Photo courtesy of Alex Kolstee Falconer's Emily Hair, left, is the 2026 Post-Journal/OBSERVER Softball Coach of the Year.

When Emily Hair stepped away from the Frewsburg softball head coaching position after just one season to take over at Falconer, she knew she would be blessed with talent – senior talent – with the Golden Falcons this spring.

The 2014 Frewsburg graduate, who played her collegiate softball at Mercyhurst, just needed to guide the Falconer team in the right direction.

After winning the Section VI Class C championship and getting the Golden Falcons within one win of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four, it’s safe to say she did that.

Falconer opened its season with seven straight wins by a combined score of 84-16 before falling to Franklinville 2-1 in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 4 contest. Another four wins by combined scores of 47-6 followed before a 2-0 loss to Ellicottville that would ultimately cost the Golden Falcons a Division 4 crown.

Falconer then closed the season with three wins in four games to set up its sectional playoff run.

In the quarterfinals, the Golden Falcons exacted revenge on Ellicottville with a 7-0 victory before a dramatic 4-3 win over Wilson in the semifinals that was secured when center fielder Mylie Zaranek made a game-saving catch at the fence on a would-be two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Three days later, Falconer won its first sectional title since going back to back in 2021 and 2022 with a 12-7 win over Barker.

The Golden Falcons got a bit unlucky this season because they were required to win an extra game to reach the state semifinals than they were in years past.

In the Class C Far West Subregional, Falconer beat Section V champion Caledonia-Mumford 9-4 to set up a regional date with Deposit-Hancock. A 5-1 loss in that game spelled the end of the Golden Falcons’ season, just one win short of reaching the final four in Binghamton.

With an 18-4 overall record, including an 8-2 mark in league play, Falconer was rewarded with six Division 4 all-stars while Hair was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

Senior pitcher Emily Rhinehart was named one of the league’s co-Players of the Year. The right-hander went 14-3 with a 1.54 earned run average. She struck out 189 in 118 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .181 batting average.

Seniors Hannah Melquist, Emily Zaranek and Mylie Zaranek were all named First-Team all-stars. Melquist hit .493 with 10 doubles, three triples and four home runs while driving in 34 runs and scoring 34 runs. Emily Zaranek hit .507 with nine doubles, a triple and a home run while driving in 20 runs and scoring 22. Mylie Zaranek hit .397 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs while driving in 19 runs and scoring 30.

Two more seniors, Nylah Sharpe and Khloe Livengood, were named Second-Team all-stars. Sharpe hit .303 with three doubles, a triple and 25 runs scored while Livengood hit .265 with two doubles and 19 RBIs.

As a team, Falconer hit .354 with 47 doubles, 11 triples and eight home runs while scoring 191 runs.

The conductor behind that offensive engine was Hair, who is the 2026 Post-Journal/OBSERVER Softball Coach of the Year.