The Falcon baseball squad had a tough week, dropping a game to Gilbert Christian, 7-3, before falling to Scottsdale Christian the following day, 9-6.

According to head coach Bob Langer, a rough stretch in each game made it difficult for the Falcons to recover.

“Giving up a big inning in both games really hurt us,” Langer said. “We’ll clean that up and our bats will continue to improve.”

On the mound, Langer said freshman Nathan Hughes had a great start to his high school career while, in the outing against Gilbert Christian, senior Mark Deninis “threw a strong four-plus innings.”

The March 19 outing against Gilbert Christian started out with the Knights batting in four runs, creating a hole the Falcons were unable to dig themselves out of. Gilbert Christian scored another three in the seventh, with the Falcons putting two on the board in the third and adding a final run in the seventh.

Andy Lloyd went 3-4 at the plate while teammate Zach Langer went 2-3 and Gabe Armstrong went 2-4.

It was a similar story on March 20 against Scottsdale Christian. The Falcons scored a run in the first, third and fifth inning, with three added in the fourth. SCA had a huge second inning with seven runs, adding another in the fourth and the sixth to earn their 9-6 victory.

Dylan Shipman and Zack Langer both went 2-4 on the day at the plate.

The Falcons have a couple more freedom games on the schedule before region match-ups begin. They’ll play Eastmerk on the road this Thursday, March 25, at 3:45 p.m. before taking on Benjamin Franklin at home Friday, March 26, beginning at 3:45 p.m.

The first region outing of the season will be next Tuesday, March 30, beginning at 3:45 p.m. This is an away game.