Softball. The FLC softball team kept coming back against Los Medanos, but ultimately lost a pair of one-run games on Tuesday afternoon in Pittsburg.  In game one went into extra innings with the two teams were tied 9-9 after seven innings. The Falcons scored one in the eighth, only to be matched by the Mustangs in their half of the inning. In the ninth, the Falcons again put the go-ahead run on the board to take a 11-10 lead, but Los Medanos responded with two in the bottom half to win 12-11. The Falcon offense was clicking as three players (Abbie Strickland, Brooke Stacy, and Lizzy Bond) collected three hits apiece, while Bree Martinez went 5-for-5. In game two, the Falcons were down 2-0 when they took advantage of Mustang errors to score five runs in the fourth inning. The 5-2 lead wouldn’t last as Los Medanos chipped away, eventually winning the game with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, 6-5.  The Falcons will play their final home games of the season today at Falcon Diamond when they host Bay Valley Conference leader Solano College in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm.

Men’s Golf

The Falcons hoped to clinch the Big 8 title in yesterday’s tournament #14, but Santa Rosa prevented a celebration by defeating FLC by five strokes (381-386).  Freshman Mason Troike earned low medalist with his 1-over par 73, but he didn’t get enough help as Santa Rosa had all six golfers shoot 78 or better. With just two tournaments remaining, the Falcons still hold a six point lead over the BearCubs.

Baseball

The FLC baseball team recorded another victory yesterday, this time winning 6-5 in 10 innings at Mendocino College in Ukiah. The Falcons took an early 2-0 lead on Nick Schumacher’s first-inning double to right field, then extended their lead to 4-1 in the fourth inning when Greg Vaughn drove in a run with a double to left-center and scored on an error. Schumacher’s fifth inning leadoff home run put the Falcons ahead 5-2, but the Eagles battled back with three runs in their half of the inning to tie the game at 5. Neither team managed to score through the final four innings, but in the 10th Vaughn struck again. His second double of the game scored Nicola Mislinski, who had drawn a two-out walk, all the way from first base with the winning run. Sophomore lefty Kendall Menard earned the win in relief after taking over in the fifth inning and pitching 4 -2/3 scoreless innings.

The Falcons improved to 16-5 in BVC play (21-12 overall), but remain in third place as both Laney and Los Medanos won yesterday. They’ll play at Contra Costa tomorrow (Saturday), then finish the regular season next week at Laney on Tuesday and at Napa on Thursday.

Tennis

The men and women opened state championship tournament play at Ojai on Thursday with mixed results.  For the men, Sean Alves (seeded #3 North) had a first round bye, then won his next two matches (against San Diego City and Cerritos) to reach the final 16.  His next match will be Friday afternoon against south #8 seed from Irvine Valley. Shawn Morgan (unseeded) lost his opening round match in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. The doubles team of Morgan/ Praj Ta won their first match (vs Grossmont) 6-3, 6-4 before losing to south #7 seed Saddleback, 1-6, 3-6.  The team of Kevin Conley /Francisco Garcia lost to south #9 seed Riverside 2-6, 2-6.

On the women’s side, Hannah Crookham won her opening match (vs Antelope valley) by default, then lost to south #3 seed Orange Coast 1-6, 0-6. Sophie Taber lost to El Camino 0-6, 2-6, and Anjelica Frank defeated San Diego Mesa 6-4, 6-0 before losing to north #5 Fresno City 0-6, 1-6. In doubles, the team of Crookham/Taber lost a grueling three-set match to Grossmont 6-1, 2-6, 11-13. Michelle Doyle/Reneer Balingit lost to #10 south Riverside 0-6, 1-6, and Anjelica/Arielle Frank lost a close match to Santa Barbara, 4-6, 4-6.