The Valle Catholic Warriors don’t lose often, but when they do, they come back with a vengeance. They have lost just three games all season, and each loss is treated with the same amount of vitriol spewed upon opposing lineups.
After their first loss, they won four straight. After their second loss, they won nine straight. And after last week’s loss to Nixa, they won every game they played this week. The Warriors took down Kingston 8-1 on Tuesday, buried Farmington 15-6 on Wednesday and topped a 16-1 Cooter team on Friday, 5-1. That bumped Valle to 23-3 this season.
The first game of the successful three-game homestead was against the Kingston Cougars on Senior Night, and Valle was ready to go from the jump. A Jackson Fowler RBI single in the first put them up 1-0, and they wouldn’t have to look over their shoulders the rest of the game after that.
Carson Tucker made sure of that with a smoking double to right in the third that plated a pair to go up 3-0. He then stole third and scored on an error to make it 4-0, and the Warriors were in business. They let up one in the top of the fourth, but responded with two in the bottom of the inning and then added insurance runs in the fifth and the sixth. Chase Fallert and Clayton Drury had RBI base knocks to ice it, and Valle won easily with a score of 8-1.
It was a bullpen start on the mound, but Cannon Wolk got the win with two scoreless innings to start the game. Drury and Tucker each drove in a pair of runs and Fallert filled up the box score, going 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two BBs, an RBI and five stolen bases.
That set up a game with the Farmington Knights, and Grant Fallert came to play in this one. He was the offensive leader, and also got the win on the mound for Valle. The Warriors picked up two in the first and then erupted for five more in the third, only putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard in this one.
In the third, G. Fallert plated a pair with an RBI triple and Rylan Fallert added an RBI single in the frame. That made it 7-0, but Valle wasn’t close to being done. They added three more in the fourth, highlighted by a Tucker double and a Fowler single to go up 10-1.
The Knights would rally, putting up three in the fifth and two more in the sixth to make it a 10-6 game, but the Warriors weren’t about to let them off the hook. They added five more in the bottom of the sixth and nailed the Farmington coffin shut. Alex Viox had a big two-run double to spark the late insurance rally, and Valle cruised to a 15-6 victory.
G. Fallert got the win with four innings of one-run ball, striking out five, and also paced the offense with a 4-for-5 effort that featured a triple, two RBI, two runs scored and a pair of steals. Tucker, Isaac Viox, Alex Viox and R. Fallert all drove in two. Both Viox boys had three hits.
That made it two in a row, but the Warriors would have to face the Cooter Wildcats in the final game of the week, and they were sitting at 16-1 before the start of the game. So this was going to be a tough one. Thankfully, Drury was on the mound and gave Valle four solid innings of one-run ball to earn the win. The only run he allowed was unearned and he gave up just three hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.
The offense backed him up, as usual, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. A. Viox provided the big blow with a booming RBI double to left and the Warriors were up 2-1 early. They tacked on an extra tally in the fourth on an RBI groundout and then sealed the deal in the bottom of the sixth with two more. Those runs came courtesy of Aaron Eftink and R. Fallert RBI base hits to make it 5-1.
Preston Lurk earned the three-inning save with a trio of hitless innings and four Ks against a solitary walk. The offense provided just six hits, two RBI and three BBs, but they got the big hits when they needed to, and took advantage of miscues, as well as wild hurlers on the Cooter side.
The streak is now at three and Valle seems primed and ready to dive into the MAAA Conference Tournament that kicks off early next week.
