Panther baseball has started the year red-hot.
After routing North Buncombe on opening night, on the first week of March they entered the heart of their regular season, playing two more nonconference games with Erwin and Hayesville. With a 12-run blowout of Erwin and a walk-off win over Hayesville, Franklin improved their record to 3-0.
On March 2, they traveled to Erwin to face the Warriors. After being held scoreless in the first, Franklin kicked into gear in the second, exploding for seven runs to end the inning up by five. They added four runs in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth. Up 14-2 after five complete innings, Franklin triggered the 10-run mercy rule to end the game on the spot.
Damion Bowles led all Panthers at the plate in Asheville, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Anderson Terrell earned the win as Franklin’s starting pitcher, tossing three innings of two-hit, two-run ball.
The next night the Panthers returned to McConnell Field to take on Hayesville. There Caden Mason took the mound as Franklin’s starter, tossing a 1-2-3 top of the first. Terrell sparked a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning, reaching first on a single, moving to second on a hit batsman and stealing third. He scored on an Addix Sutton single for the game’s first run. Hayesville tied the game 1-1 in the top of the second.
Franklin came out swinging in the third, scoring two more runs off singles from Bowles, Terrell and Sutton. Gunner McConnell and Brock Bradley then drew walks to load the bases, giving Franklin two more runs off a balk and a sacrifice fly.
Down 5-1, Hayesville answered in the fifth, posting three walks and two singles to cut Franklin’s lead to one. They added three walks and a single in the sixth to tie the game.
In a 5-5 dead heat, Hayesville stayed hot in the seventh, taking a one-run lead with a hit batsman, a steal and a double. In the bottom of the inning Terrell re-tied the game however, smacking a single, stealing second, and scoring on a Brayden Greenwood single. Greenwood then took second on a balk, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch for a walk-off win.
Three nights later the Panthers traveled to St. Stephens for another nonconference game. There the Indians triumphed 11-0.
The Panthers ended the week with a 3-1 overall record, before returning home for a game with Swain after press time March 9. From there they’ll take the rest of the week off for Franklin’s Spring Break, ahead of their first conference game with East Henderson March 17.