However, one changing variable has been in the dugout leading the Red Dragons into action each year as the head coach.

For the third straight year a new head coach has taken the reins, and on Wednesday at Bemus Point Elementary, Cory Falkowski followed suit of his predecessors with a victory in his debut, defeating Falconer in nonleague action 12-4.

“Maple Grove baseball definitely has a rich history of winning, but we’re trying to get some consistency here,” Falkowski stated. “That’s something I want to work towards, getting consistency with these kids. These kids work so hard, there’s nothing they can’t do, they work hard all the time and it’s going to be a fun year.”

In the opposing dugout, Falconer (0-1) is still looking for its first win since resurrecting the varsity baseball program two seasons ago. The win did not come on Wednesday, but the young Golden Falcons hope to be trending in the correct direction.

Falconer catcher Isaiah Washington catches a foul pop-up during Wednesday’s nonleague baseball game against Maple Grove in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“For the past two months we’ve been having some open gyms,” Falconer head coach Fred Carder stated. “These kids work hard in their own time and it’s starting to pay off for them. There’s a lot of young guys we have on our team now, our leadoff batter is an eighth-grader and the No. 4 batter is a ninth-grader. These kids work hard in their off time and it’s starting to pay off.”

Last year, at the same venue in similar frigid circumstances, Falconer suffered a lopsided defeat at the hands of Maple Grove 13-0 with a mercy rule.

This year’s start was different as it was Falconer jumping out to an early 3-0 lead through an inning and a half.

Donny Carraher got Falconer on the board in the first inning thanks to some good baserunning and a few mistakes in the field, but it was the second inning when Falconer got its bats going.

Anthony Wood and Logan Johnson began the frame with a pair of singles and it was Austin Pfeiffer connecting hard on a two-run single to center field, advancing to second on the throw home for a 3-0 lead.

Maple Grove’s Drew Oste catches a fly ball during Wednesday’s nonleague baseball game against Falconer in Bemus Point. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“These kids, they’ve been working hard,” Carder said about the final result. “It’s just disappointing, we had a lot of errors. Our pitching was good today, our hitting was good today, it just ended up with some errors. I’m just disappointed for the kids.”

Maple Grove (1-0) senior starting pitcher Nate Cornell settled down after the Pfeiffer hit, striking out the last two batters to keep the deficit at 3-0 and then it was time for Falkowski’s squad to get going offensively.

“It was (good) to get the win today,” Falkowski said. “I would like to see our kids warm up a little better and start the game on a stronger note, but Cornell pitched really well. He was the player of the game for us today. Pitched really well and then played really well in the field.”

Cornell got right to work getting runs back for himself reaching via walk before getting Maple Grove on the board thanks to some keen baserunning. Cornell was the first of seven Red Dragons to score in the frame as they took over the game.

“We’ve got a small senior class, but our seniors definitely take it,” Falkowski said about the leadership. “You’ve got Nate Cornell, Kolden McCall and Sean Verbosky, those three are definitely the heart and soul of this team. I hope they instill a lot on our junior class, because we’ve got a big junior class, but our seniors they’re the group.”

Scoring in the frame were Jake Reinhart, Baylor Hirliman, Kyle Yohe, Camden Lombardo, Kolden McCall and Avery Garrett. The biggest swing of the bat belonged to Lombardo with two outs and the bases loaded as he connected for a two-run single that tied the game at 3-3.

A wild pitch, intentional walk, balk, RBI single from Garrett and another wild pitch allowed the lead to reach 7-3.

It looked like the game was trending in the same direction as last spring’s early meeting that culminated in a mercy-rule defeat, but Wood reached home again for Falconer after leading off the fourth inning with another single. Wood scored on a Pfeiffer groundout three batters later and finished the day 2 for 2.

Maple Grove tacked on runs in the following two innings, but Falconer’s relief pitchers held things together to push the contest to seven innings.

After getting out in his first two attempts, Maple Grove leadoff batter Drew Oste finished the game with two singles and two runs, Lombardo and Cornell scored their second runs and Sean Verbosky collected the only extra-base hit of the game with a double before the contest came to a close at 12-4.