It was a mixed week for Panther baseball.
Entering the week of April 8 on a two-game win streak, Franklin faced a pair of Mountain Seven Conference foes, hosting Pisgah and traveling to Smoky Mountain. After falling to Pisgah and routing Smoky, Jared Greenwood’s team had just seven more games to play this season.
On Monday, April 8 the Panthers hosted Pisgah at McConnell Field to rehash the Black Bears’ 9-2 win in Canton March 19. There the rematch was much lower-scoring than the rivals’ first meeting, with senior pitcher Josiah Hursey dealing five strikeouts in the first four innings. Black Bear freshman Zack Wester was a worthy dueling partner for Hursey, with a standup triple from Malachi Hayes providing most of Franklin’s offense in the early innings.
Despite impressive infield assists from Hayes and Will Rauers, Pisgah finally broke the deadlock in the fifth, plating the game’s first run with a walk, a steal and two singles.
Franklin’s offense answered in the bottom of the inning, tying the game with a single from Rauers, a sacrifice bunt from Jayden Rogers and a double to left center field from Addix Sutton. Seniors Reed Raby and Ian Knepp hit back-to-back singles to bring Sutton home and make it 2-1.
Franklin nearly protected their lead to the final out, retiring Pisgah’s first two batters in the seventh. With a 2-2 count and a runner on second however, Black Bear freshman Isaiah Mince kept his team alive, dropping an RBI single into right center field to tie the game. On the next at-bat Pisgah was awarded a double on a ball that appeared to be foul, then scored on a wild pitch to take the lead moments later. Franklin couldn’t answer in the bottom of the inning and fell 3-2.
Eight different Panthers recorded hits in the game, while Hursey tossed six and two-thirds innings of excellent eight-strikeout ball.
On Friday, April 12 the Panthers traveled to Smoky Mountain to rehash their 9-1 rout of the Mustangs April 2. There they once again built an early lead in the first, loading the bases with a walk from Hayes and singles from Terrell and Jaxon Hursey. Rauers drove in two runs with a single of his own, before Hursey scored on a wild pitch to put his team up 3-0.
Smoky’s defense totally broke down in the third, spotting Franklin another run with an error, two hit batsmen and an Addix Sutton single. They negated the run in the bottom of the inning however, cutting their deficit to 4-1 with two singles and a stolen base.
Franklin’s offense opened the floodgates in the fourth, loading the bases with a hit batsman and singles from Terrell and Knepp. They then cashed in with an RBI walk from Sutton and a bases-clearing double from Raby. A single from Apel continued the two-out rally to give Franklin a commanding 9-1 lead.
Smoky heated up again in the fifth, tacking on another run with two singles and a wild pitch. Their momentum was short-lived however, as Franklin led off the sixth with singles from Rauers and Sutton.
From there Raby and Apel again cashed in, plating two more runs with an RBI groundout and a bloop single. With the bases loaded after a hit batsman and an error, a hard-hit ball from Hayes struck the infield umpire on the foot, awarding Franklin’s runners a free base.
After a Jaxon Hursey walk put the Panthers up 13-2, Rauers nearly cleared the bases with a shot to left, but was robbed by a brilliant diving catch by Smoky’s left fielder on the third-base line. The play did little to change the game’s outcome however, as Hayes tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule, capping an excellent day on the mound. The win improved the Panthers to 5-8 overall and 2-6 in the Mountain Seven Conference.
After demolishing Smoky, Franklin turned their attention to a much tougher foe, traveling to West Henderson April 16 for their first of two games with the reigning 3A State Champions.