Panther softball has advanced to the 3A state playoffs.
On the week of April 29 Franklin had just two more games on the schedule, including a de facto Mountain Seven Conference title game with West Henderson. In falling to West but routing T.C. Roberson, they ended the regular season as the 3A West’s 13th-ranked team ahead of a first-round home playoff matchup May 7.
On Tuesday, April 30 Franklin welcomed West to Macon Middle School for both teams’ biggest game of the season to that point. Having lost 12-7 in Hendersonville April 12, the 9-2 Panthers needed a win to keep pace with the 9-1 Falcons.
West got on the board early in the first, plating the game’s first run with a walk, a single and two tag-ups.
In the bottom of the third Ashlyn McConnell evened the score, belting a one-out home run to center field. On the very next pitch Kendall Rumans put her team ahead, clearing the right-center field wall for back-to-back jacks. The homer was Rumans’ 12th of the season, tying her with four-time All-State slugger Haeli Bryson for the second-most in school history. Current N.C. State Wolfpack member Tori Ensley hit 17 in 2022.
West paid Franklin back in the top of the sixth, retaking the lead 3-2 with a two-run homer to right field. Senior Avery Moffitt answered moments later, leading off the bottom of the inning with the game’s fourth home run. Moffitt ended the week ranked third in the 3A West with 10 long balls this season, while Rumans’ 12 were one behind West Rowans’ Emma Clarke for first.
The drama continued into the seventh inning, wherein West loaded the bases with a triple, an error and a single. The Falcons’ next batter was hit by a pitch to score the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the inning senior Jozy Dehart represented the tying run, being hit by a pitch, taking second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a fielder’s choice. Franklin couldn’t drive Dehart in however, and fell 4-3.
The loss broke a 19-game home regular-season win streak for Franklin, dating back to their last home loss to West May 3, 2022. It also cemented a conference title for the Falcons, with the 9-3 Panthers tying Pisgah for second.
Two nights later, the team traveled to T.C. Roberson to end their regular season. There Franklin encountered a less dangerous opponent, riding a nine-run first inning to a 17-7 win. For the second straight game, a Panther sophomore tied a record set by Haeli Bryson, as McConnell went 5-for-6 with an RBI at the plate. Her five hits matched Bryson’s 5-for-5 game at East Henderson in 2015 for the most knocks ever by a Panther in a single game.
With a 15-3 record overall, the 13th-ranked Panthers tentatively drew #20 North Iredell in Round 1 of the state playoffs. They hosted their first-round game at Macon Middle School after press time May 7.