Errors continue to plague the Fountain Hills girls softball team.

But Coach Bill Nye said his young team is a work in progress, and the players are learning more with each game they play.

The team had a full weekend with tournament play in Payson, after a heartbreaking 14-3 loss to Payson at home Tuesday, March 18.

“We had eight errors in that game,” Nye said. “We just can’t win ballgames with eight errors. Just isn’t going to happen.”

Freshman pitcher Ashland Lawyer is learning with each game she pitches.

“She will go a long ways,” Nye said. “She’s a good sport, and she has a good attitude.”

The Payson Tournament Friday and Saturday was a good challenge for the Fountain Hills girls.

They opened with St. Mary’s, losing 12-2. Fountain Hills had five hits, with Kendra Shields coming in with one base hit, and Haley Straub going 2-2.

The second game was with Blue Ridge. Fountain Hills was defeated 11-3, suffering again from four errors.

“It can be frustrating,” Nye said. “We talk and talk and talk about these errors, but until we stop making them, we’re going to have a lot of trouble. But our team is young. They’ll come along.”

Samantha Scheffler came in 2-3 at the plate, while Kendra Shields had a hit, coming on as one of the late drives.

Fountain Hills faced the number one team in Division 3, Tanque Verde, next, going down 15-2.

Scheffler had a good game, going 2-2, and McKenzie Straub and Katie Petkus ended up with one hit each.

Bracket play started Saturday, and Fountain Hills lost its first game to Snowflake, 11-3. The locals gave up six runs in the sixth, and the game was called when time ran out.

“Snowflake is a good team,” Nye said. “But we did better than the score indicates. We had no errors in the game.”

Scheffler went 2-3, while Shields was 1-1.

The Lady Falcons unleashed the beast when they faced Tempe High School and defeated their girls 19-4.

Petkus went 3-4 and had four stolen bases in the game, maintaining her record as the leading base stealer in every division. She is 27-28 in stolen bases this year.

Other highlights included Ashlin Caltabiano Scheffler, Boyer, Shields and Jada Herdt, each with two hits apiece.

“Ashlin pitched a good game,” Nye said. “By the time we got to that game, everybody was tired. We needed that kind of win.”

Round Valley was the ladies’ last game of the weekend. Fountain Hills was defeated 9-8 in a well-played game, Nye said.

“But again, we had three errors,” he said. “They scored four runs in the same inning we committed the errors. That just killed us.”

Shields went 3-3 and hit a homer out of the park, while Alexandra Stevens had a two-run homer out of the park.

Fountain Hills had 14 hits, with Caltabiano and M. Straub having two hits apiece and H. Straub turning in three.

Conference play gets under way Tuesday, April 2, in Sedona.

“I think we have a good shot at getting a berth for state,” Nye said.

Fountain Hills has only a single game before Sedona, providing a bit of a rest before heading up the hill to Sedona.