Lady Falcons Soar into the Playoffs

Josie Dickson has at times played in the shadow of hitters like Ashley Feltz and Maranda Hanson.  However, it was her turn to shine in the spotlight as she went 3 for 3 at the plate, harvesting 4 RBIs and scoring a run as the Elmira rebounded from late season losses to punish Newport 11-1 in the five inning play in contest.  The Lady Falcons return to the play offs with a first round date on the road Wednesday May 22 at third ranked Banks.

Ashley Feltz chipped in two hits and two RBI's as well as a sacrifice. 

Newport never was in the game, falling behind 7-0 before tallying a single run on a double by Kalea Blodgett.  They struggled because the hard throwing Hanson never let them off the mat. Hanson twirled a glistening one hitter, giving up only the double to Blodgett and that single run.  She did throw 4 walks, one of which scored and only threw four strikeouts.  However, she never seemed threatened and was playing with house money with a 7 run lead. 

While Banks is the third ranked team in the state they have endured six losses this season and are by no means an unbeatable team, especially if  Hanson is in a groove and the top of the batting order gets some support from rest of the line up.  The boys baseball team will open the playoffs the same day at Banks.  First pitch for the girls is 4PM Wednesday.

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.