The Thunder Mountain Falcons put some miles on their softball cleats before changing into heels for Saturday’s prom. The team in black and blue circled the base paths nearly 20 times at Dimond Park on Saturday as the defending state champions posted 18 runs in wins over Sitka (8-0) and Ketchikan (10-3).
The wins put the Falcons atop of the Southeast Conference with a shiny 9-1 record. Kyra Jenkins Hayes started at pitcher for the second time in as many days, and in a rare feat for any high schooler, pitched a second consecutive shut out. Jenkins Hayes struck out 10 and limited the Wolves to a single hit.
“Sitka was an early game this morning (10 a.m.), so we had to get our energy up for that,” Jenkins Hayes said. “We’re usually not a morning team, but it looks like we were today.”
Jenkins Hayes struck out 13 and walked two in Friday’s 3-0 win over Ketchikan.
“I’d thought they’d swing more (and have) less strike outs,” Jenkins Hayes. “The first couple times we played them, they were getting hits off of us, we had some close games.”
Haleigh DiCarlo started the game in the first inning an inside-the-park home run. The Falcons would break the game open in the third inning as DiCarlo, Jenkins Hayes and Peyton Harp all picked up hits. TMHS led 5-0 after the third as Jenkins Hayes continued to stifle Sitka’s offense.
TMHS was given a more rigid test in the second game of the doubleheader against Ketchikan.
Thanks to some deep fly balls and fielding errors, the Falcons built a quick 6-1 lead after two innings. The game evened out in the third, fourth and fifth innings though, before TMHS gave a varsity welcome to Kayhi freshman pitcher Lianne Seludo.
Seludo came in to replace Kayloni Bermudez to begin the fifth inning.
“We noticed that (Bermudez) was starting to struggle, she wasn’t hitting her spots,” Ketchikan coach Wendell Pahang said. “So we decided maybe we could put in the freshman to change things up a little bit. She executed pretty well for the first couple innings, so we figured let her finish it and see what happens.”
The Falcons’ combined two walks and three hits in the sixth against Pahang to push their lead to 10-3.
Maxie Saceda-Hurt was one of four Falcons with at least two hits in the game. She was motivated in part Saturday afternoon to win the season series with the Kings, who were 1-2 against TMHS heading into Saturday’s contest.
“We just wanted to come out and win it with a bang and show what we can do,” Saceda-Hurt said. “I mean that was our usual play — last night was kind of wonky.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated TMHS’ record is 8-1. Their record is 9-1.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
Brittany Gladsjo coaches a batter as her team looks on during the Falcons’ 10-3 win over Ketchikan Saturday afternoon. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Nina Fenumiai pitches against the Ketchikan Kings on Saturday at Dimond Park. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
