Franklin got a big inning scoring 3 runs in the top of the 6th and then held on to beat Gunter 5-4 in the second 3A State Semfinal game of the day. Franklin will now meet Brock in the 3A State Championship game on Saturday.
Franklin picked up 2 runs in the top of the 1st. Josh Atomanczyk started things off with a single that bounced off Pitcher Jake Ivey’s leg. He then stole 2nd. Cort Lowry walked. Atomanczyk then stole 3rd and Lowry went to 2nd. Noah Tart came up and doubled between 3rd and SS scoring both Atomanczyk and Lowry giving Franklin the 2-0 lead.
Gunter reponded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st. Brock Boddie led off with an infield single and went to 2nd on a Colson Wood ground out. Cade Dodson singled to right field and Boddie scored from 2nd cutting Franklin’s lead to 2-1.
Gunter picked up another run in the bottom of the 3rd. With two outs, Wood singled and Dodson came through again with a double down the left field line scoring Wood from first. The inning ended with the score knotted up at 2 apiece.
Gunter took the lead in the bottom of the 5th. Brooks Griggs-Bell singled to start the inning. He then moved to 2nd on a Jake Ivey sac bunt. An infield error allowed Griggs-Bell to score from 2nd and Gunter was up 3-2.
It was the top of the 6th that Franklin had their big inning. Blake Autrey walked and Lowry singled. With one Tart came up again and hit his second double of the game down the right field line that scored Autrey to tie up the game again. With Lowry on 3B, Pinch Hitter Walker Anderson laid down a bunt that scored Lowry. Eric Gomez came up and got Tart in on a sacrifice bunt to make it 5-3 Franklin.
The scored stayed 5-3 until the bottom of the 7th. Starting pitcher Cort Lowry came back out on the mound to finish the game. Jarrett Waggoner led off with a single for Gunter but Lowry got a groundout and a strike out and was one out away. Boddie drew a walk that put runners on 1st and 3rd. Lowry attempted a pick off at 1st base but the throw got away scoring Waggoner. Boddie went to second and and tried to go to third on the throwing error but Franklin 1B AJ Phillips made a good throw to 3rd and Boddie was tagged out at 3rd giving Franklin the 5-4 win.
Lowry improved to 8-0 with the win. He pitched a complete game giving up 4 runs, 2 unearned, on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3.
2B Noah Tart was 2-3 in the game with a double and 3 RBIs. He was named the THSB Player of the Game. “I got two strikes on me so I just shortened up my swing, got a fastball and got it through to score two,” Tart explained his rbi at-bats. “The last time – it wasn’t pretty but a double’s a double and I got to score one, It was exciting.”
“Our kids at Franklin just find ways to win and that’s what we did today,” Coach Matthew Anderson stated. “Gunter’s a great team and they made Cort work today. He didn’t have his best stuff at times today but he kept finding a way to get it done.”
Franklin got a big inning scoring 3 runs in the top of the 6th and then held on to beat Gunter 5-4 in the second 3A State Semfinal game of the day. Franklin will now meet Brock in the 3A State Championship game on Saturday.
Franklin picked up 2 runs in the top of the 1st. Josh Atomanczyk started things off with a single that bounced off Pitcher Jake Ivey’s leg. He then stole 2nd. Cort Lowry walked. Atomanczyk then stole 3rd and Lowry went to 2nd. Noah Tart came up and doubled between 3rd and SS scoring both Atomanczyk and Lowry giving Franklin the 2-0 lead.
Gunter reponded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st. Brock Boddie led off with an infield single and went to 2nd on a Colson Wood ground out. Cade Dodson singled to right field and Boddie scored from 2nd cutting Franklin’s lead to 2-1.
Gunter picked up another run in the bottom of the 3rd. With two outs, Wood singled and Dodson came through again with a double down the left field line scoring Wood from first. The inning ended with the score knotted up at 2 apiece.
Gunter took the lead in the bottom of the 5th. Brooks Griggs-Bell singled to start the inning. He then moved to 2nd on a Jake Ivey sac bunt. An infield error allowed Griggs-Bell to score from 2nd and Gunter was up 3-2.
It was the top of the 6th that Franklin had their big inning. Blake Autrey walked and Lowry singled. With one Tart came up again and hit his second double of the game down the right field line that scored Autrey to tie up the game again. With Lowry on 3B, Pinch Hitter Walker Anderson laid down a bunt that scored Lowry. Eric Gomez came up and got Tart in on a sacrifice bunt to make it 5-3 Franklin.
The scored stayed 5-3 until the bottom of the 7th. Starting pitcher Cort Lowry came back out on the mound to finish the game. Jarrett Waggoner led off with a single for Gunter but Lowry got a groundout and a strike out and was one out away. Boddie drew a walk that put runners on 1st and 3rd. Lowry attempted a pick off at 1st base but the throw got away scoring Waggoner. Boddie went to second and and tried to go to third on the throwing error but Franklin 1B AJ Phillips made a good throw to 3rd and Boddie was tagged out at 3rd giving Franklin the 5-4 win.
Lowry improved to 8-0 with the win. He pitched a complete game giving up 4 runs, 2 unearned, on 6 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3.
2B Noah Tart was 2-3 in the game with a double and 3 RBIs. He was named the THSB Player of the Game. “I got two strikes on me so I just shortened up my swing, got a fastball and got it through to score two,” Tart explained his rbi at-bats. “The last time – it wasn’t pretty but a double’s a double and I got to score one, It was exciting.”
“Our kids at Franklin just find ways to win and that’s what we did today,” Coach Matthew Anderson stated. “Gunter’s a great team and they made Cort work today. He didn’t have his best stuff at times today but he kept finding a way to get it done.”
