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The Franklin County Rebels lost to the Shelbyville Central Golden Eagles 10-4 at home Thursday in a semifinal game for the District 6-4A tournament.

The Rebels pulled ahead in the middle innings and led by as many as three runs, but a nine-run fifth inning by the Golden Eagles dramatically shifted the momentum as the Rebels took their first loss for the double-elimination bracket.

Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that the game came down to missed opportunities for his team.

“We had some opportunities early and didn’t cash in. We had a 4-1 lead and it just kind of came unraveled on us in the fifth,” he said. “(Shelbyville) got big hits when they needed them, and we didn’t make pitches when we needed to.”

Sam Vincent led off the game for Franklin County with a single and stole second to put himself into scoring position early, but he was unable to advance any further.

The Golden Eagles’ first two batters of the contest singled with the lead runner crossing home plate on a fielder’s choice to put the Rebels behind by a score of 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

The Rebels broke through for their first runs and flipped the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as Payton Miller hit an RBI double with two outs to tie the score, and Graysen McNeese followed with an RBI single to score Miller and give Franklin County the lead.

McNeese scored a few batters later on an RBI single by Casen Gilliam to give the Rebels a 3-1 lead at the game’s halfway point.

The Rebels manufactured another run in the top of the fifth as Vincent hit a leadoff single, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Austin Roberts and raced home following a dropped third strike to Gus Gardner to give Franklin County a 4-1 advantage.

However, the Golden Eagles sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and scored nine total runs in the lengthy frame to put the Rebels behind by six.

The Rebels weren’t able to push any runs across in the remaining two innings as they lost by six.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 12-15 on the season.

They will next play Saturday at home against Coffee County Central High School in an elimination semifinal game for the District 6-4A tournament. First pitch is scheduled for noon.

If the Rebels beat Coffee County, they will play Shelbyville on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the district championship round.