Thursday came down to Franklin v. Cranberry in the Little League District 25 championship semi-finals at Miller-Sibley. Cranberry had already beat up on New Bethlehem 18-0 and then beat Oil City 7-4. Franklin had beat one of the best teams in the tournament, Butler 2-1 with a last inning walk off. And handled Clarion easily in their first game.
Going into Thursday's game it was hard to know who would come out on top, both teams seemingly playing on a high level.
"I was really worried, because they've got some really good sticks on that team," said Franklin coach Ryan Goodman.
It became evident right off the bat that the strategy for Franklin was to swing their own sticks.
Going into Thursday's game it was hard to know who would come out on top, both teams seemingly playing on a high level.
"I was really worried, because they've got some really good sticks on that team," said Franklin coach Ryan Goodman.
It became evident right off the bat that the strategy for Franklin was to swing their own sticks.
Carter Barrett swung at the first pitch of the game drilling it right back to the pitcher. Though it was caught, it was an aggressive swing and a rocket of a hit. "Nothing you can do about that," the Franklin first base coach told Barrett, who looked disappointed walking back towards the dugout. He connected well but the pitcher made a good play.
Holden Goodman then took a cut at the second pitch fouling it off. The third pitch went straight into center-field. Two pitches later Korbyn Sires sent a scorching worm-burner that shaved the dust off the first base bag screaming all the way to the fence and scoring Goodman. Only five pitches in and it was 1-0.
Holden Goodman then took a cut at the second pitch fouling it off. The third pitch went straight into center-field. Two pitches later Korbyn Sires sent a scorching worm-burner that shaved the dust off the first base bag screaming all the way to the fence and scoring Goodman. Only five pitches in and it was 1-0.
They remained aggressive Jake Saragian, who was the starting pitcher, helped himself out when he sent one over the left centerfield fence. Tucker Montgomery and Cooper Carll had also knocked in runs in the first.
 Franklin had definitely come out swinging. |  |
Cranberry starting pitcher Dylan Gregory struggled with some wild pitches that put Franklin runners into scoring position, but the sound of aluminum cracking was frequent and the pounding of runners kept following.
By the time Cranberry came to the plate they were already down 5-0.
By the time Cranberry came to the plate they were already down 5-0.
Seemingly un-phased by his rough inning on the mound, Gregory stepped into the batters box ready to redeem himself. His legs proved the better of Franklin's infield as he beat out an infield hit.
Bryce "Boomer" Marchinke lived up to his nickname sending a hard shot right up the middle. Then Clark Findlay doubled to right-center to score Gregory. Then Boomer scored when Kyler Craig's grounder was bobbled allowing him to reach first and Findlay was safely standing on third.
A walk loaded the bases with only one out. John O'Niel then singled to right scoring two. The other John, John Shreve, stepped up and duplicated the right field hit scoring another and tying the game.
Coach Ryan Goodman thought it was a good time to visit the mound, his 5-0 lead erased.
With runners still on second and third, Grayson Sutley got one in play that was bobbled allowing the go ahead run to score. Gregory then batted a second time in the inning and drilled one back to the pitcher who threw to first for the out, but the runner on third scored making it 7-5.
Bryce "Boomer" Marchinke lived up to his nickname sending a hard shot right up the middle. Then Clark Findlay doubled to right-center to score Gregory. Then Boomer scored when Kyler Craig's grounder was bobbled allowing him to reach first and Findlay was safely standing on third.
A walk loaded the bases with only one out. John O'Niel then singled to right scoring two. The other John, John Shreve, stepped up and duplicated the right field hit scoring another and tying the game.
Coach Ryan Goodman thought it was a good time to visit the mound, his 5-0 lead erased.
With runners still on second and third, Grayson Sutley got one in play that was bobbled allowing the go ahead run to score. Gregory then batted a second time in the inning and drilled one back to the pitcher who threw to first for the out, but the runner on third scored making it 7-5.
And that was just one inning.
Cranberry's field woes started to come to light in the second, though minimal damage incurred. Hayden Behe popped up, but the ball wasn't handled by the shortstop. Two wild pitches later, a throw to third base ended up in the outfield and Behe scored bringing the score to 7-6.
But that was the extent of the scoring in the second. for Franklin.
But that was the extent of the scoring in the second. for Franklin.
Ryan Goodman decided to change pitchers in the second after Saragian threw 37 pitches in the first. Sires took the mound with a one-run deficit. He threw well except for one pitch to Findlay that traveled further than all the rest. Findlay's solo homerun put Cranberry up by two again 8-6.
The third inning was just weird in many ways.
Ryker Mcaphoose walked. As he stole on the hit and run, Cranberry's Marchinke was headed to cover the base when the ball was ripped through the infield at shortstop. A close call at third piut runners at first and third. Then, as the Franklin runner decided to steal second Cranberry's Kannon Speerstra sent a canon towards second, but no one was covering the base allowing a run to score. Then Franklin loaded the bases with the score 8-7 and another walk tied the game.
Ryker Mcaphoose walked. As he stole on the hit and run, Cranberry's Marchinke was headed to cover the base when the ball was ripped through the infield at shortstop. A close call at third piut runners at first and third. Then, as the Franklin runner decided to steal second Cranberry's Kannon Speerstra sent a canon towards second, but no one was covering the base allowing a run to score. Then Franklin loaded the bases with the score 8-7 and another walk tied the game.
It went south for Cranberry at this point. The top of the order came up and Carter Barrett laced a two-run double. A couple batters later Sires hit a triple and Saragian drove him in. A couple passed balls and a walk had runners on first and third when, in an attempt to get Cranberry to throw the ball towards second the Franklin runner seemed to taunt the catcher to make a decision.He did and the Franklin runner was caught in a pickle and the run scored from third. Somehow the runner got back safely to the bag as well.
Franklin scored nine total in the inning and back in command up 15-8.
Franklin scored nine total in the inning and back in command up 15-8.
Franklin's defense really kicked in with two infield forced outs at second including a stellar dive stop by Barrett who then alertly tossed to Goodman covering to end the inning.
 | What looked like it might be a quick inning, with two outs Franklin continued the onslaught. With two outs, a pop up drew confusion in the Cranberry infield and the ball dropped allowing Franklin to regain momentum and eventually padding their lead with five more runs. Cranberry managed one more run but couldn't quite plate enough to stop the mercy rule from taking effect. Franklin advanced to the championship final with the 20-9 victory. They now await either Cranberry , who will face the winner of the Oil City v. Butler match up if they can squeeze in a game between rain drops. They are scheduled to play |
Wednesday at Miller-Sibley if the other games are able to get in. Franklin is in the drivers seat in the double-elimination tournament.
The BAGUBA's
The first game of the tournament the BAGUBA was the entire team. Against Butler Holden Goodman earned to team's accomplishment with the teams 2-1 victory in the final inning of the game with a huge walk-off double scoring Carter Barrett.
Korbyn Sires earned the accolades against Cranberry coming in to pitch three solid innings and his active bat. Read more here about what BAGUBA means.
Korbyn Sires earned the accolades against Cranberry coming in to pitch three solid innings and his active bat. Read more here about what BAGUBA means.
Coach Goodman praise his team for never giving up or getting down. Against Butler it was just a tight game until the end. "You know the kids never gave up, we got into the bottom of the sixth and we had the top of our lineup up and that was the time to do it," he said. "The first three have been stellar at scoring runs from Rec Ball through All-stars. I think it's only happened one time this year when we haven't scored a run with one, two three being up."
And against Cranberry, after seemly having the wind taken out of their sails when Cranberry jumped right back they didn't give up. They kept chipping away and held Cranberry from scoring much.
And against Cranberry, after seemly having the wind taken out of their sails when Cranberry jumped right back they didn't give up. They kept chipping away and held Cranberry from scoring much.
Sometimes the umpires do get it right despite popular opinion
"It's amazing how many we get right," an umpire recently said to me. Umpiring is a thankless job and I'll admit I too thought they got this one play at the plate wrong, but what looked like a ball that was out of the glove actually wasn't. The photographs showed the ball inside the glove in a sequence and the the player never had to pick it up off the ground.
And umpire joked with me last year that when he calls the perfect game he'll then find himself waking up from a dream. During the game there is a decision that has to be made from split second assessments on every pitch. Sometimes, they even know they messed-up and in my 26 years covering sports and getting to know several umpires, they will go over the games in their head afterwards and it does bother them when they know they missed a call.
They don't get enough credit for the job they do when they do it right, which is most of the time.
And umpire joked with me last year that when he calls the perfect game he'll then find himself waking up from a dream. During the game there is a decision that has to be made from split second assessments on every pitch. Sometimes, they even know they messed-up and in my 26 years covering sports and getting to know several umpires, they will go over the games in their head afterwards and it does bother them when they know they missed a call.
They don't get enough credit for the job they do when they do it right, which is most of the time.
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