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The Franklin County Rebels beat the Oakland Patriots 10-9 on the road Saturday in their second and final game for the Warrior Classic.

The lead changed hands three times in the first four innings with the Rebels pulling ahead for good in the top of the fourth on a three-run home run by Wyatt Lowe and holding off an attempted rally by the Patriots in the bottom of the seventh.

The Patriots got the scoring started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.

The Rebels loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the second as Gus Gardner reached base on an error before being replaced by Talon Abraham as a courtesy runner, Brayden Henley singled and Lowe drew a walk.

After Gavin Sells hit into a fielder’s choice that resulted in Abraham being forced out at home plate, Casen Gilliam hit a sacrifice fly to score Henley, and an error on a ball put into play by Graysen McNeese scored Lowe and Sells to give Franklin County a 3-2 lead.

The Rebels added to their early lead in the top of the third as Sells and Gilliam both drew bases-loaded walks to make it a 5-2 game.

The Patriots had their own bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the third as a walk and two hit batters was followed by a single which dropped in between three Franklin County defenders near the right-field foul line.

The ball was knocked out of play into the open bullpen area on that side of the field with one runner scoring during the initial play, and the umpires then awarded each Oakland runner two additional bases for the ball going out of bounds, resulting in three total runs scoring on the hit to tie the score at 5-5.

The Patriots then scored the go-ahead run a few at-bats later after a wild pitch to briefly put Franklin County in a 6-5 hole.

The Rebels retook the lead in the top of the fourth as Henley hit an RBI double to tie the score and Lowe hit the very next pitch over the fence in right field for a three-run home run to give them a 9-6 advantage.

The Patriots made up some ground in the bottom half of the fourth with a sacrifice fly to put the score at 9-7.

After a quiet fifth and sixth innings on both sides, Sam Vincent added to the lead in the top of the seventh with an RBI single to make it a 10-7 game.

The leadoff batter for the Patriots in the bottom of the seventh drew a walk with their next batter hitting a groundball, and a pair of errors on the ensuing play led to both runners scoring to cut the deficit down to a single run.

The Patriots loaded the bases with two outs in the frame, but Vincent recorded the final out in relief with a strikeout to secure the narrow victory.

Jacob Hardison started the game on the mound for Franklin County and pitched one inning with one strikeout, two hits, one earned run and one unearned run allowed.

McNeese pitched the next 1 1-3 innings with three strikeouts, no hits and three runs allowed. Gilliam followed with 3 2-3 innings on the mound with four strikeouts, one hit and two runs allowed.

Josiah Cullins recorded the first two outs in the seventh inning with two strikeouts, two hits and two unearned runs allowed. Vincent was called upon to record the final out with no hits and no runs allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 6-5 on the season.

Lafayette Central 11, Rebels 1

The Rebels lost to the Lafayette Central Catholic Knights 11-1 at Oakland Saturday in their first game for the Warrior Classic.

The Rebels scored the first run of the day, but the rest of the contest was controlled by the Knights as they capitalized on multiple Franklin County errors to build up a deficit that the Rebels couldn’t work out of.

The Rebels got three straight singles from Henley, Lowe and Gilliam to load the bases in the top of the second, and Sells then hit into an RBI fielder’s choice to give his team a 1-0 lead.

However, the Knights scored three runs in the bottom of the third, including two on a home run to center field, to put Franklin County in a 3-1 hole.

A few errors by the Rebels early in the bottom of the fourth set up another three-run inning for the Knights as the deficit grew to 6-1 at the game’s halfway point.

The Knights scored another run in the bottom of the fifth and wrapped the game up with four runs in the bottom of the sixth as the Rebels lost by an even 10 runs.

Henley pitched the first 3 2-3 innings for the game with one strikeout, four hits and six unearned runs allowed.

Payton Miller added 1 1-3 innings in relief with one strikeout, two hits and one run allowed.

Caden Brown recorded two outs in the final frame with three hits and three runs allowed.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 5-5 on the season.

Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that recurring issues on defense plagued his team throughout both contests Saturday.

“Defensively, we were atrocious all day. Obviously, the wind’s a factor, but to me, that’s an excuse. High-school baseball players should be able to catch fly balls. It’s that simple,” he said. “I’m proud of my guys for fighting, but it’s the same hiccups with us. We don’t field the baseball cleanly enough, and we don’t hit it well enough to overcome the bad defensive play that we have.”

The Rebels will next play Monday at Warren County High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.