Fayette picked up a strong win at home on Thursday, defeating Prairie Home 8-1 in the final regular season game at Estes Field.

The Falcons were the visiting team, however, since the game was originally scheduled to be played at Prairie Home but was moved due to wet field conditions.

The win came some 16 hours before Fayette earned the second seed in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament, which will open Friday at Estes Field.

Fayette coach Andy Oeth said after Thursday’s win that he planned to argue for his team to be seeded third. But drawing the No. 2 seed gives the Falcons’ pitching staff a significant advantage since it includes a first-round bye.

Out of the six teams in the district tournament, Fayette has beaten two and lost to one in the regular season. The Falcons defeated fifth-seeded Westran 11-10 on the road April 29. A few days later, they blanked sixth-seeded Slater 5-0 at home. The only loss came at the hands of Salisbury, which earned the No. 1 seed, in a 6-3 decision at home on April 10.

“I feel like we’ve had as good a chance as we’ve ever had to go deep into districts and maybe even win it,” said Coach Oeth. “I feel confident in our guys and our seniors. When our pitchers are on, they are tough to beat. We have to be playing for the win and to have gas in the tank to get to the next game. We will have to very carefully manage our pitching staff. And our managers really help us with that.”

Coach Oeth is not the only optimist. His senior battery has been eyeing a district championship since before the season began. Both Ethan Bean and Payton Oeth cited the goal when they held a joint signing ceremony on Feb. 17, inking their national letters of intent to play college baseball next year.

Fayette has never won a district championship in baseball.

“I feel really confident that we can do good things in this district,” said Coach Oeth. “Salisbury is very tough. They beat us by three runs this season. I think we have as good a chance as anybody going into the district tournament. It’s here. And it’s always fun when you can showcase your place and defend your home. We're excited about it.”

Fayette will carefully watch first round games from the bleachers, especially the opening-round contest between third-seeded Marceline and sixth-seeded Slater on Friday. The Falcons will play the winner of that game at 6 p.m. on Monday. Salisbury will face the winner of the tournament opener between fourth-seeded Northwestern (Mendon) and fifth-seeded Westran. (See brackets on Page 8).

Having the extra game off gives Fayette a little more advantage in managing its pitching staff. Ethan Bean, who earned his fifth win in 10 starts against Prairie Home as the Falcons’ ace, was expected to get in some work on Tuesday as the Falcons closed out the regular season at Pilot Grove (9-8) after the Advertiser went to press. So was batterymate Payton Oeth, the second in the rotation, a three-game winner in five starts on the mound.

The Falcons also have younger arms down in the rotation. Sophomore Easton Fehling has two wins in four starts, and junior Thad Quint has earned relief innings on the mound this season. Not having an opening-round game gives Oeth and his coaching staff more flexibility.

Bean had a good start on Thursday against Prairie Home, his 10th of the season. Despite allowing leadoff walks in the first and second innings, the first of which turned into the Panthers’ only run of the game, he settled in, delivering 12 strikeouts. The only run issued to him was unearned, driven in on the only hit he surrendered, a double in the bottom of the first. But he quickly got out of the inning, striking out the next three batters in order.

Bean pitched six complete innings, leaving the mound after delivering 105 pitches with four walks and two hit batsmen.

“It took Ethan a little bit to find his groove,” Coach Oeth said. “He went the distance. I didn’t find any reason to change him up at that point with our lead.”

Payton Oeth ditched the catcher’s mask for an inning of relief in the seventh. He allowed a leadoff walk, but stranded the runner after striking out the next batter and inducing back-to-back groundouts to end the game with an 8-1 lead after seven innings.

Coach Oeth said he’d hoped to use just one pitcher against Prairie Home but admitted it was probably good for Payton Oeth to get a few reps on the mound. “The silver lining was that Payton gets to do a little work before Tuesday. He’s got plenty of time to rest, and so does Ethan. We’re good with pitching.”

Offensively, the Falcons delivered seven of their eight hits in the first four innings against Prairie Home’s starting pitcher, freshman Nash McDannold. Fayette scored four runs in the top of the first inning, thanks to a three-run, in-the-park home run by freshman shortstop Sawyer Asbury. Fayette also took advantage of an error, a walk, and a hit batsman, along with a single by sophomore James Hogg.

The Falcons added another four runs in the top of the fourth. Fehling was issued a base after he was hit by a pitch for the second time, and scored on an RBI double by junior Parker LaValley. A single by Craig then set up a two-run double by Oeth. Another double by freshman Caleb Busker drove in the Falcons’ eighth run of the game.

That would be it for the Fayette lineup. Panthers senior Carter Pethan pitched the three shutout innings in relief, striking out seven of 14 batters faced while walking four and allowing one hit.

Oeth led the Fayette lineup with a 2-for-3 performance with a double, two RBI, a walk, and a run scored. Senior Caleb Craig went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. Leading off, LaValley went 1-for-1 with an RBI double, a run scored, and a walk. Busker finished with an RBI double in three at-bats with a run scored and two walks. Fehling was hit twice and scored a run.

Fayette hoped to improve its season record to a dozen wins on Tuesday to match its 2023 win total, the most in records dating back to 2008. The first pitch was scheduled for 5 p.m.