Senior Kaylie Flisyn became just the third pitcher in the 3A Conference to win nine games this season as Northwest Christian High School bounced back from its first loss with a pair of wins over 12th-ranked Chino Valley.

“It was huge to come back, especially against Chino, because they’ve had our number over the years,” said head coach Kirk Van Metre, who maintained a half-game North Central Region lead over third-ranked Bourgade Catholic High School despite losing the previous Friday to the Golden Eagles, 7-1. “The bubble had burst [after] we had won 11 in a row. I really had a bad feeling we were going to go into a bit of a slide.”

Flisyn, whose 1.62 earned-run average is also eighth in the conference, also tripled and scored a run in the third inning to help the Crusaders overcome a 2-1 deficit and record their first win at Chino since her freshman year, 7-4, Friday, April 23.

“Kaylie’s been one of the best pitchers we’ve ever had here,” Van Metre said. “Our pitching’s been solid, and our defense is pretty decent, but we’ve got to be able to score some runs against these teams.”

Flisyn, looking to build on a first-team all-region season as a sophomore, struck out nine Cougars over the two wins, including a 13-2 home blowout Tuesday, April 20, to become just the second pitcher in her region to reach 80 strikeouts on the season.

After allowing just her third stolen base of the season April 23, Flisyn’s catcher Macie Thomas batted in her fifth run in two wins over the Cougars, stealing a base of her own and scoring in support of senior Mary Brennan’s 2-for-3 afternoon.  

“I think we average, like, 13 runs a game,” Van Metre added. “That’s kind of our m[odus] o[perandi]: We’re a hitting team, you know? Keep our foot on the gas.”

Brennan, the Crusaders’ starter at third base, added to her .600 batting average and top-three on-base percentage in the conference with three hits over the two games. 

Her infield mate at second, junior Katherine Poe, stemmed two Chino Valley rallies April 23, knocking in a sixth-inning RBI triple up 5-4 after her leaping grab of a two-out line drive prevented the Cougars from tying or retaking the lead in the fourth.

“She’s done that all year,” Van Metre said. “She’s one of those players that doesn’t always stick out, necessarily, but she always makes the good play. She’s not as good in practice, but she’s lights-out in the game.”

Van Metre’s “gamer” provided needed support in a batting order that had been four-hit April 16 by Bourgade freshman phenom Raina Navarro, against whom only Flisyn could hit multiple times and only Brennan could touch for an RBI after edging her two days before at home, 3-1.

“She was the best pitcher we’ve faced,” Van Metre said. “Bourgade is tough. I [was] glad to get one there from them.”

Junior Sadie Wolfe was the only other Crusader to get a hit off Navarro, the North Central strikeout and ERA queen who also tops the region in home runs and is second in the conference in RBIs.

Wolfe had her own bounce-back against Chino Valley, hitting a home run and three singles, a double and a triple, scoring six times in the two wins. Her RBI of Van Metre’s daughter, Kianna, gave the Crusaders a 5-2 cushion in the fifth inning.

It was short-lived, however. Although Cougars senior infielder McKenna Smith, one of 3A’s top three sluggers, got a triple, an RBI and three other hits off Flisyn in the two victories, it was the Chino Valley underclassmen who kept the pressure on with a two-run rally in the bottom of the fifth.

Junior Alyssa Hamm and sophomore Hanna Sears got those RBIs, but it was a pair of freshmen, Breanna Petty and Mackenzie Sanders, who teamed up to take a 2-1 lead for the Cougars in the bottom of the second inning. Petty’s triple brought home the first run, then Sanders brought her home with a sacrifice bunt.

Chino Valley salvaged its weekend with a 13-12 home win Saturday, April 24, over Wickenburg. In order to secure a seeding in the 3A postseason, however, the Cougars will likely need to win three out of their final four regular-season games--which include a home-and-away series with Bourgade.