The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Giles County Bobcats 7-1 at Tullahoma Saturday in an elimination game for the District 8AAA tournament.
The sixth-seeded Bobcats jumped out to a six-run lead in the first inning with the fourth-seeded Rebels not being able to rally back from there as their season came to an end with the loss.
Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland paid tribute to seniors Caden Brown, Jacob Hardison and Brayden Henley following the game.
“You say goodbye to your seniors who have been with you for four years, and all these kids, they grow into your sons. That’s the hardest part each year is telling seniors ‘bye,’” he said before referring to the work his returning players for next year will need to put in during the upcoming offseason. “They know at this point what they need to work on. You play a full baseball season, you know where you’re lacking, you know where you need to make improvements, and it’s on an individual basis of really putting in the work and putting in the time to improve in the area that they’re lacking.”
The Bobcats batted around in the top of the first as they pushed six runs across in the frame to quickly put the Rebels in a decent hole.
The lone run for the Rebels in the contest came in the bottom of the first as Sam Vincent hit a leadoff double and was later brought around to score on an RBI single from Gus Gardner to make it a 6-1 game.
However, the Bobcats got that run back in the top of the second on an RBI double to put the score at 7-1 early.
The Bobcats put runners at second and third with only one out in the third and fourth innings, but pitcher Casen Gilliam was able to induce double plays both times to leave the deficit at six runs.
The Rebels put a few runners on base in the bottom of the sixth as Henley got hit by a pitch and Hardison singled, but the next batter struck out to strand both runners.
The bottom of the seventh would have a similar outcome as Talon Abraham singled and Vincent drew a walk with one out in the frame, but a pair of groundouts left both runners stranded to end the game as the Rebels lost by six.
Josiah Cullins pitched one inning for the Rebels with one strikeout, five hits, two walks, five earned runs and two unearned runs allowed.
Casen Gilliam pitched the remaining six innings in relief with six hits, one walk and no runs allowed for the day.
With the loss, the Rebels finished their season with a record of 10-18.
Rebels 2, Central Magnet 1
The Rebels beat the Central Magnet Tigers 2-1 at Tullahoma earlier in the day on Saturday in an elimination game for the District 8AAA tournament.
The Rebels and the second-seeded Tigers were tied through the first six innings with the Rebels pulling ahead in the top of the seventh on an RBI double from Gardner to extend their season.
The game started on Friday night with three at-bats being completed before a lightning delay led into rain which caused the game to be postponed until the following afternoon.
Play resumed Saturday with Vincent on second base after getting hit by a pitch the day before, and he stole third and came around to score off of a throwing error following a lineout from Henley to give Franklin County a quick 1-0 advantage.
The Rebels loaded the bases in the top of the second as Taylor Austin reached base on a fielder’s choice, Abraham reached base on an error and Vincent singled, but a fly out ended the inning with none of the runners being able to score.
An error to start the bottom of the third gave the Tigers a runner at third base with nobody out, and their next batter hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1.
The Rebels had another strong scoring opportunity in the top of the fourth as Braden Jackson drew a walk and Austin reached base on an error that also sent Jackson to third base with nobody out, but two fielder’s-choice groundballs and a strikeout ended the frame with no runs being scored for Franklin County.
The Tigers went for a small-ball approach in the fifth and sixth innings as they had their leadoff batter reach base before being bunted over to second base in both frames, but pitcher Vincent was able to work out of the jam and prevent the runners from advancing any further both times.
Vincent drew a walk to lead off the top of the seventh before Gardner hit an RBI double to the center-field wall to bring him around to score and give the Rebels a late 2-1 lead.
Graysen McNeese and Hardison drew walks later in the frame to load the bases with two outs, but a groundout allowed the Tigers to keep the deficit at one run.
The Tigers were retired in order in the bottom of the seventh as the Rebels held on to win by one.
Vincent pitched a complete game for the Rebels with eight strikeouts, three hits, three walks and one unearned run allowed.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 10-17 on the season.
