FC Diamond Dawgs win ninth in a row

Franklin County High School’s varsity baseball team picked up its ninth-straight victory this past weekend in knocking off Enterprise Attendance Center after taking two-in-a-row from Class 7-3A district foe Jefferson County earlier in the week.

The latest wins pushed the Diamond Dawgs to a 13-4 season mark overall with FC holding an unblemished 6-0 record in regional play with sweeps over Hazlehurst, Port Gibson and Jefferson County.

Two 7-3A district foes remain to be played as the season winds down — Tylertown and Wesson.

FC 5, ENTERPRISE 4

Franklin County scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the fifth inning to ultimately claim a 5-4 win over Enterprise on Saturday, April 1.

The Bulldogs pounded out nine hits in the victory while committing five errors and leaving 11 baserunners stranded and the Yellow Jackets mustered two hits, had four errors and left two runners on the basepaths.

FC’s Jamari Tolliver had a 2-of-3 effort at the plate with a single and double, a run scored, one RBI, and one strike out while Dalton Meadows went 2-of-4 thanks to a pair of singles, a run scored and he flew out twice.

Quez Rancifer was 1-of-2 in at-bats with a single, one run scored, two walks and a ground out, and Noah McCormick finished with a 1-of-3 effort with a double and one run scored, was hit by a pitch, reached on an error and flew out once.

Larry Pernell was also 1-of-2 with a single and a walk. He was also hit by a pitch and flied out to center.

Dakota Chisholm had a 1-of-3 day at the plate with a double, a fly out and two strike outs.

Donovan Moore went 1-of-4 with a single and one run scored, hit into a fielder’s choice and flied out along with striking out once.

Peyton Hebert, who was 0-of-2, scored a run, drew a walk and reached base twice on errors, and Terrance Fields went 0-of-3 in the outing with a sacrifice bunt and three strike outs.

In the bottom of the fifth and trailing 2-0, Franklin County’s offense came to life as Meadows and Rancifer led off with singles as the former scored on an Enterprise error and the latter plated after stealing home.

With a 2-all tie, McCormick dinged a one-out double and Tolliver did the same with two outs to push across McCormick for FC’s third run.

From there, Hebert reached on a Yellow Jackets’ error and Tolliver was green-lighted for his team’s fourth run.

Moore would follow with a double and Hebert plated the Bulldogs’ fifth run on an Enterprise passed ball for a 5-2 advantage.

The Yellow Jackets scored twice more in the top of the sixth, and Franklin County held on down the stretch for the victory.

Of defensive note in the game, Moore and Pernell were credited with a successful double-play for the Diamond Dawgs.

As FC’s starting pitcher, Meadows worked five-and-a-third innings against Enterprise hitters. He gave up four runs (none earned) on a two-hit performance that included eight strike outs and one walk issued.

His pitch-to-strike ratio was 76-49 (64.47 percent).

Carter Spring came in to work the remaining one-and-two-thirds innings. He threw 25 pitches and struck out three while surrendering no runs, hits or walks during his tenure.

His pitch-to-strike ratio was 25-20 (80 percent).

DOUBLE-HEADER

FC 16, JEFFERSON CO. 0

FC 20, JEFFERSON CO. 0

In a pair of mercy-rule shortened contests on Tuesday, March 28, Franklin County claimed two victories over the visiting Jefferson County Tigers — 16-0 in the first affair and 20-0 in the nightcap.

In the first contest, FC collected 10 hits and had no errors while Jefferson County recorded no hits and 10 miscues.

The Dawgs plated 12 runs in the bottom of the first frame and added four more in the bottom of the second.

Pernell and Hebert both went 2-of-2 in the hitting department with the duo connecting on two singles each while scoring two runs apiece.

Hebert also had an RBI.

Spring and Dedrick Starks were 1-of-1 with a single and double, respectively, in the outing.

Spring scored a run and was credited with an RBI and Starks had two RBI.

Tolliver and Meadows, who both were 1-of-2, each tagged a single against the Tigers with the tandem scoring two runs each and Meadows collecting two RBI.

The two players also each reached on an error once.

Rancifer was 1-of-2 and McCormick was 1-of-3 with both players stroking a double, scoring a run and an RBI apiece.

Moore, despite going 0-of-2 at the plate, scored three runs after reaching on errors twice, had three RBI and drew a walk.

Chisholm was 0-of-2 with a run, reached on an error and had an RBI.

Dawson Halford went 0-of-1 with a run scored and a strike out while Fields was also 0-of-1 while reaching on an error and was hit by a pitch.

Trent Brumfield was 0-of-0 at the plate and was hit by a Jefferson County pitch.

FC left two runners stranded in the game.

Hebert, as pitcher, worked three innings for the Bulldogs and gave up no runs nor hits while sending four Tigers’ batters down on strikes.

In all, he tossed 29 pitches with 20 of those being called strikes (a pitch-to-strike ratio of 68.9 percent).

The second game saw Franklin County pick up immediately where it left off in the first contest and pounded the Tigers for a 20-0 win that saw the Bulldogs record nine hits, draw 10 walks and only see two fall to strike outs.

This time around, FC scored 12 in the bottom of the first inning and eight more in the latter half of the second to seal the win.

Meadows and McCormick had a home run each in the second game with the former scoring two runs in the game with two RBI and a walk while the latter plated once with an RBI and a walk.

A trio of players each had a triple for Franklin County — Moore was 2-of-3 thanks also to a single with two runs scored, was hit by a pitch and recorded three RBI; Pernell was 1-of-1 with two runs to his credit, an RBI and a walk; and Rancifer was 1-of-2 with a run and three RBI.

Those with a single each included: Halford, who was 1-of-1 with a run and two RBI; Spring, who was 1-of-2 with two runs scored, an RBI, a walk and a strike out; and Arnold, who was 1-of-2 with two runs plated, an RBI, a walk and a strike out.

Others contributing to the win were: Tolliver, who was 0-of-0 with a run scored and an RBI after drawing a walk and being hit by a pitch; Trent Brumfield, who was 0-of-0 with a run and RBI after being hit by a pitch; and Chisholm, who was 0-of-1 with a run scored along with a walk and reaching on an error.

Reshon Baker, Jack Hutto, Starks and Fields all finished 0-of-0 with the foursome all scoring one run each.

Hutto, Starks and Fields each earned a walk while Baker was hit by a pitch.

This particular game marked the return of Ridge Clanton, who has been missing from the FC lineup of late due to an injury.

In two innings of work on the mound, Clanton threw 32 pitches and gave up a hit to the Tigers while surrendering a walk and striking out three in helping hold the visiting team scoreless.

His pitch-to-strike ratio was 32-18 (56.2 percent).

• • •

UPCOMING GAMES

The Bulldogs were slated to return to action on Tuesday, April 4 at Tylertown with results of that game unavailable due to early press deadlines.

A summary of the game will appear in next week’s edition of The Franklin Advocate.

FC will play host to Bogue Chitto and Tylertown on Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7, respectively, before facing off against Wesson here on Tuesday, April 11.

The Dawgs travel to Wesson on Friday, April 14 and will close out the season by hosting Loyd Star on Monday, April 17.