MOORESVILLE
Falling into a four-run crater to start the game isn’t advisable strategy against the first-place team in your conference.
Nonetheless, it’s what Franklin’s baseball squad did Tuesday at Mooresville.
The Pioneers started strong, withstood a game-tying rally from the Grizzly Cubs and sealed a 7-4 victory with junior first baseman Nick Wiley’s line-drive three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Mooresville improved to 12-2 overall and a spotless 7-0 in the Mid-State Conference standings; Franklin is 10-4 and 5-2 with the teams slated to meet this afternoon at the Grizzly Cubs’ field.
“They just hit a few balls in that first inning that were well-placed. We know every time we come here and play Mooresville, we know what we’re in for. It’s a dogfight every year,” Franklin coach Ryan Feyerabend said. “We didn’t quit. They’re just a really good hitting team.
“We had a few spots where I thought we could’ve done a little more offensively, but we just didn’t get it done.”
The Pioneers struck immediately, with leadoff hitter Dane Stevenson stroking a triple off Cubs’ starter Max Clark. Left fielder Grant Roberts attempted to make a diving catch, but the ball landed just in front of his glove and hopped off the artificial surface to the fence.
Stevenson eventually scored on a fielder’s choice. Mooresville plated two more runs in the first on a double by Bradie Huntsman that glanced off the glove of Roberts, who crashed into a wall with an unforgiving cement support wall immediately behind it.
Roberts appeared to lay injured in left field after making impact with the wall. He was eventually looked over by trainers and remained in the game.
“I’m fine. I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Roberts said afterward. “I saw the ball going left with the wind carrying it. I tried to turn at the last second and I didn’t hear Logen (Devenport) yell ‘wall,’ but he did. I fell down and just tried to throw the ball to Logen.”
A passed ball later that inning brought home the fourth Pioneers run, making Franklin’s climb back that much steeper.
Slowly, they did come back, scoring one run in the third and another in the fourth to cut the lead in half. In the fifth, junior first baseman Drew Doty contributed his third single of the game, this one to left-center with the bases loaded to score Xavier Brown and Nolan Netter, who had walked and singled, respectively.
Clark, a lefty who had allowed two hits and struck out 12 in four innings of work, eventually gave way to senior right-hander Jackson Klem and junior southpaw Jace Fowler. At one point, Clark went on a tear where he fanned eight of the 11 hitters he faced.
Fowler, the Grizzly Cubs’ leadoff hitter, belted two doubles to join Doty with multiple hits in a losing effort. In all, Franklin accounted for seven hits off three different Mooresville pitchers.
“We’ve just got to get the bats rolling (today),” Roberts said. “We made a big comeback today, but we’ve just got to get back at it.”
