After suffering their first two losses to state 2-A contenders Smoky Mountain and Oak Grove the previous week, on the week of April 19 Panther softball returned to Macon Middle School for two games with Mountain Six Rivals. In matchups with the Brevard Blue Devils and the East Henderson Eagles, the Lady Panthers notched two more wins in their quest for a state playoff berth.
On Tuesday, April 20, Franklin and Brevard faced off on a mild afternoon at the Lewis Penland Sr. Sports Complex. The first inning passed quickly for both teams, as Brevard’s pitcher matched senior Deaven Lombard’s 1-2-3 inning with just one hit allowed to Panther second baseman Nevaeh Tran.
After another 1-2-3 inning by Lombard, Franklin’s bats came alive in the bottom of the second. Following a four-pitch walk to sophomore third-baseman Tori Ensley, senior catcher Kiara Dewey sent a perfectly-placed line drive down the third base line, setting the Panthers up with base runners at second and third with zero outs. On the next at bat, outfielder Avery Moffitt brought Ensley and Dewey home with a three-run homer to center field, putting the Panthers up 3-0.
Still with zero outs in the inning, the Panthers kept hitting after the homer, getting a double by sophomore first baseman Abby Carpenter on the very next pitch. After an infield single by senior left fielder Kandice Parker advanced Carpenter to third, subsequent hits by Tran and NC State commit Taylor Ensley brought Carpenter and Parker home to put the Panthers up 5-0. Tori Ensley sent a bases-clearing double within a foot of the yellow line on the next at bat to put Franklin up 7-0.
After their disastrous frame on defense in the second, Brevard’s batters tried to cut their deficit in the third, getting a two-out bases-clearing double to make the score 7-2. The Panthers quickly stopped the bleeding when Moffitt robbed Brevard of an extra base hit just shy of the outfield wall to end the inning.
In the fourth inning Franklin’s bats came alive again, starting with a one-out solo homer by Tran on the first pitch of her at-bat. The shot to left field seemed to open the floodgates for the Panthers, as four straight singles by the Ensley sisters, Parker and senior right fielder Riley Corbin put the Panthers up 9-2 with the bases loaded and still just one out. Moffitt continued her excellent day at the plate on the next at-bat, bringing the Ensley sisters home with a two-run double into the left-center gap. Carpenter sent a double of her own just past the glove of Brevard’s shortstop to put Franklin up 12-2. Lombard closed out the fifth inning to give the Panthers an early ten-run rule victory.
After dispatching Brevard Tuesday evening, on Thursday, April 22 the Panthers returned to Macon Middle School for a clash with East Henderson. In a chilly Senior Night game in which Franklin honored seniors Dewey, Tran, Lombard, Ensley, Parker, Corbin, and injured star outfielder Mckenzie Redoutey, East Henderson made things much more interesting than Brevard had two days before.
The Eagles came out firing in the first, getting two extra-base hits to go up 1-0. Lombard was able to limit the damage however, and brought her batters up with a manageable 1-run deficit.
The Panthers got some base runners of their own in the bottom of the inning, getting a walk to Tran, a single by Corbin, and a second walk to Tori Ensley to load the bases early in the frame. Despite Tran scoring on a wild pitch, East’s pitcher left Corbin and Ensley stranded to keep the game at a 1-1 tie.
Franklin’s bats heated up in the third, as Corbin and Taylor Ensley managed to get on base early. One hitter later, Tori Ensley batted her sister home with a timely triple to the outfield wall to put the Panthers up 1. Ensley came home herself moments later, when on a Dewey popup East Henderson’s catcher stepped off the plate, leaving it open for Ensley to come home.
The Panthers added to their lead in the fourth, getting a double from Parker and a 2-run blast from Tran to go up 5-1.
Franklin flashed its leather in the fifth, getting an excellent catch from Moffitt just inches from the yellow line to rob East Henderson of an extra-base hit (the freshman slotted in as Franklin’s starting center fielder after Redoutey injured her knee against Smoky Mountain and has played lights-out both at the plate and in the field). In the bottom half of the inning, Franklin added to its lead with a Taylor Ensley single down the third base line and a Dewey 2-run bomb to go up 7-1.
East Henderson came out firing in the sixth, stringing multiple hits together to load the bases with 0 outs. A subsequent base hit plated two runs for the Eagles, and a 3-run homer brought East Henderson within one at 7-6.
Franklin answered in the bottom half of the inning, getting a 1-out double by sophomore shortstop Tessa Dehart to put an insurance run in scoring position. Moments later Franklin got that and more, when Tran launched her second two-run shot of the day to put the Panthers up 9-6. On the very next pitch, Corbin squared up a long ball of her own to put Franklin up 10-6.
The Panthers got a scare in the final inning, as East Henderson strung two early singles together to put runners at the corners. The Eagles cut into Franklin’s lead moments later when a bunt brought in the runner on third, but a nice play by Tran at second and a Lombard strikeout gave the Panthers a 10-7 win.