Following Flowery Branch High’s 5-0 win over Johnson on Tuesday, Lady Falcons coach Valerie Lancaster summed up Rachel Duden’s performance in the pitching circle as “focused.”
She nearly could have said perfect.
Duden struck out 12 batters in a complete game ho-hitter Tuesday at the Hog Mountain Sports Complex, with her only three blemishes being two walks and a hit batter.
“I really just wanted to focus and do the best I could,” Duden said.
That focus was needed seeing that Duden is normally the Lady Falcons’ No. 1 catcher, and after seeing extensive time in the pitching circle last year, she rarely gets a chance to throw.
“For her to come out from behind the plate and throw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts is phenomenal,” Lancaster said. “It’s a very unique situation.”
Her night didn’t start off quite as planned, as the junior walked two of the first three batters she faced. But she soon settled down, and after she hit a batter to start the third inning, Duden retired the final 15 batters she faced.
Embattled in a scoreless tie through the first two innings, Flowery Branch scored its first run of the game in the third, when Cally Orr tripled to start the inning and scored on a Chandler Duckworth groundout.
With Duden in control on the mound, the Lady Falcons boosted their lead in the fourth.
Caitlin Fowler started the three-run inning with a walk and scored on a Megan Albini infield single. The next batter, Duden helped her own cause with a sac fly that scored Tonya Evans. Cally Orr capped off the inning with a RBI single that scored Albini.
“Right now, we’re just working on change of speed and trying to adjust to pitches,” Lancaster said.
Slated to a four-run lead, Durden closed the door on the Lady Knights by striking out seven of the final nine batters she faced, including striking out the side in the top of the seventh to improve Flowery Branch’s Region 7-AAA record to 3-1.
“I think this win helps a lot because it gives us a boost for our next game,” Duden said. “We want to keep doing our best everytime.”
Duden and the Lady Falcons will play host to North Hall at 5:55 tonight, while Johnson visits West Forsyth at 5:55 p.m. Thursday.