Panther softball are winners in walk-off grand slam fashion.
On the final week of March, they faced three familiar foes, with games versus Murphy, Smoky Mountain and West Henderson. In an epic comeback win over West capped by a Kendall Rumans walk-off grand slam, Franklin earned their sixth straight victory and took second in the Mountain Seven Conference.
On Monday, March 27, the Panthers traveled to Murphy for a non-conference meeting. In a rematch of their 11-3 rout of the Bulldogs March 9, Franklin took care of business once again.
“We played good over there. We didn’t play great, but we played good,” said head coach Bobby Bishop of the trip to Cherokee County. “Kendall pitched over there and did a good job. … We got enough hits to score enough runs, and we actually played really good defense.”
With four runs in the first and another in the second, Franklin built a big lead and never looked back, going on to win 7-3. In addition to a six-hit, five-strikeout complete game on the mound, Rumans also helped lead her team at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and one run scored. Senior shortstop Tori Ensley went 2 for 5 with a home run, while junior catcher Avery Moffitt went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple.
After finishing their season sweep over Murphy, the next day the Panthers traveled to Sylva for a Mountain Seven contest with Smoky Mountain. After playing several close games with Franklin in recent years, a rebuilding Mustang team wasn’t up to the challenge, falling behind 10-0 after five innings to trigger the 10-run “mercy” rule.
Junior pitcher/third baseman Meyaeh Tran threw a three-hit, two-strikeout complete game on the mound, and went 2 for 3 with two RBIs at the plate. Ensley went 2 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs, while Moffitt went 3 for 3 with a double, a triple and three RBIs.
On Friday, March 31, the Panthers returned to Macon Middle School for an important Mountain Seven clash. Entering the contest in third place with a 4-1 conference record, Franklin sat one place behind West in the standings, with a chance to overtake the 3-0 Falcons with a win.
The first inning played out disastrously for the Panther defense, as West turned a triple, two doubles, two singles and a walk into a commanding 4-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Ensley drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. With two outs, the senior cut her team’s deficit with a daring play, catching West’s pitcher unaware and stealing home.
After a 1-2-3 top of the second by Rumans, the Falcons again extended their lead in the third, knocking a solo home run over the center field wall.
West’s bats stayed hot over the next two innings, putting runners on second and third before Rumans struck out the last batter in the fourth. In the fifth, West looked poised to put the game out of reach, loading the bases with two singles, a walk and zero outs. Rumans stayed remarkably cool under pressure however, limiting the damage to a single run on a fielding error.
Down 6-1, Franklin refused to go quietly in the sixth, getting a single from Ensley, a West throwing error and a single from freshman Ashlyn McConnell to bring Ensley home and make it a 6-2 game. On the next at-bat, Rumans doubled to put two runners on, scoring moments later on a three-run homer by Moffitt. The shot to left center was Moffitt’s fifth extra-base hit of the week, and forced the Falcons’ starting pitcher off the mound.
Down just 6-5 after a quick top of the seventh, the Panther bats stayed hot in the final inning. With one out, senior outfielder Mya Crisp sparked Franklin’s offense with a single, advancing to second on Ensley’s second walk of the game. Moments later, McConnell turned in a major league at-bat, fouling off multiple 3-2 pitches before drawing a walk of her own. With the bases loaded, Rumans authored one of the biggest plays in recent memory for Franklin, tattooing a letter-high pitch over the left field wall for a walk-off grand slam. After the game, Bishop was asked where Rumans’ shot ranks among Panther softball’s greatest moments of recent vintage.
“I would say considering that we got so far behind there at the beginning – it was 6-1 and we battled back and got it to 6-5, and then got them three up, three down in the seventh – if this ain’t number one, it’s 1A or 1B,” he said. “We had some back when I was assistant to Adam [Tallent] the year that we went to the State Championship. When we beat Bunker Hill here, we were behind 4-1 and we hit two home runs to get it to 4-3, and then hit one off the fence. Then, the next girl hit a home run, and then we held them in the seventh. It wasn’t a walk-off, because we had to hold them one more inning. So, [Rumans’] is right up there at the top. It’s dang good.”
Between Franklin’s series-clinching win in Game 3 of the 2018 State 2A Semifinals and Rylee Corbin’s eighth-inning walk-off homer to knock off No. 1-ranked Smoky Mountain in 2021, Rumans’ walk-off grand slam joins an elite group of pressure-packed hits in recent years. With hard-hitting sluggers Abby Carpenter, Olivia Birchard and Bree Carver missing Friday’s game due to injury or illness, the team will continue to rely heavily on the standout freshman in their quest for a Mountain Seven title.
“The last two weeks have been good,” said Bishop. “We’ve won three and three, so we’ve won six in the last two weeks, and to get to 10-3 and 5-1 in the conference through the first round is huge. [West] and Tuscola haven’t played each other yet, so somebody’s gonna lose another one right there. I think they play next week when we’re off for spring break.”
In handing West their first conference loss and improving their own record to 5-1, Franklin leapfrogged the Falcons for second place behind 5-0 Tuscola. After the game, the Panthers enjoyed a week off for Spring Break, with a trip to East Henderson slated for Tuesday, April 11.