Panther baseball has started the year with a blowout win.
On Feb. 25, they hosted North Buncombe on McConnell Field for a cold, rainy opening night game. Despite the weather and still without several key players, Franklin triumphed 17-7.
Anderson Terrell took the mound as Franklin’s starting pitcher, tossing three strikeouts in the first two innings. Just one Black Hawk hitter reached base on an error, while Terrell, Paxton Sutton and Damion Bowles made tough plays from the field. At the plate the Panthers took an early lead, scoring three runs off two singles and several Black Hawk mistakes.
North Buncombe answered in the top of the third, mounting a two-out rally to make it 3-2. Franklin exploded in the bottom of the inning however, batting around the order for eight runs. In addition to several more Black Hawk miscues, the Panthers posted two singles, three doubles and a two-run home run to right center field from Brayden Greenwood. Franklin tacked on another run in the fourth, turning two singles, a walk and a bases-loaded wild pitch into a commanding 12-2 lead.
North Buncombe staved off the 10-run rule in the fifth, scoring three runs to keep the game alive. Franklin answered in the bottom of the inning, plating another run off a walk, a wild pitch and a single.
The Black Hawks stayed hot in the top of the sixth, scoring two more runs to make it 13-7. Franklin kept rolling in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with two walks and a Terrell leadoff double. From there Isaiah Deas was hit by a pitch, and new catcher Chase Carrion, who transferred from Florida this summer, knocked an RBI single. Senior Payton King then hit an RBI single of his own, driving in two runs to make it 17-7. With Franklin ahead by 10 runs after five complete innings, the game ended on the spot.
“In years before, it felt like we were piecing it together trying to make it until the basketball guys came back,” said head coach Jared Greenwood after the game. “Once they do, we should be in most every game this season.”
With several key players still missing from the lineup due to injury or winter sports commitments, a run-rule win served as a strong jumping-off point for the Panthers. Led by a home run from his own son in his first-ever high school game, Greenwood said the team’s young players are more than capable of filling in.
“He was coming around the basepath, and he said, ‘Boy, I’m coming for your record,’” said Greenwood, who doubles as the team’s third-base coach. En route to a 2A state title in 2001, the elder Greenwood set career program records for home runs (33), RBIs (114) and doubles (31) that stand to this day.
“I said, ‘Who are you calling “boy?”’” exclaimed Greenwood, unenthused.
After their opening-day win, the team prepared for a trip to Erwin March 2, before returning home to face Hayesville March 3.