The Franklin County Rebels beat the Smyrna Bulldogs 3-1 on the road Friday in their second game for the Warrior Classic.
The Rebels did all of their scoring in the third inning and were able to hold onto a lead for the rest of the contest as they picked up their second win of the day.
Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that he is hopeful the wins his team recorded on Friday are the beginning of a positive trend.
“Obviously, we haven’t had the results that we’ve been looking for early. A lot of that is the schedule that we’ve gotten thrown in front of us, a very tough schedule, but we’ve worked really hard this week just trying to do things that winners do,” he said. “I think these two wins today will give these guys some confidence moving forward, and hopefully, we can stack some wins on top of each other and get on a roll.”
The Rebels loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the third as Taylor Austin got hit by a pitch, Braden Jackson doubled and Sam Vincent hit an infield single, and Franklin County capitalized on the scoring opportunity with Casen Gilliam hitting a two-run single and Graysen McNeese adding a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-0 game early.
The Bulldogs had their own bases-loaded opportunity with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but pitcher Josiah Cullins induced a fly out to get out of the jam with the shutout intact.
However, the Bulldogs were able to break through for their lone run of the day in the bottom of the sixth as they scored off of a sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to 3-1.
A leadoff single for Smyrna brought the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but reliever Noah Knapper got the last three outs he needed to clinch the win by two.
Cullins got the win on the mound for the Rebels as he pitched the first six innings with six strikeouts, four hits, four walks and one run allowed.
Knapper recorded a save out of the bullpen as he struck out one batter and allowed one hit and no runs in one inning of work.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 4-7 on the season.
Rebels 6, Lane Tech 2
The Rebels beat the Lane Tech Champions 6-2 at Smyrna earlier in the day on Friday in their first game for the Warrior Classic.
The Rebels opened up a decent early lead in the contest and maintained a steady edge the rest of the way to begin the event with a victory.
The Rebels got the first run of the day in the top of the first as Gus Gardner hit an RBI single to score Vincent from second base.
The early lead increased by three runs in the top of the second as Vincent hit a two-run single and later came around to score following an RBI single from Gilliam to make it a 4-0 game.
The last two runs for Franklin County came in the top of the third as Vincent recorded a two-out, two-run double to bring Brayden Henley and Jacob Hardison across home plate and to put the lead at 6-0.
The Champions got on the board with a run in the bottom half of the third and scored again in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit down to four runs late.
An error and a single gave the Champions two baserunners with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but a double play, assisted by a runner-interference call against Lane Tech, ended the contest as the Rebels won by four.
Gardner pitched a complete game for the Rebels with five strikeouts, nine hits, one walk and two runs allowed in the victory.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 3-7 on the season.
They will next play Saturday at Riverdale High School in their final game for the Warrior Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
