The Lady Falcons dominated three opponents in as many days to open the 2025 season. They opened by hosting Moravia on May 28, resulting in a 12-0 shutout, followed by a much closer 7-4 win against Lenox the following night. They ended the week at Central Decatur with another offensive explosion via 13-1 win.
“There’s always a little extra pressure that comes with being ranked number one – it kind of puts a target on your back. But honestly, with five seniors and a solid group of younger players who’ve been through some big moments already, our team has really embraced it,” Wayne coach Heather Fortune noted. “When I talked to them about whether they feel the pressure to win, their mindset was pretty clear: we give our best every day, every game – and that doesn’t change just because of a ranking.”
Wayne needed only four innings to beat Moravia, scoring six runs in the first inning. The Lady Falcons tacked on two more runs in the second inning and three more runs in the third inning to close it out. Izzie Moore opened her senior campaign with a 52-pitch outing, allowed one hit and struck out 10. She also did damage at the plate, driving in three runs via home run for her only hit of the game.
Ava Whitney also drove in three runs with a double and Laney Harvey and Korah Bethards had two hits each, combining for two runs driven in. Carsyn Anderson drove in one run with her one hit and Hallie Ingram and Allie Jo Fortune also brought in one run apiece. Ella Whitney scored three times and had one hit and Brystal Peck had one hit resulting in a double.
The Lady Falcons faced Lenox next, shutting down the Tigers for a majority of the game. Wayne scored the opening run in the first and tacked on another three runs in the third to nearly put the game out of reach. Another three insurance runs between the fifth and sixth innings put Wayne up by seven runs, which proved important late. The Tigers put together a rally in the top-half of the final inning, scoring four runs. The rally would end, and Lenox would be dealt their first loss of the season.
“Lenox definitely gave us a good test late in the game. Going into that first week, we knew there were a few things we’d need to clean up. Late in the game against Lenox, we had a couple of errors and they followed it up with some timely hits, which led to a few runs,” coach Fortune noted. “Credit to our girls for pulling it together and getting out of the inning. They came back the next day ready to work on what went wrong and keep moving forward.”
Wayne tallied two extra-base hits, one from Fortune which brought in three runs and another by Ava who drove in one run. Harvey drove in a pair of runs with a pair of singles and Khloe Sims and Memphis Stark scored once and Ella scored twice. Wayne also had 10 stolen bases, five from Ella, three from Stark and one from Moore and Peck. Moore struck out a dozen batters in seven innings, allowing six hits and walked one.
Similar to their season opener, Wayne needed just four innings to defeat Central Decatur 13-1 with Moore striking out eight and allowing one hit and a single run after 48 pitches. Ava had one double which drove in two runs and Moore also drove in two runs via a double. Fortune finished with three hits, driving in three runs with three singles. Harvey drove in a pair of runs and Peck also drove in one run and had one hit each. Bethards, Anderson and Ingram had one hit each with Ingram also scoring twice.
The Lady Falcons were at Twin Cedars on June 4 and hosted East Union on June 5. Their first marquee matchup was on June 6 playing at second-seeded Martensdale-St. Marys. They finished out the week competed at Davis County in tournament action.
“That game against Martensdale St. Mary’s is definitely a big one, and a lot of people have been talking about it. For us, we’re focused on one game at a time,” coach Fortune noted. “We’ll use those early games to learn from our mistakes, build on what we’re doing well, and work through different situations so we’re as ready as we can be by the end of the week. The message to the girls is simple: play with urgency, not panic, stay locked in mentally and physically, play our game, and most importantly, have fun with it.”