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 Almost duplicating exactly what the boys baseball team did the day before, the Franklin girls got the bat on the ball solid and often cruising to a 12-2 five inning victory over Grove City. They will face Conneaut who jump over Hickory with a big early inning to set the tone. They will play Thursday at a time and location to be determined. 
 
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 Franklin's ace Luke Guth was cruising along with efficiency through three innings. The junior only threw 35 pitches when Franklin head coach Brian Schmidt's decided that was enough.   Looking at the scoreboard it became evident, Schmidt was looking at the big picture. Keeping his ace's pitch count low means he'll be fresh and able to go in the next game of the playoffs.   Ethan Nightingale stepped to pitch the rest of the way and despite one pitch that was sent over the fence in left center, he got the job done. The Knights bats lit up intheir first playoff game defeating North East 12-2 in five innings.   The Franklin will meet Hickory in the PIAA 3A semifinal matchup at 4 p.m. Thursday at Slippery Rock University.  The Knights (13-6) came into the tournament as the fifth seed. They now take on the top-seeded Hornets (15-2) who beat Girard on Monday.   The winner of Thursday’s showdown will play in the District 10 championship game on Memorial Day at a time and place to be determined.   In 1A, Rocky Grove (15-3) got a buy into the semis and await the Cochranton (9-7) vs. Kennedy Catholic (6-13)., winner Wednesday The time and location of the semi-final Friday have not been announced.   See more photos by visiting: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p814649742  District 10 Softball 
 District 10 Baseball 
 Franklin will face Northeast Monday at Mercyhurst University at 2 p.m. Franklin comes in as fifth seed in Class AAA. On the other side of the bracket Titusville, the number two seed, plays the 11:30 a.m. game at Mercyhurst University against Mercyhurst Prep. Meadville plays Tuesday at 4 p.m. down in Slippery Rock University against Grove City. The Bulldogs are the fifth seed in Class AAAA To see all the D10 brackets follow the link below. https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-27645184/documents/da4c169ef38442c0933c0e15c0d9aa80/2022baseballbrackets3.pdf
   These are two very solid baseball teams. Rocky Grove needed to win today to be region champion. They threw their top pitcher, but Saegertown got their bat on the ball and just out hit the Orioles. The Panther win puts them in the drivers seat. They have one game left against Youngsville which they are expected to win easily. All in all a very solid season for the Orioles only dropping two region games, one to the Cochranton Cardinals and one to what looks like the region champ Saegertown Panthers. They also defeated both those squads once this year as well. It has been a very good season for the Orioles. On to the post season.  Below are more photos from Tuesday's game. Even more photos can be found by clicking here.
  Unfortunately we couldn't travel out to Hermitage today to see if the Lady Knights would bounce back from their first loss of the season over the weekend. They did. A 7-5 region win over Hickory. The Knights finished unbeaten in the region with one non-region game to go tomorrow at Sharpesville. Sharpesville should prove to be another good test as they prepare for the high level play they'll face in the playoffs. Congratulations team. You're fun to watch and I'm hoping to catch you several more times this season.
 “We had a pretty successful season so far,” - Franklin head coach Chad Hoobler  Photos from Franklin's recent 10-1 win over Grove City. More photos can be seen by clicking this link: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p743917692
“We like to average double-digit runs each game because it takes the pressure off the pitcher,” Hoobler said. It’s a system that seems to be helping their ace starting pitcher, junior Trinity Edge, thrive. She is ranked second among all pitchers in District 10, according to the Erie Times-News.  Edge is second in strikeouts (111) and first in wins (13), and has an ERA of 1.32 going into the Knights’ recent game against Grove City. But she isn’t Franklin’s only standout player. “I’m blessed with nine solid ball players who work together as a team.”  “It’s been a total team effort,” Hoobler said. “I’m blessed with nine solid ball players who work together as a team.” Looking over all the stats available on the Erie Times-News website it’s easy to find evidence of that claim. Six of the players are listed within the top 20 rankings in different offensive categories prior to Thursday’s game. “I don’t remember a team that has been as dominant. This team has been sheer power at the plate,” he said.   Junior Sydni Hoobler leads the team with 33 hits and a batting average of .635, which places her fourth in the district. Edge is eighth with 24 hits and a .571 batting average. The team’s sole senior, Brandi Atwell is 20th with 20 hits and a .500. Hoobler is ranked top in the district for runs scored at 29. Sophomore Rilee Hanna and freshman Gabriella Laderer are tied for eighth with 22 each. Laderer leads the team with doubles at 7 (seventh in the district), home runs with 3 (14th in the district) and RBIs with 25 (sixth in the district). And freshman Abigail Boland leads the team with triples, tied for 11th with a large number of players throughout the district.  Hoobler is also having a standout season running the diamond. She is currently ranked at the top of the district and the state in stolen bases with 28. “I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how hard-working of a team this is,” coach Hoobler said. And the work has played off. Thursday, the Erie Times-News ranked the Franklin Knights at the top of the 4A class standings. “With Villa Maria and Warren losing games this week, it’s time to get the Knights into the top spot with an undefeated record,” Times-News reporter Tom Reisenweber wrote. He also named Laderer among the breakout stars of the district and said the team was the “likely top seed.” Heading into the last three games of the regular season, one regional and two non-regional, Hoobler says the team plans to focus on improving more each day. “We just want to take it one game at a time from here and continue getting better.”    Eli Moreland shut down the visiting Cochranton Cardinals while the Rocky Grove bats got right to work in the first culminating in Isaac Clayton going yard. Clayton got on base and touched home plate every time he batted Monday. The Orioles got back at the Cardinals who were the only conference foe to defeat them this season. Rocky Grove will be busy over the next week with four conference games and one non-conference finale before post season gets underway. 
  
This season the Orioles seem to have all the tools, a deep rotation, solid hitting and are playin fairly error-free in the field. See more photos at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p720178104
   
 
 The international tie-breaker rule was invoked. It's a sort of sudden death style way to get the game in the books. Each team starts with a runner on second base and tries to get them home. Abby Boland did just that to keep the Knights perfect on the season with a 13-0 region record.
As the Knights head toward the postseason, they will definitely be facing tough competition like the Muskies provided Thursday.  See more photos at https://www.zenfolio.com/sayerrich/e/p649453757
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