Kaufman, the junior hurler, settled down and tossed five scoreless innings and the A-C Valley bats came alive for seven runs as the Falcons notched an 11-4 win.

“She really settled in once she found the zone where the umpire was calling (strikes),” said A-C Valley coach Lane Larimore. “I was really pleased that she picked up her first varsity win. She looked real sharp out there.

“You couldn’t ask for more on the first day.”

In the last five innings, Kaufman allowed only two hits and, for the game, she struck out nine Indian batters.

“I think (Kaufman) got better as the game went on,” said West Forest coach John Wright. “We hit her for one or two innings, but we didn’t hit her very well after that.”

A-C Valley opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Kaufman laced an RBI single into the outfield that brought home two Falcons. Shannon Bartley stroked a run-scoring single later in the inning to make the score 3-0.

For the game, Bartley was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

However, the lead wouldn’t stand as Kaufman walked the first two West Forest batters and junior Kara Scott ripped a two RBI single to make the score 3-2. Two batters later, Amanda Carll knocked home two more Indians with a single that gave West Forest a 4-3 lead.

A-C Valley pulled back into a tie in the bottom of the second when Allie Atwood scored from third on a wild pitch.

The Falcons took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Kaylin Strauser laced a one-out triple into the gap and was driven home on a fielder’s choice RBI to give A-C Valley a 5-4 lead.

Strauser was 2-for-4 and scored one run.

The Falcons broke open the game in the bottom of the fifth when Bartley ripped a two-run double that made the score 7-4.

A-C Valley posted one more run in the fifth and closed out the scoring by adding three runs in the sixth.

“The game was close heading into the fifth and sixth innings,” said Wright. “And we gave them three or four runs that ended up costing us in the end.”

As a team, the Falcons tallied 10 hits and knocked home six runs.

“It was a good win, an ugly win,” said Larimore. “It is getting us started on the right foot.

“It’s what we need.”