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Franklin County's Brayden Henley swings at a pitch during a game Monday at Central Magnet High School. Henley had two hits, including a home run, and four RBIs in the 6-2 win.
Franklin County's Brayden Henley swings at a pitch during a game Monday at Central Magnet High School. Henley had two hits, including a home run, and four RBIs in the 6-2 win.
The Franklin County Rebels beat the Central Magnet Tigers 6-2 on the road Monday for their seventh win of the season.
The Rebels overcame a slight early deficit to take the lead in the third inning and never looked back as they picked up another district victory.
Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that he made some adjustments to the batting lineup which paid immediate dividends for his team to complement another strong pitching start from Sam Vincent.
“I felt like it might give us a spark. It’s one of those gambles that you take, and it worked for us tonight. When you’ve got Sam (Vincent) on the mound, the kid is unbelievable for a junior,” he said, adding that Braden Jackson, Taylor Austin, Brayden Henley and Vincent were among the key contributors for the Rebels offensively for the day. “You don’t have to be perfect defensively and on the mound if you swing the bat a little bit, and we were able to bang out 11 hits tonight. I know it makes these kids a little more confident, and that’s what they need.”
The Rebels put runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, but they were unable to find a go-ahead hit early.
The Tigers capitalized off of a few Franklin County errors in the bottom of the second to score a pair of runs and take an early 2-0 lead.
However, the Rebels immediately flipped the scoreboard in the top of the third as Henley hit a two-run single to tie the score and Gus Gardner followed with an RBI single to give Franklin County a 3-2 edge.
The Rebels tacked on another run in the top of the fourth as Talon Abraham drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a Vincent single, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly from Casen Gilliam to put the lead at 4-2.
The lead would be doubled in the top of the sixth as Henley hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence to make it a 6-2 game late.
The Tigers recorded a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh to put the potential tying run on deck with two outs, but Vincent caught the lead runner with a surprise pickoff move for the final out as the Rebels won by four.
Vincent pitched a complete game for the Rebels in the victory with 12 strikeouts, three hits, one walk and two unearned runs allowed.
With the win, the Rebels improved to 7-10 on the season and 3-1 in district play.
They will next play Wednesday at home against Central Magnet High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
