Panther softball is hot at the right time.
In the latter half of April the team faced a busy slate of games, including four of their last six this regular season. With two wins and a third game suspended due to weather while leading 6-0, Franklin entered the last days of their campaign.
On Wednesday, April 16, the Panthers traveled to Murphy for the first of a two-game series. There both teams looked evenly-matched early on, sitting tied 1-1 through four innings. With a three-run fifth the Panthers took a 4-1 lead, but Murphy scored four more in the sixth and seventh to win 5-4.
Freshman Suzanna Cabe was excellent in the loss, tossing 12 strikeouts on the mound and going 2-for-4 with two doubles at the plate. After earning a Performance of the Month award from the N.C. High School Athletic Association by way of her .524 batting average, 20 RBIs, 24 runs scored and 22 hits including nine doubles in the month of March, Kendall Rumans also went 2-for-4 with two doubles, adding three RBIs.
On Monday, April 21, both teams reconvened at Macon Middle School for Game 2. There Murphy got on the board first, hitting a solo home run to left-center field in the top of the second. Layla Maloy answered in the bottom of the inning however, belting her own solo shot to left-center.
The game turned into a defensive slugfest from there, with Franklin turning inning-ending double plays in the fourth and seventh. In the bottom of the inning the Panthers’ offense reawoke with a one-out double from Ilyssa Ezechel. With two outs, Cabe smashed the game’s third home run to left-center for a walk-off, 3-1 win. The two-run shot capped another strong day on the mound for the freshman, including seven innings of five-hit, six-strikeout ball.
Two nights later the Panthers returned to MMS for a Mountain Seven Conference game with North Henderson. After routing the Knights 15-0 March 18, Ashlyn McConnell sparked a two-out rally in the first, being hit by a pitch, stealing second and scoring on an error.
Franklin’s offense turned red-hot in the second, scoring five more runs off four singles and a three-run homer from Rumans. Just after the inning however, the game was delayed due to nearby lightning and later suspended. Both teams agreed to resume the game at MMS April 28.
The next night the Panthers returned to MMS for another conference game with Smoky Mountain. Having routed the Mustangs 10-0 March 24, Franklin got on the board early once again, scoring two runs in the first off a Rumans single, a McConnell standup triple and a fielder’s choice. Franklin’s offense stayed hot for the next two innings, scoring three runs apiece in the second and third.
Having stifled the Mustangs’ offense to that point, Franklin began substituting fielders in the sixth, allowing Smoky to cut their deficit to 8-2. The Panther offense answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring four more runs off three singles, two walks and a solo home run from Meliah Mason. In extending their lead to 12-2, Franklin triggered the 10-run mercy rule and ended the game on the spot.
The win improved Franklin’s record to 15-5 overall and 9-1 in the Mountain Seven, where they sat tied with West Henderson for first. They ended the week as the eighth-ranked team in the 3A West, with the 17-1 Falcons in sixth.
After finishing their game with North Monday night, on Tuesday the Panthers traveled to West for a de facto conference title game in their regular-season finale. Franklin dealt the Falcons their lone loss to this point 10-4 at MMS March 28.