The Franklin County Rebels beat the Wilson Central Wildcats 6-5 in nine innings at home Saturday for their 12th win of the season.

The Rebels rallied from an early deficit to tie the score in the fifth inning, and a walk-off RBI single from Taylor Austin in the bottom of the ninth gave them the win in extra innings.

The teams scored two runs each in the first inning with an RBI double from Gus Gardner and a sacrifice fly from Ayden Hodosi driving in one run each for Franklin County to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the first.

The Wildcats then scored three more runs in the top of the second to put the Rebels behind by a 5-2 margin early.

The Rebels came back to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth as Hodosi hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Layton Jones from third base, Austin hit into an RBI groundout and Avery Jackson scored on a passed ball to make it a 5-5 game.

Neither team was able to advance a runner past second base for the next three innings as they were still tied at 5-5 going into the ninth inning.

With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth, Avery Jackson recorded a double to move into scoring position as the potential winning run, and Austin hit the next pitch into right field for an RBI single to end the contest.

Keylen Partin pitched the first 2 2-3 innings for the Rebels with three strikeouts, five hits, five walks and five runs allowed for the day. Si Owens pitched 5 1-3 scoreless innings in relief with one strikeout, one hit and two walks allowed.

Cameron Denton pitched one scoreless inning in relief with two strikeouts and two hits allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 12-8 on the season.

Rebels 12, Smyrna 2

The Rebels beat the Smyrna Bulldogs 12-2 at home Friday for their 11th win of the season.

The Rebels bookended the game with five-run innings as they built up a sizable early lead and fully pulled away from the Bulldogs in the bottom of the sixth.

Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that his team put together a much better performance on Friday following a 10-0 road loss to Smyrna the day before with pitchers Connor Parker and Denton and catcher Gardner shining particularly brightly in the win.

“Today, we showed up and got a good start by (Parker), and then, obviously, Denton comes in and closed the door. Gus adding some thump there today with two home runs was big for us,” he said before stressing the importance of his team finding a way to play consistently. “When this team shows up, focuses on the job at hand and our players are trying to beat their players individually, then we’ve got a chance to be a really, really good baseball team. We’ve proven that time and time again.

“On the flip side, if we don’t show up focused on what we’re supposed to be doing, anybody in the country can beat us, and we’ve proven that time and time again.”

The Rebels took the lead in the bottom of the first as Hodosi drew a bases-loaded walk; Jones scored from third off of a double-play groundball from Avery Jackson; Kingzli Wells, pinch-running for Gardner, scored on a passed ball; Austin advanced home on a balk; and Colton Rinkes recorded an RBI double to make it a 5-0 game.

The Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the second to get on the board, but a two-run home run from Gardner in the bottom half of the second expanded Franklin County’s lead to 7-1 early.

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the fifth on two singles and a walk with the lead runner scoring on a double-play groundball to cut the lead down to 7-2.

The Rebels put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth as Wells, pinch-running for Rinkes, scored off of a fielder’s-choice groundball from Gavin McBee, Jones hit a two-run triple, and Gardner launched his second two-run home run of the day over the left-field fence to trigger the mercy rule and clinch a 10-run victory.

Parker pitched the first four innings for the Rebels with eight strikeouts, six hits, four walks and two runs allowed for the day.

Denton pitched two scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts and two hits allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 11-8 on the season.

Smyrna 10, Rebels 0

The Rebels lost to the Smyrna Bulldogs 10-0 on the road on April 2 for their eighth loss of the season.

The Rebels fell behind by a decent amount early and were shut out for the third time this season as they took their fifth loss in six games.

The Bulldogs had nine batters reach base in the bottom of the first with five of them being brought around to score to put the Rebels in a 5-0 hole.

McBee recorded a leadoff single in the top of the second, but he was quickly taken off the basepaths by a double play.

The Bulldogs put up another five runs in the bottom of the third to push the early deficit up to double digits at 10-0.

The Rebels moved a runner into scoring position in the top of the fifth as McBee drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a one-out single from Austin, but a strikeout and a flyout then ended the inning and triggered the mercy rule as the Rebels lost by 10.

Colson Kelley recorded two outs on the mound for the Rebels with three hits, two walks and five runs allowed for the day.

Partin pitched one scoreless inning in relief with one hit and two walks allowed.

Mason Isbell recorded two outs in relief with four hits, three earned runs and two unearned runs allowed, and Peyton Wright pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen with one strikeout, one hit and one walk allowed.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 10-8 on the season.

Rebels 2, Giles County 1

The Rebels beat the Giles County Bobcats 2-1 in eight innings at home on March 31 for their 10th win of the season.

The Rebels weren’t able to hold on to a narrow lead in the seventh inning of the district contest, but they regrouped and secured a walk-off victory in extra innings on a sacrifice fly from Austin.

The Rebels loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third as Braden Jackson drew a walk, Parker singled and Avery Jackson reached base on an error, but the next three batters were retired on a strikeout, a lineout and a flyout, respectively, to negate the scoring threat.

A walk and a single with one out in the top of the fourth put runners at the corners for the Bobcats, but pitcher Avery Jackson struck out the next two batters to keep the game tied.

The Rebels ultimately took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth as Jones hit a two-out triple and was driven home by an RBI single from Hodosi after Gardner was intentionally walked.

The Bobcats opened the top of the seventh with three straight singles, and a fielder’s-choice groundout then allowed the lead runner to score to tie the game at 1-1. Denton retired the next two batters on popouts to strand the potential go-ahead run at third base.

The Rebels were retired in order in the bottom of the seventh as the game then advanced to extra innings.

Gardner led off the bottom of the eighth with a double, Hodosi reached base due to catcher’s interference, and McBee drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out.

Austin then hit a fly ball to left field with Gardner racing home after the ball was caught to score the game-winning run.

Avery Jackson pitched six shutout innings for the Rebels with seven strikeouts, five hits and three walks allowed for the day.

Denton pitched two innings in relief with two strikeouts, three hits and one run allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 10-7 on the season and 3-1 in district play.

Giles County 2, Rebels 1

The Rebels lost to the Giles County Bobcats 2-1 on the road on March 30 for their seventh loss of the season.

The Bobcats took an early lead in the district contest with an attempted rally from the Rebels in the top of the seventh coming up short as they took their fourth straight loss overall.

Crossland said that defensive issues had plagued his team during their fourgame losing streak.

“Lately, our defense has failed us, and you can’t win one-run ballgames when you’re giving people runs,” he said. “We knew coming down here that we were going to have to play great defense, we were going to have to pitch it and get some timely hits, and all we did is we pitched it well.”

The Bobcats scored both of their runs for the game in the bottom of the first as a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch brought in one run each to make it a 2-0 game.

The Rebels got one of those runs back in the top of the second as Hodosi and Austin led off the frame with consecutive singles, and a one-out RBI single from Ethan Stoltzfus brought Wells, pinch-running for Hodosi, around to score to cut the deficit down to 2-1.

The Rebels put another runner into scoring position in the top of the fourth as Stoltzfus and Avery Jackson hit consecutive two-out singles, but a flyout then ended the inning.

With the Rebels still facing a one-run deficit in the top of the seventh, Avery Jackson hit a leadoff single and McBee drew a walk to put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base with nobody out.

Following a fielder’s- choice groundball from Jones for the first out of the inning, Gardner was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Braden Jackson struck out looking for the second out of the frame.

Hodosi then hit a ball toward center field with Giles County’s Weston Brumit making a sliding catch to end the contest and give the Rebels a narrow defeat.

Gardner pitched a complete game for the Rebels with nine strikeouts, two hits, one earned run and one unearned run allowed for the day.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 9-7 on the season and 2-1 in district play.

They next played Monday at home against Forrest High School in a game which came after the Herald Chronicle’s press deadline.