The Falcons rebounded from their first loss of the season with an 8-1 win over Issaquah.

Our bats continued to run hot and Maria pitched yet another great game as we beat Eastlake 9-1.

Maria gave up only 2 hits and struck out 12, giving up only a meaningless run in the sixth inning.  

Meanwhile, Mak went 4 for 5 with a double and a triple, Katie went 2 for 4, Cat went 2 for 2 with another two walks and Sarah had two infield hits and a double to the fence.  Once again we exploded early and it was 7-0 after two innings.

The win put our record at 13-1 with five games to play, and marked the 10th time in 14 games that our foe has scored one or zero runs.

Madi shut out Ballard for five innings and the Falcons knocked three balls to the fence at cavernous Lower Woodland for a homer and two triples, as the Falcons put the game out of reach in the first inning and rolled to an 8-1 win.

Sara led of the game with an awesome 11-pitch base on balls.  Mak stepped in next and hit a 220-foot bomb that's out of about any fenced field...except the one we were playing on, where the fence in left center is 248 feet.  As it was, the ball bounced off the fence, and by the time it was chased down Mak was rounding third with an "inside the park" homer.   Katie and Lauren singled, and an out later Maria and Kayla had back to back hits.   It was 4-0 out of the gates.

In the 3rd, Lauren led off with a walk.   Cat followed her with a frozen rope to the fence in left center for an rbi triple.  Maria knocked in Cat with the second of her three hits.

The next inning Katie hit her own missle to the left field fence for another triple.  Cat lined a sacrifice fly to score her.

In the 5th, Jade and Alison singled.   Sara, who'd already spent the day on base (again), dazzled everyone, including the Ballard infield, with the "be-ba-bu" bunt, in which she whipped the bat around behind her back as the pitcher delivered the ball, then dropped a one-handed slap bunt.   The stunned Ballard infield hesitated a moment and Sara was on.   Two batters later Lauren drove in Jade for our 8th and final run.

Meanwhile, Madi cruised.  Ballard has a solid team but on this day their hitters were overpowered.  The ball wasn't even put into play off Madi until the 4th inning.  She ended up allowing 1 hit in her five-inning stint, with 3 walks and 11 strikeouts.  

It was good to see the Big Sticks unlimber a bit, and for the 5th time in 7 games the undefeated Falcons held their opponent to 1 or fewer runs. 

The largest crowd of the season by far watched the Falcons beat Bothell 5-4 to remain undefeated, in a game marked--and marred--by some unique plays.

An estimated 350 fans watched Michelle score what turned out to be the winning run on a wild pitch in the fifth inning, then saw an unlikely Bothell last-inning rally fall just short, as the door was finally shut tight by the force of Maria's will.

Bothell scored a run in the top of the first, but we came right back in our half, looking to break it open early.  Sara got on, then a double by Mak and a single by Katie had a run in, runners on second and third, and nobody out.   Then Lauren got just under the first pitch to her and hit a fly to right........the Bothell right fielder made a great running catch........and threw to the shortstop covering second........who threw to the third baseman covering third........and the umpires called a triple play, saying BOTH our runners had left early!  Inning over.

Bothell scored another run, but in the 3rd Sara singled and two batters later Lauren got all of it, homering to left-center to make it 3-2.

We added 2 more runs in the fifth inning, when Katie singled and then scored when Maria smacked a triple down the right field line.   Michelle courtesy-ran for Maria and scored on the wild pitch, making it 5-2.

Maria struck out the first batter in the top of the 7th, but Bothell managed to get two runs across without a hard-hit ball (don't ask), and had the tying run aboard with two outs.  Maria bowed her neck and overpowered the last batter for her 10th strikeout and the win.

Emily became the third freshman this season to start a game for the Falcons.