Bellbrook, Ohio — Two of the top teams in the SWBL would go to battle on Tuesday night as Bellbrook hosted Franklin. Both teams would be throwing their top arms as Franklin sent out Evan Fry and Bellbrook handed the ball to the southpaw Ethan Jenkins.

Franklin has a high tradition of success producing countless talented teams over the years and this year is no different. Evan Fry leads this team on the mound and hitting while additions like the big bat of Pierce Bauerle will look to help lead this team to yet another league title.

Bellbrook comes into this season with a very young team. They are loaded with talented juniors like Ethan Jenkins, Caleb Fugate, and Will Culbertson. Senior catcher Ethan Fryman is another solid piece on this squad.

Evan Fry threw an efficient 5 innings on Tuesday night as he struck-out 12 batters and allowed just 4 hits in Franklin’s 7-0 victory over Bellbrook.

Ethan Jenkins struck out the first batter in the game and then forced the next to groundout. He got into some trouble by walking the next two but made a swift pickoff move to get the runner at second out to end the half inning.

Fry allowed a deep double to Jenkins, but three strikeouts in the inning gave Fry a scoreless frame. Fry then helped his own cause by hitting a double as well. He would come around to score as Jenkins threw a double-play opportunity into centerfield as he missed Fugate at second. This gave Franklin the early 1-0 lead.

A bunt would advance the runners to second third and then Jenkins walked a pair of batters to score Franklin’s second run of the game. A shallow popup behind first base from Gunner Lakins would fall resulting in a pair of Wildcats to score as they took a 4-0 lead in the second inning.

After a double and a couple of walks, Bellbrook loaded the bases in the bottom of the second but Fry was able to work out of the jam without a scratch as he struck out the final batter looking to end the inning.

Caleb Fugate helped avoid any more damage as he made an unassisted double play to help Jenkins get out of a bases-loaded jam in the third. Ethan Jenkins got himself to third after hitting a double and stealing third but was stranded after a strikeout and ground-out.

The Bellbrook lefty began to settle down in the 4th inning as he struck out a pair and then added another scoreless frame in the 5th. Fry also settled down as he struck out two batters to keep his scoreless game alive.

Tyler Murray opened up the top of 6th with a leadoff double for Franklin. He was advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on a error from the first baseman. Franklin then got into a pickle and Jenkins was able to get both runners in the pickle out as Bellbrook came out of the half inning trailing 5-0.

A SAC-fly from Gunner Lakins extended Franklin’s lead to 6-0. Then Pierce Baurerle hit a double and ended up scoring off of a throwing error by Bellbrook. That would be all Franklin needed offensively as they rolled to a 7-0 victory.

Evan Fry pitched 5 strong innings as he allowed 0 runs, and just 3 hits while striking out 12. Offensively Franklin was led by Gunner Lakins who went 1-2 with 3 RBI’s and Pierce Bauerle, Evan Fry, and Tyler Murray all had doubles and they all eventually came around to score. Ethan Jenkins threw 6 innings and allowed 4 hits and 5 runs but just 1 one of those runs were earned. Jenkins went 2-3 at the dish with a pair of doubles in the loss.

Franklin improves to 8-0 (7-0, SWBL) on the season after this win and will face Bellbrook again on Wednesday night. The Eagles fall to 4-2 (2-2, SWBL) and will look for a bounce-back victory on the road at Franklin.