After all, she had been there before over the past four years since starting as a freshman; she just couldn’t recall when.

“I’ve pitched so many games, I can’t remember. That was definitely rough, giving up nine in the first two innings,” Lloyd said. “I don’t usually do that. It was like, ‘I’m a senior, I’m a captain this year.’ It’s my last year and I’ve gotta put it all out there.

“But we came back; luckily my team had my back with hitting,” Lloyd said.

Trailing 9-2 in the bottom of the second, the Falcons put up seven runs to pull even, Lloyd settled down, and Clearfield won 15-10 in the Region 5 opener against the Knights on Tuesday afternoon.

“My coach gave me a pep talk and said you’re better than this, let’s figure it out and come back,” Lloyd said. “I changed my mindset. I had to pick myself up and do this for my team.”

Freshman shortstop Skylar Davis had a key single in the seven-run rally that tied the game at 9-9 after two innings.

“She pitched me outside and I missed it, so I knew it was coming again,” Davis said. “I knew when I had two strikes, I had to come up with a different approach and I did. It went up the middle and we scored two.”

Clearfield (4-3, 1-0 Region 5) has been on a rollercoaster ride prior to league play, totaling 11 and 20 runs in two of its wins, then losing tight games and giving up 11 in a loss.

“I was thinking we’ve been here before, we can come back,” Davis said. “With the six games we’d had, I knew our bats could do it.”

Northridge (1-1, 0-1), meanwhile, had only played one game before Tuesday (that was on Monday) and although the Knights had a fast start, mistakes in the field cost them as five of the last six Falcon runs were unearned.

“We come out and put up nine runs by the third, but have a bad inning … not a good thing. It was passed balls and walks (10 by three pitchers) that killed us. Other than that, we win the game,” Northridge coach Casey Kap lamented. “The weather’s been a problem. Now we’re stacked up; we play Bountiful Thursday, then leave for St. George with three games Friday and two Saturday.

“That’s the problem with our region with so many teams, we can’t fit preseason games in,” Kap said.

Clearfield’s St. George trip was last week and Davis thought it brought her team together.

“It helped our team bonding, helped us learn what our tendencies are; it made a big difference,” Davis said.

One play in the fourth inning illustrated Davis’ point. She raced toward second base, smothered a hard grounder, then flipped it from her mitt without touching her bare hand to second baseman Lilly Lara for a force out.

“I’m fast and I thought maybe I could get to it, so I dove and tossed the ball up; my second baseman had my back,” Davis said.

Lloyd pitched the seven-inning complete game, scattering six hits and struck out eight, including all three batters in the seventh, finishing with a flourish.

In a moment of possible TMI, Lloyd said she had extra incentive to close the game out.

“I had a teammate that really had to pee and she was like, ‘I need you to get these three outs right now,'” Lloyd said.

Lloyd, who has a scholarship to Dawson Community College (Montana), also helped herself at the plate, doubling in the first inning and drawing walks in her next three appearances.

“My approach is if she gives me one in there, I’m going to hit it. If not, I’ll take my base,” Lloyd said.

For Northridge, left fielder Makaybree Nay scored three runs and shortstop Madisyn Lecour had three RBIs.