The Fountain Hills High School softball team had a big win and a tough loss in last week’s pair of games.

The Lady Falcons’ first game was on March 7 against Odyssey Institute. FHHS won the game 23-6.

The second game for Fountain Hills was on March 8, up north against Payson. The Lady Falcons lost this game 11-1.

FHHS has two away games this week. The first one, against Benjamin Franklin, was on Monday, March 11.

The second match is today, Wednesday, March 13, against Paradise Honors starting at 4 p.m.

Odyssey Institute

The Lady Falcons got off to a strong start in the first inning during their game against Odyssey Institute.

“Sophia Buckley pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the first,” head coach Randy Bragg said. “We then scored four runs to jump out to a lead.”

FHHS struggled in the second, allowing three runs, but started firing on all cylinders in the third when they scored 16 runs of their own.

Kim Hoyt and Gabbi Coughlin were some of the big hitters for the Lady Falcons during this game, with Coughlin going 3-3 at the plate with four RBI. Hoyt went 3-4 at the plate but had an impressive five RBI that included an in-the-park homerun.

Payson

Bragg says that Payson has always been a good hitting team and this year is no different.

Payson capitalized on a few pitching mistakes in the first inning to put three runs on the board against the Falcons.

Sophia Buckley made adjustments and changed up the speed of her pitching, going on to hold Payson scoreless until the fourth inning.

The Falcons’ one run was scored off a Payson error.

“We were able to get a run in the top of the fourth when Gabbi Coughlin worked a walk and Taylor Pace put down a perfect bunt,” Bragg said. “The Payson defense had a mental error and left third unoccupied on the bunt and Gabbi was alert enough to keep going. They paid no attention to her and she was actually able to score.”

Bragg said he thinks the game highlights an important weakness to fix for Fountain Hills.

“Offensively we could not get anything going, as the Payson pitcher was dominant,” Bragg said. “We have to figure out a way to adjust to the elite pitchers in our league so that we can get runners on base and score them.”