Falcons take two, surge to 10-0

The Falcons hosted a three-way round robin on Friday and won both their games in less than seven innings (by virtue of the 8-run mercy rule).  In game one, Porterville looked like they were going to give the Falcons all they could handle, though the Falcons may have just been slow to wake up for their 10:00 am start.  After four innings the Falcons were clinging to a one run lead (2-1) when they finally woke up, loading the bases on singles.  Jailene Salceido pinch hit for Kelsey Wurm and promptly hit a grand slam – her fourth homer of the season -  to make it 6-1.  The wheels then fell off for the Pirates' pitchers as five straight Falcons walked to make it 8-2.  Gigi Mendez drove in the final two runs with a single to right that ended the game, 10-1.  Arianna Riojas and Mendez both collected three hits, with Riojas scoring three runs. 

 In the afternoon game, the Falcons looked much more awake and attacked early, scoring five runs in the first inning on their way to a 13-3 shellacking of Shasta in 4-1/2 innings.  Arianna Riojas raised her batting average to .515 with three more hits, including a double, while Araya Corral, Adriana Bridges, Gigi Mendez, and Maddy Larson each had two hits.  Angelica Blackmer picked up her third win of the season while allowing just one earned run in five innings. 

The Falcons' record now stands at a gaudy 10-0 with four non-conference games remaining before they begin Big 8 play on February 22.  They'll put that undefeated record on the line this weekend when they travel to the Bay Area to take on perennial powers Foothill (Friday, Feb 14 at 12 noon) and San Jose City (Saturday Feb 15 at 2:00 pm).