But then, Hanson came through, snaring a line drive at the hot corner before throwing to first to complete the 5-3 double play ? allowing a subsequent groundout to shortstop to end the game.
"I'm always thinking I want the ball, hit it to me," said Hanson of her mentality during a pressure situation in the field.
It was the second double play of the game for the Falcons (21-7) and both were started by Hanson, who had five assists and three putouts.
The first came in the top of the fifth with one out and runners on first and second. It came shortly after Falcon starter Kelsey Brumm had taken a line drive off the thigh.
Berry said Brumm (10-4) didn't hesitate to say she was staying in.
She gutted out a complete-game performance, keeping her team afloat, as she allowed 11 baserunners.
"We get everything we can get out of Brumm," Berry said.
Hanson had one of her team's eight hits ? all of them tallied by separate starters. It was a lead-off single in the third. She'd later score on an error for a 4-1 lead and what would prove to be the game-winning run.
The game didn't appear to be heading in that direction, though. The Falcons, who had previously pounded out a 12-1 win against Highland on March 18, expunged an open-inning Bulldog run by scoring four over the first three innings.
After that, however, the offense was quieted.
"We were still hitting the ball, we were just hitting it right at people," Hanson said.
The Falcons tallied just two hits after the third inning, but true to Hanson's claim, they struck out just twice, as lineouts and hard grounders usually spelled the end.
Highland's Marissa Delima (8-6) took the loss, but didn't pitch in the teams' first meeting, likely explaining the variety in final scores.
She allowed a Baillie Kirker single up the middle that scored Stephanie Ziemann in the first inning. Kirker later scored on a Sydney Vermillion single for a 2-1 lead. The Falcons never trailed again.
Lainey DePompa singled in Becky Whitt in the second, before Hanson came around in the third.
The victory highlighted the Falcons' reserve as they rebounded from their last game, a 3-1 loss to Arcadia that snapped Crescenta Valley's eight-year Pacific League title streak.
"No not really," answered Hanson when asked if being able to come back after last week's setback proved anything. "But once [the Bulldogs] showed up in Apache colors, we got pumped up."
