RIPLEY — The Chautauqua Lake Thunderbirds baseball team defeated Falconer, 9-7, to claim its first win of the season in a CCAA Division 1 West high school baseball game on Friday in Ripley.

Chautauqua Lake (1-2, 1-1) took a 3-2 lead in the third inning on a two-run double by Nate Engdahl. Luke Waters drove him in on a double of his own in the next at-bat to make the score 4-2.

In the fourth inning, Falconer loaded the bases when Chautauqua Lake starting pitcher Devin Pope ran out of gas. Pope also pitched in Wednesday’s game against Maple Grove.

“Devin got tired in the fourth inning,” said Chautauqua Lake coach Bryan Bongiovanni. “He threw on Wednesday and hit a wall. He gave his teammates everything he had.”

Engdahl came in to relieve Pope with the bases loaded and one out. Two runs came in to score, but Chautauqua Lake came out of the inning tied at 4-4.

“Nate did a great job in that situation,” said Bongiovanni. “He’s only a freshman, but he’s as composed as a senior. His composure is one of our greatest assets as a team.”

Joe Gustafson led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a double, and scored on an error to take the lead again for Chautauqua Lake. Pope reached on an error in the inning and stole two bases, before coming in on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Rowe to add another run. Two more runs scored in the inning, as Brendon Rowe and Kyler Majka both came in on an error.

Chautauqua Lake held the lead the rest of the game, as Engdahl pitched the rest of the way to earn the win.

The Thunderbirds are in action again on Monday, when they head to Silver Creek in another CCAA Division 1 West matchup.