Franklin County fell behind early on Wednesday night and could not muster enough of a comeback to catch up, falling to Centerville by a final score of 10-7.
Centerville scored four runs in the first inning, and then added two more in the second inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead into the third inning. Then after adding three more runs it was 9-0 after four innings.
The Wildcats bats were held nearly silent the first five innings, until they showed signs of live in the sixth and seventh inning. In the sixth inning Abby Orschell led off the inning with a single to right field, which was followed up by a single by Makaylee Woods to advance Orschell to second. Then one batter later, Kloe Bolos hit a rocket the first pitch that she saw and knocked it over the center field fence for Franklin County’s first three runs. That would be it for the Wildcats in the sixth inning.
Then in the seventh, the Wildcats would not go down quietly as they made it interesting in the last inning with a huge two-out rally. Karlie Hahn led off the inning with a walk, which was then followed up with two strike outs, which took Franklin County to its final out. Abby Orschell then singled into center field, advancing Hahn to second. Makaylee Woods then doubles to center field to make the score 10-5. Next, Camryn Brewer doubled down the left field line to score Woods making it 10-6. A single by Kloe Bolos would then score Brewer and the Wildcats were within three at 10-7. Michaela Ferman then singled to center field to give the Wildcats first and third with two outs, bringing the potential tying run to the plate for the Wildcats. However, Grace Delay would end the Wildcat threat with a strike out to end the game and give Centerville the victory.
The big story of the day early on was the pitching for Centerville. Grace Delay got the win for the Bulldogs and she was dominate early in the game. Her final stat line was seven innings, allowing seven runs on 11 hits, and striking out an impressive 15 hitters.
Michaela Ferman (1-1) would take the loss for the Wildcats in the circle. Camryn Brewer would pitch in relief of Ferman and threw a good 3.1 innings for the Wildcats. Brewer gave up one hit, one run, walked one, and struck out two in her first appearance of the season.
There were a few bright spots for the Wildcats on offense. Franklin County was led on offense by Kloe Bolos, who had a career evening. Bolos had four hits, 3 singles, and a home run, to go along with 4 RBIs and a stolen base. Makaylee Woods also had two hits, a single and a double, to go along with a walk. She also stole a base in the game.
With the lose, the Wildcats record falls to 1-1 on the young season. The Bulldogs improve to 1-1 on the season. Franklin County will be back in action on the road Thursday night as the Wildcats travel north to Richmond for a game. First pitch for varsity is scheduled for 5:30 pm with the junior varsity immediately following.
Courtesy of Wildcats Coach Alex McCool.