Rebels fall to Warren County in close district game

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The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Warren County Pioneers 4-3 at home Monday for their 13th loss of the season.

The Rebels fell behind early in the contest with an attempted rally coming up short late in the district contest.

Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that the game came down to missed opportunities on both sides of the ball.

“We had guys in scoring position all night and just couldn’t capitalize,” he said, referring to his team leaving seven players stranded at second or third base over the course of the day. “Sam (Vincent) gutted it out and got us a complete game, and we made a couple miscues defensively that really cost us. It’s pretty much been the theme of the year.”

The Pioneers’ leadoff batter reached base on an infield single, stole second and moved to third on the same play due to a throwing error before being driven in by a one-out double to give Warren County a 1-0 advantage.

The Rebels loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first on singles by Sam Vincent, Brayden Henley and Payton Miller, but a popout ended the frame and left all three runners stranded.

The Pioneers added another two runs to their advantage in the top of the second to make it a 3-0 game early.

After a leadoff single by the Pioneers to start the fourth inning, their next hitter laid down a sacrifice bunt and the Rebels attempted to throw out the lead runner, but the throw went wide and ricocheted off the sliding runner to keep both Warren County players on base.

The lead runner for Warren County later advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and raced home on a wild pitch to put the Rebels in a 4-0 hole at the game’s midway point.

The Rebels loaded the bases again in the bottom of the fourth on singles by Graysen McNeese and Gavin Sells and a walk drawn by Vincent with Austin Roberts coming through with a two-out, two-run single to cut the deficit in half.

The Rebels started the bottom of the fifth with consecutive singles by Gus Gardner, Miller and McNeese, and Sells hit into an RBI fielder’s choice to make it a one-run game and to move Miller to third base with one out as the potential tying run.

However, a popout and a strikeout ended the frame without Miller advancing any further as the Rebels continued to trail.

The Rebels weren’t able to get a runner past first base in the final two innings as they lost by one.

Vincent pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts, seven hits and four runs allowed for the day.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 11-13 on the season and 4-7 in district play.

They will next play Tuesday at Warren County High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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