Last season the Knights were virtually untouchable until the playoffs. They ten-run mercy ruled just about everybody on their way to a perfect conference record. They just seemed to run out of steam at the end of the season losing four of their last seven games.

Coming into this season that is something on the mind of the coaching staff.

"We've been able to get  younger players a chance at some bats and some playing time so that's always a good thing," said coach Chad Hoobler after Thursday's game against Grove City where pitcher Trinity Edge struck out six batters in three innings of wor. The team exploded for 15 runs on offense invoking the mercy rule.

"Trinity threw like Trinity throws, she was on, so ... I feel pretty good about the season," Hoobler continued.
Earlier in the week they trekked up to Titusville and dominated that game as well, though it went the distance.

Titusville coach Megan Green assessed the Knight's after their 9-1 loss. "They are an older experienced team and they've got a seasoned pitcher that works hard in the off season, as well as puts in the time in season. She gets the time she puts in, she really does and she sees the rewards for that."

Green, who has been a coach for nearly 20 years now and was part of a state championship game team as a player, said it's  tough sometimes going deep into the playoffs with a dominant pitcher who all of a sudden gets hit. As an observation she noted  that ...  "Sometimes your defense can get lax  and sit back and rest on whatever the pitcher is doing."

Hoobler is also aware of this, especially after last year running a perfect record into a non-conference game against a tough Reynolds squad and lost. Though they battled to the district finals that game was the chink in the armor that he is hoping to avoid this year.

"We're going to have some games where we're going to have to battle, and we're just going to have to keep getting better.... two games in, I'm pretty pleased," Hoobler said.

​It's depth and working together. Edge's pitches are keeping the ball in reasonable play when the opponents even get a bat on the ball. The infield is experienced and ready. The outfield's biggest concern will be staying alert for when the ball reaches them.

Offensively, Hoobler's toughest job is putting together the right situational line ups.

"We're getting to the point where we can hit one through nine, so  that's always a good problem to have. It's hard to figure out who is going to hit where, because they all hit. and they're all willing to do their job."

They are 2-0 and not really tested, but Hoobler is getting his bench in the games as much as he can to add depth to the line up. Two years ago Franklin's all-star catcher got injured and a young Kirsten Hicks stepped in to do a great job. She is now one of the seasoned veterans and Thursday took a hard pitch to the leg that hobbled her.

"That's nothing new to Kirstem, Kirsten is a ball magnet, so she'll bounce back, she is a hard nosed kid," Hoobler said.

On Thursday against Grove City Sydni Hoobler, the coach's senior daughter struggled at her first two at bats but showed enough poise in her second to come away with a walk. She ended up scoring in the inning.

​ She then got ahold of one in the third inning with two on and rounded the bases of an inside the park homer.

Nearly the whole starting lineup had an RBI on the day. Abby Boland had a triple and so did Edge. Rilee Hanna and Hicks had doubles.
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"We're just working on making adjustments, we're going to see different pitchers and we have to learn to adjust early in the count so we can be effective," Coach Hoobler said as they move forward on the season.

The 2022 softball season didn't end the way Franklin wanted. The team nor the community.

​Let's focus on the positives.

​This is a really good softball team with: a pitcher on the precipice of being one of the best; a solid interior that can field nearly any ball, assess the situation in the blink of an eye and, most of the time, make good throws; a strong first four batters; pretty good middle of the line up hitters and a tail that has started it's fair share of rallies all season; they are scrappy and support each other; they don't seem to get down for too long before they pull themselves together; they seem to love the game of softball;  and....  these are good kids.

Sydni Hoobler is one of the best lead off batters and leads the state in stolen bases.
Her play at shortstop is solid and she is definitely the infield general who often visits the pitcher herself to help Edge stay focussed.

At the end of the year, after they were eliminated in the state playoffs Hoobler asked an important  question.  ' Did you give everything you had?'" They all answered "yes." said  Hoobler

"That's all I can ask for."

Franklin just couldn't get the ball to fall through the hoop Saturday afternoon and struggled to consistently keep up with a offensively strong Penn Cambria during the PIAA 3A Championship quaterfinals. The Knights dropped a 61-53 loss to the Panthers to close out an otherwise succesful season on the court. 

​Franklin took early control of the game on a tip off that flew out of bounds. Wood put up the first two, followed by Buckley about a minute later. Leccia then scored on the first of several put backs and the Knights were up 6-0 with less than three minutes off the clock.

OLSH hit a three to finally get some points on the board, but Wood quickly answered with Franklin’s first trey of the night.

The teams exchanged field goals and the Knights had an eight-point edge with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Then OLSH got into a groove and scored the next six points for draw within two.

The Knights were up 13-11 at the start of the second quarter. That was as close as the Chargers ever came for the remainder of the contest.

Franklin opened the second quarter with a six point run of their own, including a huge slam dunk by Leccia sandwiched in between baskets by Owens and Buckley. The dunk and the determination on Leccia’s face as he charged past three defenders on his way to the basket made a statement – Franklin came to win.
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That quarter, the Knights outscored the Chargers 21-6. Halfway through the quarter Curry landed his first shot of the game, a three-pointer, and the team seemed fully in control no matter what defense OLSH threw their way.

By halftime, they had doubled up their opponents 34-17.

Wood opened up the second half with the first two points. OLSH tried to chip away at the lead but Franklin continued to answer.

Curry hit two three-pointers, Leccia and Payne scored on putbacks, and Franklin maintained their 17-point lead going into the fourth.

Then the Chargers made their final push opening the quarter with a seven-point run to draw within 10.

​Just as it seemed that momentum might be slipping away from Franklin, Wood downed his third trey of the night. The Knights came alive again on offense.

Owens put up a wide open layup off a fast break at the 4:30 mark. Curry echoed the effort 15 seconds later off a steal created by Owens and Wood.

Buckley fired a field goal 45 seconds later. And like icing on the cake, Wood finished Franklin’s attack with two more bringing Franklin’s total effort to 57.

While the offensive strike kept fans cheering loudly, Wood and Fulmer credited the other side of the game with creating the win.

Cranberry brought home three medals from the PIAA AA Wrestling Championships this weekend in Hershey.
 
Dalton Wenner won his final 107 match of the tournament with a 4-1 decision over Gage Swank of Muncy. Wenner's season record was 34-5 and he was 3-2 on at states. It is the freshman's first trip to the championships, and he received a seventh-place medal for his efforts.

Brosius had an exciting ending to his second trip to Hershey. He and Max Wirnsberger of Meadowbrook Christian took their 121 bout the whole way to the ultimate-tie breaker round. After 7:30 minutes of wrestling, Wirnsberger was declared the winner based on his position during the final 30-second period and received one point to break the 2-2 tie. It is the second eighth-place finish for Brosius, who finished in the same podium spot at 106 in 2022.

​This year, Brosius had a 34-13 record and was 2-3 on the tournament. The Sophomore has an impressive 66 wins in his career already.

McFetridge ended his high school career with a victory via a forfeit. He was supposed to wrestle Dante Burns of Conwell-Egan at 215, but his opponent defaulted based on injury. That gave the senior from Oil City the seventh-place spot in the bracket. He ended the season 39-7 and 4-2 in the tournament. McFetridge, who had a very abbreviated sophomore season, ended his career as a Berry with a 73-26 record.
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CASH’s Collin Hearn and Hunter Gould also brought some wrestling hardware back to the region.

Franklin came out swinging and defeated Shady Side Academy 75-43 in the opening round of play in the PIAA 3A Basketball Championships.
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“It was a big deal to get over this hump,” coach Jason Fulmer said of the victory. It was the Knights’ third attempt at winning a state playoff game in as many years. And after two years of “tough draws,” Fulmer said the players were hungry for a win.

In the first minute of the game, it appeared nerves might be taking over as the Knights failed to convert their first two possessions into any points. Shady Side took an early 2-0 lead off a couple of foul shots.

Cole Buckley answered for Franklin with a field goal plus one. Eli Teslovich responded with a three-point shot to regain the lead 5-3 at 6:39. It was the last time the Bulldogs were ahead the rest of the night.

Then the Knights settled into their usual rhythm of fast breaks, quick passes, penetrating the paint, and three-pointers from the corner. From there the game belonged to them. They scored 13 unanswered points and were ahead 16-5 before Shady Side got another basket. The run included a coast-to-coast rebound and bucket by Jalen Wood and six points by Damon Curry.

“The good start really took the pressure off the guys,” Fulmer said.

The margin would only grow as the first quarter started to wind down. Franklin was up 22-10 at the end of eight minutes.

The second quarter was more of the same for the Knights, including three blocked shots by Johnathan Leccia in just a few minutes of play. Curry had another cluster of baskets, scoring eight more points, and Dreyden Payne came off the bench to pour in six points that quarter as well.
Halftime found the Knights up 45-20.

As the second half got underway, it looked like the Bulldogs were going to make a run for the win, Mac Mohn opened the half with six unanswered points for Shady Side. Franklin came out cold, missing three shots in a row.

Following the media timeout, Franklin found a way back to their game and regained control of the pace of play with Ethan Owens stepping up for six points, including a putback basket on an offensive rebound. Leccia seized the opportunity for a slam dunk with 1:36 left to play in the quarter and the game started to feel wrapped up early.

After 24 minutes of play, Franklin was up 60-32 but Curry wasn’t done yet. In the fourth quarter, he added eight more points. Buckley also had a standout quarter with six more points before he and the other starters exited the game with a running clock in place and 1:59 to go.

Gavin Eakin came off the bench to score Franklin’s final four points of the night.

“We did a great job defensively, which rolled in our offense,” Fulmer said after the game. He credited Leccia’s improved play as one of the highlights of the evening, noting in particular how the senior has modified his block attempts from directly out of an opponent’s hand to in mid-air. “It’s not about the block shots. It’s about the altered shots,” Fulmer said of Leccia strategy this year.  

It was certainly working Saturday night. Leccia had six powerful blocks, including one that sent the Knight cheerleaders ducking for cover and several that set up fastbreak layups.

“John takes some pride on the defensive side,” Fulmer said for the team’s center.

Fulmer also pointed the Ethan Owens as the “unsung hero” of the game. “Tonight, he stepped up and took it to the rim.”

“We are much more team scoring based than we have been in years,” he added. Franklin had three players in double digits. Curry led the way with a game-high 28 points, followed by Owens and Buckley with 11 each. Leccia had eight points, Wood had seven, Payne had six and Eakin had four.

With their first playoff win since 2011, Franklin will move forward in the bracket to play against Our Lady of Sacred Heart at  7:30 Wednesday at Westminster College.

Fulmer said they have already started scouting out the competition.

“It’s tough this time of the year. There are no givens,” Fulmer said. “They (OLSH) have a good winning tradition. We got a lot to cram (into) the next three days.”

But he says Saturday’s decisive victory should be turning some heads among the teams in the Pittsburgh region. “It’s a good message to dominate Shady Side like that.” ​

The opening round of the PIAA basketball playoffs between Oil City and Neshannock had the makings of a blowout. 

Oil City jumped into the lead and looked like they were in command right up until about the three-minute mark of the third quarter.

​That's when their 15-point lead began to slowly erode under the pressure of Lancers top scorer Jack Giles. ​At the end of the third, the Oilers still held an 11-point lead.

Then Giles and company got really aggressive with a full-court press, steals and easy buckets. Right around the two-minute mark, Neshannock took the lead for the first time of the evening and they didn’t relinquish it.

Giles had a monster game pouring in 31, including the last seven points, He kept his team just enough out of reach that even a Connor Highfield three-pointer with four seconds left wasn’t quite enough.

​Cam Van Wormer’s team-high 18 points were supplemented by an incredibly even attack with Jacob Hornbeck pouring in 13 while Highfield having 10 and Ethen Knox and Sayyid Donald both contributing nine each.
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The Oiler’s solid season came to an end with a 19-7 record.

Three Cranberry wrestlers are guaranteed medals at the PIAA State Championships in Hershey this weekend.

They will be wrestling again tonight in the consolation round, all still on the path toward a possible third place. Brayden McFetridge, Elijah Brosius and Dalton Wenner stayed alive today with wins in the blood round.

Brosius and Wenner dropped their quarterfinal matches but battled back to win their next bouts. McFetridge won two consolation round matches to advance.

​Other wrestlers still in the hunt for gold are Conneaut's Hunter Gould at 127 and Collin Hearn at 160.

Two Cranberry wrestlers advanced to quarterfinals in the PIAA State AA wrestling championships Thursday at the Giant Center in Hershey.

Cranberry’s 107-pound wrestler, Dalton Wenner, won his first match with a 7-0 decision over Jacob Sombronski of United High School. That win advances the freshman to the state quarterfinal match where he’ll face William Detar of Trinity, who won his match with a pin. Wenner is 32-3 on the season while Detar is 37-2.

At 121 pounds, Elijah Brosius also advanced to the quarters with a 3-1 win over Jackson Rush of West Perry. Tomorrow, Brosius will take on Montgomery freshman Brandt Harer, who is 43-1.

Five other wrestlers were watching also advanced in the championship bracket.

Conneaut’s Hunter Gould got a 9-0 decision over Tyler Ulrich of Warrior Run. He will face Arment Waltenbaugh of Faith Christian Academy in the 127-pound bracket.

At 133 Cambridge Springs Brody Beck won a 3-2 decision over West Perry’s Blain Puchalsky. He moves on to face Jayden Pepe of Wyoming Area.

At 189 General McLane’s Magnus Lloyd defeated Jacob Scheib of Sri-Valley. He’ll face Lucas Miller Northwestern Lehigh. 

Chance Kimmy of General McLane advanced to the 160 quarterfinals to face Grant MacKay. Kimmy had a 3-0 decision over Alex Hoffman of Milton.

Conneut’s Collin Hearn also advanced with major decision over Lewisburg’s Chase Wenrich at 160. Hearn will face Jagger Gray of Trinity.

​Along with Wenner and Brosius, two other Berries will see action on day two of the tournament. 

Cranberry’s Dane Wenner lost a major decision to Warrior Run’s Reagan Milheim before winning a 3-3 decision over Landon Ulderich. He will now face Tyler Morrison of West Perry.

Senior Brayden McFetridge lost his first match to Lackawanna Trail’s 215-pounder Seth Ross. He rebounded with a pin over Ryan Weidner of Mount Carmel. He now faces Kollin Brungart of Penns Valley.
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Other area wrestlers with Friday matches include Titusville’s Brock Covell. He recorded a pin over Tommy Cohenour of Southern Huntington. He then lost to Adam Waters of Faith Christian Academy. Covell will now face Kyle Scott of Tyrone in the consolations.

Saegertown’s Carter Beck lost a tough 1-0 decision to Cole Hubert of Saucon Valley at 114 dropping him into the consolations. He then bounced back with a win over Waylon Waite of Reynolds. He now will face Kevin Bagnell of Conwell-Egan.

At 145 Gunnar Gage of Cambridge Springs dropped a 2-0 decision to Gage Heilbrun of Marion Center. He then pinned Jaden Wehler of St. Mary’s to stay alive.

At 285 Wilson Spires of General McLane pinned Brad Miller of River Valley before falling Riley Robell of Bishop McDevitt. Spires moved on to face Christian Flaherty of Keystone Oaks.
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The PIAA’s first female wrestler to qualify in the boys division, Sierra Chiesa of Northwestern, lost a close opening round match 6-5 to Central Valley’s Antonio Boni. She bounced back to defeat Andrew Coriaty of Oswayo Valley to stay alive for a medal.

Cranberry’s Connor Reszkowski had a tough day, losing his first match to Colten Shunk of Penns Valley and then his consolation match to Chase Bell of Reynolds.