Sailor Livingston appeared eager as she exited the circle and walked back to her team’s dugout last Thursday.

The Falcon’s sophomore pitcher had four strikeouts for the game and Falcon owned a 10-0 lead against Mesa Ridge.

One more strikeout and the Falcons would have won via the 10-run rule. With the bases loaded and two outs on the board, though, Livingston walked home a run, which spotted Mesa Ridge at least another inning. Falcon eventually got the out, beat the Grizzlies 11-5 to improve to 6-0 and Livingston finished with eight strikeouts.

But Livingston’s intensity between innings, Falcon coach Juan Sala Jimenez knew that’s the real victory. His Falcons have exuded that passion all season and it has buoyed the team to a 9-1 start and 4A’s No. 7 spot in recent Colorado High School Activities Association polls.

“When you hang around players like that it makes you want to raise your playing level,” Jimenez said. “(Thursday) was about character. We got to see what kind of players we have out there and with Sailor always giving 110 percent, that helps us see what we have for the playoffs because that’s where we want to be.”

In 2025, the second-year coach took over “literally two days before we had tryouts.” Those Falcons managed a 10-12 record and collected their 10^th victory in the season finale, an 18-2 win against Sierra.

Jimenez knew with additional time and an offseason regimen with players, he could help the Falcons soar. This year, the Falcons started 9-0 before a 6-3 loss at the Lamar tournament to Lamar.

In Falcon’s first 10 games, the Falcons have outscored their opposition 132-26, have scored double-digit runs in nine of 10 contests and have yet to allow an opponent to reach 10 runs. In 2025, Falcon allowed eight teams to reach double figures.

“This is a player-driven team,” Jimenez said. “The only thing I’ve done is come in and make sure they’re about each other. We want them to hold each other accountable. I told them that you always hear good teams are coach-led, great teams are player-led. That’s what we’ve established here and we want them to be the ones in control of the team.”

The 9-1 start has not surprised DannaPaola Martinez. Martinez, who transferred from Mesa Ridge, ranks first in RBIs in Colorado with 26. She has also tallied two triples and two homers.

But the Falcon junior highlighted the production of her teammates, such as Lyla Almeida, who leads the Falcons with 19 hits. Or freshman Cheyenne Cahoon, who’s third in the state with 24 runs and hit her second career homer against Mesa Ridge last Thursday. The Falcons’ cast is lethal in various areas on the diamond and that confidence comes from the offseason work.

“I have a lot of club team members on Falcon,” Martinez said after Thursday’s win. “I low-key had confidence we were going to make it far and I could see this start coming.”

Michelle Morales is one of seven seniors on the team and has played varsity all four years. Morales has watched the ebbs and flows of the Falcons, including the cohesion this team built in the offseason.

Shortly after last season, players dedicated several hours of training to this year. Those reps and hours in batting cages built the Falcons into a force. The moments between sets and practice, however, created the bond that shines on the diamond.

“There was a lot of practice and spending time with each other,” Morales said. “We did team bonding and as time went by, we connected. I think that’s been a big help this season.”

After their 3-1 performance at the Lamar tournament, the Falcons have another test. Falcon will face Widefield twice this week — at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at home and Thursday at Widefield at 3:30 p.m.

The Gladiators dispatched 3A’s No. 2-ranked The Classical Academy 7-0 at home Saturday, beat Rampart 16-4 on Monday and own an 8-2 record. In 10 games, the Gladiators have allowed just 40 runs. After the Gladiators’ win Saturday, Widefield coach Nick Leonard spoke highly of the softball talent in the Pikes Peak region, including Falcon’s roster.

“I think us, Falcon and a couple other teams in the area are showing we have a lot of talent,” Leonard said. “We want this challenge. When we built our schedule, we knew it was tough. We want to go to regionals and we want to go to state and we don’t want to be surprised by anything.

“I told our girls that our schedule is harder than it’s ever been but the one thing I guaranteed them is when we get to the postseason, we will be battle-tested. We love these matchups.”