Andy Scheidler
sports@thefranklinpress.com
When Dylan Burt heard the news, he wanted to know one thing.
“Are we playing tonight?” Burt asked.
Franklin’s baseball game against Cherokee continued Thursday night as scheduled, giving the Panthers and Braves one final chance to enjoy action on the diamond for at least the next three weeks.
The players – particularly the seniors – savored the opportunity to play what possibly could be their final game wearing Franklin uniforms as America waits to see how the coronavirus affects athletics and life.
Burt is one of four seniors on the baseball team, along with Zach Buchanan, Jadon Knepp and Trey Woodard.
“We went out there and had fun,” Burt said. “Left it all out there, no matter what happened, win or lose, just had fun with it.”
The Panthers enjoyed many light-hearted moments on the diamond Thursday during a dominating 27-1 win over Cherokee. Three pitchers – Burt, Chandler Crawford and Isaiah Johns – combined on a no-hitter over four innings.
FHS jumped all over the Braves from the start, plating 10 runs in the first inning. They scored five in the second, then 12 more in the third.
The lopsided nature allowed players to try out different positions. And everyone got to enjoy swinging away at the plate.
“We played like we have been: killing the ball,” Knepp said.
Burt requested to play catcher in final inning of the mercy-ruled shortened game. It’s a position he played growing up but stopped when he got to middle school.
“I missed it,” he said. “My knees and my feet didn’t miss it.”
Burt earned Player of the Game honors on MaxPreps.com from coach Tim Hawkins. He pitched two innings to earn the win, while also going 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, and driving in four runs.
Knepp, Chris McGuire and Tanner Carlton all had two hits, while Woodard, Buchanan, Miles McClure, Gavin Awtrey, Johns and Dawson Johnson each had one hit.
Franklin (3-0) also had wins against Swain County and Hendersonville last week.
The Panthers opened the season March 9, winning by a field goal in a score resembling a football contest, 16-13.
Eight different players had at least a hit in the opener. Freshman Davis Anders began his career with an RBI single. He had two hits and drove in two.
Awtrey ripped two doubles. McGuire had two hits, including a double.
A day later, the Panthers won 13-3 at Hendersonville in Mountain Six Conference play.
Carlton had an outstanding game, ripping a home run – one of two hits – and driving in three. He also got the win on the mound, giving up one run on three hits.
Woodard, Burt and Johnson all got two hits.
Offense is typically something that is slow to come around early in the season when the weather is cooler and players get used to hitting live pitching. But the Panthers had no problems in three games, scoring 55 runs.
Hawkins felt like the Panthers were going to have a good offensive team. He admits some of the pitchers they’ve faced so far haven’t been tremendous.
“Swain had a few guys that pitched pretty good,” Hawkins said. “But you’ve got to hit who’s out there.”
Another factor to the offensive surge could be the addition of hitting coach Bergin Tathum, who coached Tuscola last season. Hawkins said he’s a highly respected coach who has a passion for swinging the bat.
“At all his stops he’s been a hitting coach,” Hawkins said. “I think that’s made a big difference, too, is that he’s been with (the players) since the fall and working with them on shortening their swing and trying to get their mechanics right. I think I can see a big difference there, so I give him a lot of credit.”
The NCHSAA Board of Directors’ sanction prohibiting games, practices and workouts is set to last until April 6, but many fear it could extend beyond that. It’s certainly a possibility the Panthers have played their final game.
That was Hawkins’ message to the players – particularly the seniors – to make sure they enjoyed every second of the Cherokee game.
“We don’t know when we’re gonna get to play again, if at all,” Hawkins said. “So go out, have fun and enjoy the game. Make sure you play as hard as you can play and don’t leave anything in the locker room.
“Seniors, we emphasized to them that they might not play again, and they understood. I told them I wanted them to get as much playing time as they could, so it may require them moving around and play different places, but I wanted to try to keep them out on the field as much as I could. I explained that to Cherokee’s coach so he would understand if the game got out of hand why I was doing that.”
Seven games were on the schedule between now and April 6, including Mountain Six Conference action against the other five schools.
An April 7 game at Brevard on would be the earliest the Panthers might return to action.
“It’s senior year, you expect a lot more than three games,” Woodard said. “You never know what you’re gonna get and you just gotta make what you got.”
If it was their final game, they made the most of it.
“I just made sure I left nothing else on the field,” Buchanan said.