Lions Sweep Indians to Take Region Title

The Franklin County Lions clinched another region-8 AAA title with a doubleheader sweep of the Stephens County Indians Friday night in Carnesville.

In game one, the Lions scored four runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, and held on late for an 11-7 win. Will Dodd led the Lions offense with 3 RBI’s, and senior Keelin Sanders started a great senior night with a double and triple, and 2 RBI’s. Findley Ward and Nate Ivester led Stephens County with 2 RBI’s each.

Franklin County’s Caden Cawthon had a perfect first three innings and went six innings with ten strikeouts to get the win. Konnor Loudermilk took the loss going four innings and allowing just 2 earned runs while striking out six. The Indians committed four errors in the first four innings.

The Indians got off to a great start in the 2nd game with three straight hits on the first four pitches and took a 1-0 lead. Lions pitcher Cade Gibson settled in after the rough start to get out of the inning, and then the Lions offense took over and they rolled to a 12-2 win in five innings.

Sanders topped off his senior night with a 2-run homerun over the centerfield wall in the first inning and had 3 RBI’s in the game. Easton Gailey added two RBI’s and leadoff man Ty Peeples reached base all four at bats and scored two runs.

Gibson went the distance to get the win. Colby Fowler scored both of the Indians’ runs and Hayden Scott got the loss. Young pitchers Noah Strickland and Lane Pressley pitched in relief.

The win clinched the 4th straight region-8 title for the Lions who will represent the region as the number one seed in the AAA state playoffs. The Lions finish region play at 12-3 and 23-5 overall, two games ahead of 2nd place Hebron Christian.

Stephens County ends region play at 3-12 and is now 10-17 overall. Stephens County will finish the season this week at Walhalla, SC on Wednesday and hosting Seneca, SC on Thursday. Both games will start at 6 P.M. with airtime at 5:45 P.M on WNEG.