South Whidbey’s softball team lost its first conference game 13-9 against Granite Falls.

Trailing 10-0 in the third inning, South Whidbey appeared ready for a quick game.

“We should have won it,” said Falcon senior center fielder Chantal White. “We let them get away in the beginning of the game.”

The Falcons (1-1 Cascade Conference; 1-2 overall) could have given up and allowed the game to be called after the fifth inning. Softball has a 10-run mercy rule.

But South Whidbey coach Don Wood told his team to hang on and keep its composure. Then, in the bottom of the third inning, the Falcons rallied for five runs and went through the nine-batter lineup.

“We don’t go out without a fight,” White said. “We don’t like to lose.”

The third-inning rally was a string of walks, singles and errors. Each brought South Whidbey energy from the dugout and the bleachers.

“We were putting the ball in play, giving us a chance,” Wood said. “Our base running is good.”

Still, Wood worried about MacKenzie Hezel’s nerves. It was Hezel’s first high school game as the starting pitcher.

Hezel, a freshman, pitched four innings — all in relief — prior to Monday’s game.

“Yes, [there] was a lot of pressure,” Hezel said. “I had only pitched a couple of innings before this, so it was quite an experience.”

After the Tigers pounced in the top of the first inning with six runs, Hezel’s teammates huddled around her outside the dugout.

“Chantal and Alex [Kubeska] were the main people that kept cheering me on,” Hezel said. “They got me through the first couple of innings.”

Wood encouraged Hezel before the game to take the mound, relax and pitch like he knew she could. Encouragement came from Hezel’s teammates, too.

“MacKenzie really stepped up for us,” White said. “I’m really proud of her because that’s tough to pitch all seven innings of a varsity game, and she’s only a freshman.”

Errors proved too costly and the hits came too late as Granite Falls closed out the game 13-9. In the final two innings, South Whidbey left three runners on base after the Tigers relieved starting pitcher Kimberly Willain. Granite Falls (2-1; 2-2) weathered South Whidbey’s rallies, despite taking a 10-run lead early and losing it in the third inning.

“The last three games we’ve been hitting the ball real well,” said Granite Falls softball head coach Candy Reeves. “That’s been a real strength of ours.”

“I just told them early on,” Reeves said, “‘Listen, it’s early. It’s only the first or second inning, anything can happen, and this game is not over.’”

“On any given day any of these teams are capable of beating any team in the league,” she added.

The final out was a good example of mental errors. Falcon freshman catcher Chantel Brown was on first base. With two outs, she took a three-step lead off the base after every pitch.

Granite Falls’ catcher caught her off guard and threw the ball to the Tigers’ first baseman, who tagged Brown out. For all the good base running, one mistake ended the game.

There were series where a Tiger hit a single and advanced the runner to second. The fielder bobbled the ball then overthrew either the cutoff or the base, which advanced the runner to third or home plate.

“This game really showed that we make one little mistake and it seems it instantly compounds itself,” Wood said.

After overthrowing second base and allowing a runner to advance to third base, White became more vocal from center field.

“We just let it get way out of hand,” White said. “I was frustrated with a lot of different things: the umpires’ calls, the errors. We had lots of girls in different positions.”

The defensive miscues can be attributed, in part, to seven position changes.

Yes, seven position changes. Zoey Maser moved from left field to third, which moved Kubeska to shortstop, and that pushed freshman Hayley Viers to second base. Cassie Levee moved from right field to left, which brought in freshman Mia Crain to right field. Hezel also plays left field, but due to senior starting pitcher Katy Piehler’s absence, had to pitch.

With a young team, errors both defensively and offensively are part of the season, Wood said. He said some of the younger players are still memorizing signals, and attributed his batters’ first-pitch swinging to that.

“When we watch three strikes going by, or we’re swinging at ball four, that doesn’t help us out,” he said. “Some of the youth, I think, was apparent at times.”

Despite the final score, Wood said he was pleased with the game’s takeaways: hitting, pitching and base running. Of the three, Wood said he was most pleased with Hezel’s performance.

“[Hezel] coming in and going seven innings against the defending league champions, they’re a good-hitting team, she did a phenomenal job. She had great composure out there.”

South Whidbey travels to Sultan (0-3; 0-4) on Wednesday.