On a blustery day atop the Sammamish Plateau, the Falcons warmed up in a hail storm, then fought through the cold and wind to defeat Skyline 3-1.

Madi made her first Falcon start and went all seven innings for her first victory as a high school pitcher.  After a walk and two infield dribblers loaded the bases with one out in the first, Madi showed what she is made of, striking out the next two batters in seven pitches to end the inning.  From then on, she held the good-hitting Skyline batters to only two more hits, while striking out 13.

Skyline's great senior junkball pitcher Elizabeth Stromquest kept the Falcons at bay early with a collection of slow, slower and slowest curves and changeups, and it was a scoreless game for three innings.

Katie led off the fourth inning with a double to right center.   Lauren then lofted a long fly to right that got Katie over to third, from where Cat knocked her in with a grounder to the right side.  The next inning Kayla got aboard and Taylor bunted her to second.   After Shelby's grounder got her to third, Sara---who was on base three of four at-bats---knocked her in with her second single of the game.  

 Skyline got a run in the bottom of the fifth but we came right back with an insurance run in the top of the sixth.  Mak reached first and advanced on a passed ball; she scored on Katie's hard-hit grounder off the first baseman's glove and it was 3-1.  Madi set them down the rest of the way and the game was ours, as for the fourth straight game Falcon opponants scored one run or less.

Sometimes you have to grind them out.  A gritty win for the Falcons.

Inglemoor's crafty senior Rosie Matsumoto pitched a valiant game, but another impressive display of pitching and defense yielded a 3-0 win for Woodinville, as the Falcons recorded their first shut-out of the season running their overall record to 4-0.

Inglemoor has some sticks, and had scored 13 runs the night before, but Maria turned in another dominating start, giving up only two hits in five innings.  Madi earned the save with two perfect innings of relief.  

Sara led off the game with what the Woodinville fans thought was a clean slap single, but the ump called her out...............then he called her safe.......because the first baseman had pulled her foot!  One batter later, Katie crushed a single to right-center that put Sara on third, and Lauren's sacrifice fly to left scored her with what turned out to be the winning run. 

Alex walked to lead off the second, and advanced to second when Cat hit the first of her three singles for the game. Maria's hard grounder to the right side got Alex to third, and Shelby knocked her in for another run.  

Katie got on base in the sixth, swiped second, and Mak's liner scored her for more insurance.

The infield made the plays, and Shelby in center and Kayla in right made nice running catches in the outfield.

Another solid victory for the Falcons. 

Facing one of the better pitchers in Washington high school fastpitch, the Falcons beat Juanita with great pitching, clutch defense and a timely bomb by Alex.

Juanita's three-year ace Kylie Sparks led 3A powerhouse Juanita, and pitched a super game, holding the potent Falcon attack to 6 hits.

But Maria was overpowering.  She took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ended up allowing only two hits for the game, both leg hits, neither of which travelled even 50 feet.  In fact, in the whole game only two Juanita batters managed to hit the ball out of the infield, as Maria consistently painted the corner with knee-high drops.

We scratched out a run in the second when Alex reached on a throwing error by Juanita's third baseman.  A swinging bunt and a ground out landed Alex on third.  Then Shelby came through with a clean single and it was 1-0.

It looked like that single run might stand up, especially with the defense we were playing.  Taylor stepped up and took charge of two nasty pop-flies in the third, and with a runner on second and two out in the fourth, she saved a run with a diving, sprawling stop/toss to nip the runner at first.  Our other infielders each handled every chance.

But in the top of six, Juanita got runners to second and third with one out.  A weak ground out scored the runner, but Maria got the third out and the score was tied.

Alex led off the bottom of the sixth and took a very good pitch from Kylie sky-high over the left field fence for her first career homer as a Falcon.

Juanita got runners to first and second with one out in the top of seven, but a bunt attempt was popped up for an out, and a grounder to Cat got the second out at third. Maria retired the last batter on a grounder to Taylor to end things.

For the seniors, every single game they ever played against arch-foe Juanita in their three seasons at Woodinville---four straight---was a one-run ballgame, making this last one an especially sweet win for them.

The saying is:  Offense wins games, Defense wins Championships, and Friday's game proved why.  A very encouraging and impressive win for our team.

The Falcons showed again that they have excellent pitching, play solid defense, and can swing the bats.   When that combination clicks...........it's just a matter of time.

Bellevue scored a run in the top of the first and hung on to that lead for about half the game.   But the Falcons exploded for five runs in the fifth and another three in the sixth to make the game an 8-1 rout.

The 4th inning rally began with back-to-back singles by Makenna and Cat.  Maria advanced them with a hard grounder to second.   After Shelby's huge 9-pitch battle ended with a soft roller that scored Mak, Sarah slapped a single to left, bringing in Cat with the go-ahead run.

A Bellevue error loaded the bases and one out later, Lauren crushed a double to left center, clearing the bases.  It was 5-1.

In the sixth, Gina, Michelle and Dani each singled, then freshman Alex knocked all three of them in with a double.

Maria had another very solid outing.  Madi made her Falcon debut in relief of Maria in the sixth and pitched two perfect innings, striking out the side in the seventh.

Mak Weir made an outstanding diving catch on a flare for an out, and Sarah covered about an acre to make a running catch on another.  The infield of Lauren at first, Taylor at second, Mak at short and Cat at third made all the plays on the numerous grounders Maria was serving up.

Good pitching, good defense, and good sticks..........it's just a matter of time.

The 2010 Falcons jumped to an early lead and coasted to a 5-4 win over Monroe.

The Falcons got a run in the first when Katie singled to left with two out.  With a 290-foot fence the Monroe outfield was wisely playing very deep, and Lauren's line-shot single to right center scored fleet Katie all the way from first.

We added four more in the second, the big hit being Katie's bases-loaded triple.  Lauren followed with another sharp single and it was 5-zip after two.

Monroe crawled back into the game with a break or two, some first-game randomness, and a never-quit attitude.   The last inning began 5-2, and Keelin made her varsity debut in relief of Maria. Things got exciting when they pushed across 2 runs to make it a one-run ball game with one out and the top of Monroe's order coming up.  But Keelin struck out two consecutive batters on full counts with super-courageous tough pitches, to end the game.

Falcon teams have been top-heavy the past two seasons.  No more.  The game featured the varsity debut of no less than 9 Falcon players, including two freshman, five sophomores and two seniors.