptions. Giger was also the second leading receiver on offense with 305 yards and two touchdowns.

During the four game win streak, the Falcons defense averaged less than 20 points per game. The biggest win of the year was a 62-13 pummeling of Phoenix Christian, and the defense was all over the field.

Giger caught three of his four interceptions against Phoenix Christian, and he returned one for a touchdown. Seniors Tyler Cosman and Casey Osborne also returned interceptions for touchdowns.

The Falcons lost their momentum after Payson blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown within the last minute of the second to last game. The field goal would’ve sent the game into overtime, and the Falcons had a shortened week before they ended their season with a loss to Valley Christian on a Thursday night.

Two thirds of Moran’s staff were new to the program this year, and he brought with him former collegiate coaches and collegiate players. Moran has over 10 years’ experience as an assistant coach, and he ended a four-year stretch of finishing with a losing record in his first year with Fountain Hills.

Volleyball

The Falcon volleyball squad had an exciting season and left everyone wanting more. The Falcons won twice as many games in 2022 as 2021, but their season ended one game shy of a playoff appearance.

The Falcons started 8-4 after the first two weeks and got their first win at home over Payson. After the strong start, they lost three games in a row and went 2-3 in the Epic Tourneys Invitational.

The Falcons regained themselves after a 3-1 win over Bourgade Catholic, and then the Falcons won four more consecutive region games over Wickenburg, Chino Valley, Camp Verde, and Wickenburg again.

The Falcons went 6-2 and took third place in the Florence Invitational Tournament during the five game region win streak. Sophomore Jocelyn Bloedel and junior captain Bella Garman were named to the Florence tournament All-team that weekend.

Garman and Bloedel earned region honorable mentions at the end of the season, and so did junior captain Sophie Wickland. Last year, only Garman and Wickland received region honorable mentions.

The Falcons were playing their best volleyball at the end of the season, but unfortunately ran into a buzzsaw against Scottsdale Christian and Northwest Christian in two of their final three regular season games.

The Falcons lost 3-0 to each team in the first meeting but they played more competitive games the second time they played. The Falcons pushed Scottsdale Christian to a fifth-set tiebreaker, and they won a set against Northwest Christian.

The Falcons took pride in winning one set against Northwest Christian. The Crusaders only lost five sets throughout the entire regular season, and they beat three different teams 3-0 in the playoffs before losing to Snowflake in the state championships.

The Falcons will lose Olivia Sopeland and LJ Holland to graduation, but five seniors return next season. Bella Garman, Sophie Wickland, Sydney Boeshans, Jeneya Boone, and Elliana Schulze will lead the Falcons, while starters Kitrick Garman, Jocelyn Bloedel and Zoe Kohoutek return as juniors next year.

Swim

The Fountain Hills High School swim team got a great boost to its roster with the addition of junior Keian Evans this year. He became the first Falcon to win a medal at the state championship, and he was a part of two relay teams that competed at the state level.

Evans finished second in the 100 butterfly (52.65) and brought a silver medal home to Fountain Hills. He also set a school record with his fifth place finish in the 200 individual medley at the state championships (2:01.03).

The Falcons had never sent a boys relay team to state in the past five years of program history. Also on those relay teams were seniors Gunnar Wise and Space Kingphakorn and junior Brendan Davies. The four Falcons finished sixth at state in the 200 medley relay and 12th in the 200 freestyle relay.

Wise built on his resume from his junior season and went to the state meet for the second year in a row. He placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke and seventh in the 200 freestyle at state.

The Falcons only had two relay teams and two individual competitors at state for the boys, but they still placed 10th out of 33 teams. Freshman Natalie Owers was the only girl to compete at the swim meet, and she placed 16th in 200 free.

The Falcons set eight new school records this year and built on their young program. Wise, Dylan Horsfall and Alexis Sommerschield all swam for the Falcons for four years, and they were a good core group for head coach Patti Schultz. Kingphakorn transferred midway through and only swam two years before his graduation, but the Falcons have plenty of young talent to reload with.

Cross country

Fountain Hills High School had a successful cross country season this past year. Kevin Clancy took over as head coach, and the girls team made their first state championship appearance in six years.

Last year, Erin Hooley and Tyler Irvine-Violette represented the Falcons as individuals at the state meet. Hooley returned as a junior, and Irvine-Violette returned as a senior, and both had company this time around.

Junior Skye Alker and senior Zion Atwood vastly improved on their times from a season before, shaving more than a minute each off their best 5K performance. Atwood earned an individual trip to the state championship, and Alker helped the girls make the state meet.

The girls team placed fifth at sectionals to get into state, and Alker finished first for the girls. She placed 29th in the state meet, Hooley was 37th, and the other three girls rounded it out to give the Falcons 18th place overall.

First year racers freshman Alli Guerrette and sophomore Racine Homyak each impressed Clancy with their continuous improvement. They each set new personal records at state, and Homyak finished 122nd and Guerrette placed 131st. Junior Eliana Bartman came in 161st place.

The Falcons only had five girls, and they needed each and every one to qualify as a team. There were more boys on the team, and they came close to a team appearance at state. They finished ninth as a team at sectionals, and Irvine-Violette came in 101st place at state, and Atwood finished 138th out of 210 competitors.

The Falcons only graduated three seniors, Atwood, Irvine-Violette and Franklin Fiola. Those three brought a lot of talent and personality to the team, but there are plenty of other Falcons waiting to step up.

The four rising senior boys, William Breen, Nathan Eastman, Caleb Lara and Dylan Romans, are ready to lead the team next year. There were also three freshmen that learned and grew over the season in Tyler Eastman, Matthew Gonzalez, and Colby Wright.