Panther softball has earned its first win of the season.
After falling in extra innings to Tuscola Feb. 27, on the first week of March they entered the heart of their regular season, playing a jam-packed schedule with four games in four days. With wins over Murphy, Madison and McDowell they improved their record to 3-2.
On March 4, they hosted Murphy for a nonconference game at Macon Middle School. Suzanna Cabe took the mound as Franklin’s starting pitcher, holding the Bulldogs scoreless with four strikeouts in the first two innings.
Alyssa Awtrey sparked Franklin’s offense in the second, belting a two-run homer to left-center field. Kendall Rumans added a standup triple in the third, then scored on a Chloe Lambert single to make it 3-0. Murphy hit a home run of their own in the fourth to cut the Panthers’ lead to two.
Rumans showed off her power in the fifth, launching a two-run homer that easily cleared the baseball outfield wall, several yards beyond the softball yellow line. Ashlyn McConnell scored later in the frame to give Franklin a commanding 6-1 lead.
Murphy refused to go quietly in the sixth, hitting another solo homer to cut Franklin’s lead to four. They continued what turned into a furious comeback in the seventh, posting a double, three singles and three walks to tie the game.
Despite having watched Franklin’s five-run lead evaporate, Rumans stayed composed in the final frame, leading off the bottom of the seventh with a double. When Franklin’s next two batters were put out, it looked as if Rumans might remain stranded, until Makayla Pendergrass brought her home with a walk-off single.
“We played great up until that last inning,” said head coach Bobby Bishop of Franklin’s dramatic 7-6 win. “But we came in and we didn’t give up, got a runner on and got her to second. We made two outs in a row but then got a big two-out hit, and you’ve got to get two-out hits – two-out hits are huge.”
Having lost their first game and in danger of starting 0-2, Bishop credited his team for keeping the faith. With their first win in hand, he believes the squad is on the right track.
“After that night [of Franklin’s conference loss to Tuscola], I said, ‘Look, we probably weren’t going to win all of them anyway.’ It’s hard to go 24-0, but you can go 23-1. At one time last year I think we reeled off like 15 or 16 in a row, so there’s no reason why we can’t do that this year.”
“We just got our basketball girls back, they practiced twice, and we’re learning who we’re going to bat where. We’re just kind of adjusting, we had a totally different lineup this game than last game, and it might even be a different one Friday. And then we’ve got two games on Saturday, and we’ll be playing two games pretty much back-to-back, so some of the other girls are going to have to play some and give somebody a break. But it’s good competition, so we’ll see what we’re made of.”
Two nights later the Panthers returned to Macon Middle School for another nonconference game with Madison [Marshall]. There both pitchers dominated early on, with Cabe tossing four innings of one-hit, six-strikeout ball. At the plate she sparked Franklin’s offense with a third-inning double, then scored on another moonshot homer from Rumans. They scored two more runs in the frame with doubles from Awtrey and Pendergrass.
Franklin kept hitting in the fifth, scoring three runs off three singles and a double from Meliah Mason. They scored three more in the sixth with four singles, a walk and a Payton Manos double. Up 10-0 after five complete innings, Franklin triggered the 10-run mercy rule to end the game on the spot.
The next day the Panthers traveled to Crest [Shelby] for a Saturday doubleheader with the host team and McDowell. In their first game of the day they locked horns with McDowell, playing a scoreless first two innings before a Titan run in the third. Franklin answered to tie the game in the fourth, then stayed hot to take a three-run lead in the fifth. McDowell attempted a comeback with another run in the seventh, but Franklin stopped the bleeding to cement a 4-2 win. Cabe and Rumans belted home runs in the game, while Cabe pitched a three-hit complete game on the mound.
After beating McDowell they met Crest in their second game, wherein the Chargers erupted for nine runs in the first two innings. Rumans responded with her fourth home run in the third, but Crest went on to win 14-2.
Franklin ended the game with a 3-2 overall record, ahead of a week off for Spring Break. They’ll return to action at Enka March 16, before returning home to play East Henderson the next night.