It was a mixed week for Panther baseball.
On the week of March 18, Jared Greenwood’s team faced a busy slate of games, with a trip to Murphy and a two-game series with Pisgah on the docket. After beating Murphy and falling to the conference-rival Black Bears, Franklin was forced to postpone their second game with Pisgah.
On March 18 the team traveled to Cherokee County to rehash their season-opening win over Murphy. After a 3-1 defensive battle Feb. 29, the rematch was much higher-scoring than the first meeting, with the Panthers taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. In the third inning Franklin tacked on three more runs to go up 5-1, but saw their lead erased with five Murphy runs in the next frame. In the top of the fourth Franklin answered with five more runs of their own, and held Murphy to just two more the rest of the way. The Panthers went on to win 12-8, knocking 10 hits and committing just two errors.
Senior Jayden Rogers led all Panthers at the plate, racking up three hits and two RBIs in four at-bats. Senior Malachi Hayes went 2 for 4 with an RBI and three runs scored, while seniors Reed Raby and Jaxon Hursey both knocked doubles. Raby and fellow seniors Ian Knepp, Abram Apel and Josiah Hursey each pitched at least one inning, dealing 10 strikeouts and allowing just five hits.
The next night, the team traveled to Pisgah for a Mountain Seven Conference game, the first of a two-game series with the Black Bears. There, the game remained tied 2-2 through four innings, but Pisgah scored five runs in the fifth and two in the sixth en route to a 9-2 victory.
Knepp led all Panthers at the plate in Canton, going 2 for 3 with a run scored and a hit-by-pitch. He also held Pisgah hitless in one inning on the mound.
After falling to Pisgah, the Panthers planned to host a rematch with the Black Bears March 22, but were unable to play due to rain. The game was postponed to April 8 at McConnell Field. The team then turned their attention to their next Mountain Seven series, a two-game clash with North Henderson March 25-27.