Falcons Win Finale to Secure Playoff Spot

0-10.  That was the Elmira baseball teams' record in league play last year.  They were the worst team in the Sky-Em conference.  Then the 2019 season started with several players being injured in a team bus accident earlier this year.  A shaky start gave no indication that league play would be any different especially playing 4A powerhouses Junction City and Marist three times each. 

But a funny thing happened on the way to what expectations might have been.  The Falcons beat Junction City in the league opener and earlier this week, Elmira managed to go 3-3 vs the top two teams in the conference by sweeping Marist Catholic with an unlikely pair of walk off wins that were both secured by bases loaded walks to end the games, 8-7 and 7-6.  Blake Whigam and Landon Parker got the winning RBIs respectively.

The two victories gave the Falcons a tiebreaker with Marist.  All that remained was securing one victory in the road double header with Marshfield in Coos Bay.  Perhaps too tight and tense, the Pirates
drilled Elmira in the opener 10-0 as Marshfield's Ryan Knight spun a gem; no runs, scattering 5 hits and striking out 8 going the distance in the shortened six inning game. 

However, the perscription for Falcons baseball has been rallying late.  Again in a Danskin tight game, tied at 2 apiece, Elmira rallied for 4 runs in the sixth inning taking advantage of a hit batter, a dropped strike three, an error and two walks by the suddenly generous Pirates.  The Falcons gave up only one run beyond that and the Falcons who were the cellar dwellers last year found themselves not only in the playoffs but will be sporting a first round bye by being the second place team in the 4A Sky-Em Conference, with a 6-3 victory Monday May 14 at Marshfield High School.

Perhaps the most encouraging thought moving forward is not that the accomplishment has been so remarkable, but that the trip might go into next year as well as this is a young team that is making its mark in the state rankings. 

Lady Falcons Struggle to Get 2nd Win in 10 Years over JC

Coming off a tough loss, Elmira's girls' soccer team brokered an early lead and then survived a furious rally by Junction City to take a 2-1 decision over the Lady Tigers, Thursday September 27 at Swartz Field.  Paige Reichenberger got the Lady Falcons started with a goal inside just outside of 5 minutes into the game.  Elmira kept pressure on in the first half and Lexie Gieger got a breakaway and scored her second goal of the season to put up the Falcons up two and seemingly in control.

"She (Gieger) has really improved on dribbling with a soft touch and keeping the ball in striking distance while sprinting toward the goal," Elmira head coach Rob Lee commented in an email.  "This helps freeze the keeper in her spot, allowing Lexie to place the ball right around her." 

Elmira junior Lexi Geiger rushes into the Junction City zone on her way to scoring her second goal of the season in the Lady Falcons'  2-1 victory over Junction City, Thursday September 27 at Swartz Field. Photo by Kimberly Lillie.

However, a defensive lapse in the last 30 seconds of the first half allowed Junction City's Maya Miller to score and close the gap to 2-1 at half.

The score by the Tigers sparked a furious second half rally by Junction City, where many times the Falcons seemed out of sync and frustrated, unable to manufacture any offense to counter the Lady Tigers' frequent excursions into the Elmira zone.

"(The) girls were a bit worn down," Lee noted   "You could see it in their lackluster efforts to chase down loose balls. Junction city made some adjustments and really put some extra pressure on our defense."  Lee mentioned that Megan Porter and Kati Kennedy did stand out.  Andrah Cobb once again had a sterling performance as the Falcons rode her 9 saves enroute to only the Lady Falcons second victory in 10 years over Junction City.

Rough Week for Lady Falcons Volleyball Ends with Improvement

After losing 6 consecutive sets last week,  the Elmira Volleyball team finally righted the ship as they hosted 5 other teams at their own tournament on Saturday September 22 at Elmira High School.  After splitting four sets with Mazama and North Marion in pool play, the Falcons came off the deck to sweep away Gladstone 2-0 (25-5, 25-16).  The win moved the Lady Falcons into the championship bracket where they fell 2-1 to Phoenix, 15-25, 28-26, and 12-15.

Cheyanne White fires a shot in a game earlier this season for the Lady Falcons volleyball team.  Photo: Kimberly Lillie

The week started ominously at Junction City, where a power failure at the Tigers gymnasium caused a 45 minute delay.  Their reward for their patience was a 3-0 loss to Junction City (17-25, 11-25, and 7-25) despite 6 blocks by Maranda Hanson.  The three set drubbing was amplified by a rash of two hit and net violations, many of which left Lady Falcon players mystified.  The calls were incongruously distributed with Elmira getting tagged with 19 violations to only 3 for Junction City.  The Lady Falcons were then swept aside 3-0 by Cottage Grove on Thursday, September 20.    They also fell 2-0 to Newport in their tournament consolation round.  Three of the Lady Falcons' victories this year have over Gladstone.

The week left Elmira at 5-6 (0-3 in the 4A Sky-Em League) for the season.