The Fayette Lady Falcons dominated in their home opener Thursday, defeating Sturgeon 17-2 in two and a half innings.

Junior Payton Kindle picked up her first win of the season, allowing zero earned runs on just one hit with two walks and two strikeouts.

“It felt pretty good,” said Kindle about getting her first win. “It could have been a little better, but for the first one, it was pretty good.”

Kindle now holds a perfect 5-0 record in varsity pitching over the last two years. She pitched one inning against Boonville last weekend in the Lady Pirates home tournament, earning a no-decision.

“She’s always filled that role for us. What she does for us is really good,” said Fayette coach Mike James. “She threw well. She’s undefeated as a varsity pitcher. She did a great job.”

James said that ace pitcher Skylar Sunderland has a finger blister on her throwing hand, so Kindle’s ability to make the start gives her a chance to heal.

“Payton came in and did her job. It allowed Skyler to rest for four or five days and sets us up for next week,” James said.

Fayette is now 4-1 overall and finishes the week riding a four-game winning streak. The Lady Falcons dropped the first game of the season to Class 5 Smith-Cotton before taking down area rivals New Franklin and Boonville. Fayette then earned an 8-7 win at Class 5 Battle High School in extra innings on Tuesday before easing past Scotland County 11-0 to open Lewis & Clark Conference play on Wednesday.

Sturgeon is 0-3 on the young season after finishing just 2-20 a year ago. That allowed James the opportunity to not only rest his starting pitcher but also give some of the younger players on his roster a chance to gain some varsity experience.

“Everybody on our team works hard,” James said. “We’ve got a lot of girls where there isn’t much separating them talent-wise. It’s nice, every once in a while, to give another girl a chance and see what they can do in a game. This was a good ball game to build our depth and give some other girls a rest. We got the job done, We did what we needed to do, and we’re off to a really good start.”

Fayette got off to an excellent start on Thursday. The Falcon defense retired the first three Sturgeon batters in order in the top of the first before banking 12 runs in the bottom of the inning. Fayette nearly batted around the order twice, hitting six singles and reaching on four walks, with two players hit by pitches.

Sturgeon picked up one of its two runs on the night in the bottom of the second. Sophomore Kinley Bolles scored on an error after leading off with a double.

The Lady Falcons continued to pour on the runs again in their next at-bat. Fayette recorded a single and double with three walks and another hit batsman to go up 17-1 after two innings.

Kindle earned both strikeouts in the top of the third and induced a groundout to get out of the inning and the game with a 17-2 lead, evoking the mercy rule. Sturgeon picked up one run in the inning on a wild pitch.

Overall, Fayette drove in 12 runs on eight hits with seven walks and just one strikeout. Senior Addison Powell and junior Cayle John led the Falcon batting with two hits apiece. John had the team’s only extra-base hit with a double in the bottom of the second. Whitley Sunderland, Addison Gibbs, Skylar Sunderland, and Leah Thies each singled. John and Thies each drove in three runs. Gibbs and Skylar Sunderland each had two RBI.

Fayette now gets five days of rest before traveling to New Bloomfield on Tuesday. The Falcons return home Wednesday to host New Bloomfield at 5 p.m.