Franklin avoids Hornet's sting to advance to title game

Franklin's Trinity Edge stood on the mound getting ready to face Hickory's Madison Trimboli in the top of the seventh up 7-4 with two outs. There were runners on second and third and Trimboli represented the tying run. Edge had just struck out the previous batter, her eighth of the contest. The next Hornet's batter had already driven in a run earlier in the contest. Edge got ready, looked toward the plate, pointed at her catcher Kirsten Hicks who had already gotten into her crouched stance.

"Kirsten," Edge hollered making Hicks look up and they made eye contact. Without saying another word Edge pointed to Hicks, back at herself and then back again to her catcher. Hicks repeated the same pattern of pointing back to her pitcher. Edge was now ready to face what she hoped would the last batter of the day.

It was - Edge struck her out.
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"It means she has my back and I have her back. It's just me and her, no batter, just her glove." Edge said. "I know no matter how bad I throw it, no matter how good I throw it, she'll be there to catch it."

Nothing could be truer.

Hicks was stellar behind the plate. She threw out a Hickory base runner attempting to steal in the fifth, which ended up being huge since the next batter doubled. Hicks arm saved a run. Early in the game Edge was having some control issues, but Hicks pulled pitch after high pitch down slowing Hickory runners from advancing. "I was trying to get (Hornet batters) to chase," Edge said of her sudden rash high pitches. "I had to lower my strike zone and thankfully it started to work." And Hicks solid play helped Edge find her zone.

Edge had nine strikeouts on the day.

Offensively Sydni Hoobler had a pair of hits and scored a run, Edge also had two hits, scored twice and had two RBI's including an out of the canon line drive over the left center fence. "It was a shot, I didn't think it would go over, I thought it would bounce of the wall," she said. "But it was kinda icing on the cake."
The cleanup hitter, Rylee Hanna proved why she gets that coveted spot in the line up driving in three runs on two hits. She also scored a run. The Knights recorded 10 hits in all with Jillian Ewing, Abby Boland, Gabby Wimer and Gabrielle Laderer each chiming in with hits.

They had a big fifth inning with Laderer getting it started with a hit to left. Hoobler then slapped a solid bunt moving Laderer over to third. Hoobler then stole second uncontested. Ewing then bunted safely scoring Laderer and moving Hoobler to third. Ewing then stole second. Edge base hit scored Hoobler while Ewing then advanced to third. Edge went to second on the throw in. Hanna then doubled in Ewing and Edge. Boland finished off the big inning driving in Hanna.

In the end it was enough.

Defensively the Knights were solid overall despite a throwing error against the very first batter of the game. She ended up on second and then stole third before Edge settled in. An infield grounder was fielded by Edge and she elected to look back the runner on third, but seeing an opportunity decided to throw her out instead and allow the batter to reach first. The move was successful and Edge then pitched her way out of the inning unscathed.

In the second Edge really struggled walking the first two. Her pitches were sailing and Hicks was snagging most of them. A run scored on a fielders choice to get the batter out at first. She then struck out the next two. In the third a leadoff double and a walk were left on base as Edge pitched herself out of another jam.

​In the fifth it looked like it could get ugly, but Hickory's aggressiveness on the bsasepads cost them when they hoped to catch Franklin sleeping. The sixth did get ugly but the Knight's were up by six so they had some wiggle room. Giving up three cut the lead in half going into the final inning. The seventh was more of the same, but, perhaps because of team support from exchanges like a hug between seniors Edge an Hoobler and the moment of trust between pitcher and catcher, Edge pitcher the team to a victory leaving two Hickory runners on base.

"It was a good game, I knew it was going to be. We played them three times now and we've been in a dogfight the whole entire time," coach Chad Hoobler said.  Hoobler said the team made adjustments throughout to game and those paid off. "We put the ball in play. We're an aggressive base running team and it showed."

"Defensively we took care of the ball, we made a couple of mistakes, but we din't let them compound." Hoobler said. "And Trinity threw well."

"They are a good team. They didn't want their season to end just like we didn't."

The Knight's now go on to play in the District 10 championship against Cathedral Prep (formerly Villa Maria) Monday at 11 a.m. in Hermitage. They have faced each other in the finals the last two years splitting with them. Edge said she really wants Prep and is looking forward to facing them again. "I want to go out with a bang," she said.