Mixed fortunes was the name of the game when the Falcon boys baseball team bookended the weekend with games against Granite Falls.

Finding the Tigers’ home field more to their liking, the Falcons beat Granite Falls 3-0 on the road Friday, but then lost their home opener 7-3 Monday as the Tigers bounced back.

Falcon Coach Dave Guetlin said Friday’s contest was a “huge game” for the Falcons as Granite Falls was one of the pre-season favorites to win the North Cascades Conference. They were the NCC champs last year.

Behind pitching from Ben Schultz and Bryan Wenker, the Falcons blanked the opposition with near-perfect play. Schultz gave up two hits in four innings of work on the strength of six strikeouts and solid defensive backup. Wenker brought relief in the fifth inning and also held the Tigers scoreless. He capped his relief work by striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh to end the game

On offense, the Falcons did all their scoring at once. In the fifth inning, freshman Dane Guetlin led off with a bunt good enough for a base hit. Following Guetlin, senior Brady Switzer blasted his second home run in as many games, keeping up the pace he started to set last season. The two RBIs that came with the shot were all the Falcon pitchers needed to win, but for good measure senior Tim Gabelein came around to score on a balk after reaching base on a double.

Monday was a different story for the Falcons. In a rematch at South Whidbey High School, the Tigers got ahead by four in the second inning and never looked back. Chalked up on two hits, three walks and a hit batter, the Tigers took advantage of South Whidbey pitcher Brady Switzer. Josh Coleman came in as relief in the second and stayed for the next four. He limited the Tigers to only three hits.

Solo Falcon scores in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings were not enough to pull the game back.

Next up for the now 1-2 Falcons is a Wednesday game at Meridian. They will play at home on Friday against Meridian.