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New Franklin takes opener from Fayette

Kevin Oeth, Sports Editor
Posted 3/23/21

The joy of a season opener was tarnished somewhat Monday evening for the Fayette Falcons as the New Franklin Bulldogs defeated the Falcons 13-1.

Bulldog coach Erich Gerding had stated the goal of …

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New Franklin takes opener from Fayette

Posted

The joy of a season opener was tarnished somewhat Monday evening for the Fayette Falcons as the New Franklin Bulldogs defeated the Falcons 13-1.

Bulldog coach Erich Gerding had stated the goal of the team was to be 1-0 after the first game and that goal was certainly achieved. 

Although played at New Franklin, the game was listed as a home game for Fayette due to Fayette’s home field, Estes Field, was in use by Central  Methodist University.

This led to Fayette taking the field first with junior Dalton Collins on the mound. Collins got off to a shaky start in the first, walking the bases full before New Franklin sophomore shortstop  Clayton Wilmsmeyer broke the ice on the season with a sacrifice fly to score sophomore leadoff hitter Owen Armentrout. Sophomore second baseman Keaton Eads followed with an RBI single to score New Franklin’s lone senior, catcher Tysen Dowell. A fly out to second and a ground ball to short ended the top of the first with New Franklin leading 2-0.

Fayette’s half of the first looked promising as sophomore third baseman Haden Kelly was hit by a pitch and Collins followed up with a single to left advancing Kelly. The inning would end however with senior Chris Brown flying out to center and  sophomore Alex McBain going down looking.

New Franklin came up with one run in the top of the second on a leadoff single by sophomore Sam Marshall and what began as a sacrifice fly by Dowell. That fly ball became the first out of a double play as Fayette sophomore center fielder Alex McBain completed the twin killing with a strike to third baseman Kelly for the third out of the inning after Marshall had scored giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead.

The bottom of the third looked promising for Fayette as sophomore catcher Gage Sulltrop led off with a single but was left stranded as three straight Falcons went down swinging.

The top of the third proved to be disastrous for the Falcons as 13 Bulldogs went up to the plate and  eight of them circled the bases giving New Franklin an 8-0 lead that would prove insurmountable. Seven of the Bulldog baserunners got on via base on balls, while only three hits were delivered along with one sacrifice fly. The hits came off the bats of freshmen Tanner Bishop, and Jacob Marshall along with Eads. The sac fly was delivered by Bishop as he batted the second time in the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Haden Kelly launched a one-out triple to right for Fayette, but the Falcons were unable to capitalize as he was left there as the inning ended on a short fly to left and a strikeout.

Neither team was able to cross the plate in the fourth. New Franklin threatened with a runner on second, but a line drive to junior shortstop Tyler Bartholomew and a hustling move to tag the runner that had wandered too far from the safety of second base left the Bulldogs with an inning ending double play.

New Franklin again found the scoreboard in the fifth scoring two without the benefit of a hit as two batters were walked. Dowell and Bishop both scored on two defensive errors by Fayette allowing New Franklin to take a 13-0 lead. 

Fayette did not give up entering the bottom of the fifth as freshman second baseman Jayden Shiflett walked to lead off the inning and later scored on a single to right by Collins.

“I liked our discipline and patience at the plate tonight,” said coach Gerding. “Our pitchers threw some good quality strikes. It was nice to score some runs and be able to save some of our pitchers for the rest of the week.”

Fayette coach Charlie Trick gave sincere credit to New Franklin. “They came out and had a great game pitching and defensively. We’re young and inexperienced, but we learned some things. We’ve got some heart. We had guys communicating and we saw a little life there at the end putting a run up in the last inning. We learned that we have a lot of potential, we just have to keep moving forward.”

Fayette hopes to even its record at 1-1 during its home opener against Centralia on Friday. The first pitch from Estes Field will be at 6 p.m.  

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