The Fayette Lady Falcons escaped with an emotional 4-3 win over county rival Glasgow Thursday night, celebrating Senior Night in the final home game of the season.

Up by four runs, the Falcon defense survived a three-run top of the sixth when the Yellowjackets powered three runs across the plate. Glasgow put two runners on base in front of power hitter Aly Prentzler. Freshman Emma Westhues started things off by reaching base after she took a pitch to the body. Senior Kara Graves then singled to bring Prentzler to the plate with two on and no outs.

Fayette coach Bri Busker called timeout to discuss the situation with her ace pitcher, Brylee Eubanks.

“She’s a phenomenal player. Keeping her contained is obviously our goal,” Busker said about the situation against Prentzler. “I said, ‘Do you want me to put her on, or do you want to pitch to her?’. She wanted to pitch to her.”

Prentzler fouled off two pitches deep down the right field line and was one swing away from striking out before connecting on a 0-2 pitch. The fly ball was a foot away from clearing the right field fence, going for an RBI double to put the Jackets on the board.

“She had a good hit, but we were up 4-0,” Busker said.

The hit turned into somewhat of a rally for the Lady Jackets. After back-to-back strikeouts, a fly ball to right was mishandled by the Falcon defense, allowing Graves and Prentzler to score and cutting Fayette’s lead to just one run.

Ahead by one run with three outs to go, Eubanks kept her focus in the top of the seventh as Glasgow’s chances to pull ahead were dwindling. She induced a groundout before striking out the final two batters, retiring the final three hitters in order to preserve the win.

“Brylee was big in the circle, getting strikeouts when we needed them the most,” Busker said.

Eubanks finished the night with a game-high 10 strikeouts, allowing three runs (1 earned) on three hits and one walk. She finished the regular season retiring 164 batters on strikes and an 13-8 record in 20 starts with one save.

“Glasgow has good hitters. She knew this game was important for her seniors and for us being the last home game. It’s a good feeling going into districts,” Busker said.

Fayette’s offense took a quick three-run lead in the bottom of the second on four singles. Sophomore catcher Camryn Ballew led off the bottom of the inning by reaching base on a Glasgow error. She then scored on an RBI single by senior Kennady Vroman to open the scoring.

Two batters later, Vroman scored on a fly ball to left by senior Greycen Syferd. The Falcons made it a three-run game on another RBI single, this time by senior Sida Gregory on a liner to third.

Fayette scored what would prove to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth to go in front by four. Senior leadoff hitter Emma Hilgedick led off the inning with a walk. She was driven home on a hard ground ball single to right by senior Paige Vroman. That crucial RBI would turn out to be the deciding run between the two Howard County rivals.

The Falcons drove in three of their four runs on seven hits, all singles. Syferd led the team with two hits in three at-bats, scoring once. Hilgedick, Paige Vroman, Eubanks, Kennady Vroman, and Gregory each singled. The Vroman twins and Gregory each drove in a run.

For Glasgow, senior Aynslie Locke took the loss in the circle after allowing four runs (1 earned) on seven hits with a walk. She struck out three batters in six complete innings.

Prentzler led the offense with the RBI double that nearly went for a home run. Graves and Lock each singled.

Glasgow, now 15-6 overall and ranked No. 7 in Class 1, closed out the regular season at home with a 14-4 win over Westran Monday night in five innings. The Jackets secured the fourth seed in a tough Class 1 District 3 Tournament starting tonight (Wednesday) in Eugene. The district boasts some of the best Class 1 teams in the state, including No. 2 St. Elizabeth (seeded first) and No. 6 Eugene (seeded second). The district tournament bracket appears on Page 9 of this newspaper.

The Falcons have returned to full power just in time for the postseason. Senior Paige Vroman played the final three games of the regular season after returning from an ACL injury sustained in her junior year of basketball season. She returns to shortstop on defense and bats second on offense. Already she has three hits in nine at-bats, two singles and a double, with two RBI and a run scored.

“She’s feeling great and playing great. It’s good to have her back in the lineup,” Busker said. “She had a couple of good plays out here tonight. It changes our lineup for sure. She’s a leader on this team.”

The Falcons end the regular season 15-8 overall and swept the county after defeating both Glasgow and New Franklin. Fayette lucked its way into third seed in next week’s Class 2 District 3 Tournament in Harrisburg. After two votes, Fayette and North Callaway (15-7) were tied with three votes apiece. So the matter was settled with a coin flip. “North Galloway called it, and it was heads. She called tails,” Busker recalled.

The result pits Fayette against CS8 rival New Bloomfield (6-12) in the opening round tonight (Wednesday) at 6:30 p.m. Fayette won the regular-season matchup between the two teams 4-1 at home on September 8. The Wildcats lone run came by way of a solo home run by junior Taylor Allen.

With Fayette’s regular-season finale on Thursday, the team now has six days off before entering the district tournament.

“Last week we played the weekend before districts, and it didn’t go our way. It really didn’t help us in any way,” Busker recalled. “I think we’re going to let them rest and then work hard from Sunday to Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday.”

A first-round victory would advance Fayette to the semifinals on Thursday against former conference rival Salisbury, the second seed. But Busker knows her team can’t overlook a hungry New Bloomfield team. “We still have to prepare for it. Districts is a whole different ball game. We have to come in ready to work and ready to win.”

Host team Harrisburg secured the first seed. The Lady Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season Monday night with an 8-4 win over North Shelby. Sophomore ace Camryn Gray struck out 13 batters and homered in a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. They are currently ranked third in the state in Class 2 and are fresh off the 200th career victory for head coach Kendra Murphy following Harrisburg’s 13-2 rout of Class 3 Mexico on October 5. The Lady Bulldogs enter the postseason with a 29-3 overall record.

Turn to Page 9 for the full district bracket.