The Franklin County Rebels beat the Tullahoma Wildcats 7-4 at Lawrence County Saturday in an elimination semifinal game for the District 12AAA tournament.

The Rebels rallied from an early four-run deficit to take the lead in the middle innings as they won their third game in two days to advance to the district finals and earn a regional berth for the first time since 2022.

Following the game, the Rebels elected to accept a runner-up finish for the tournament and not play out the District 12AAA championship game scheduled for Monday against Lawrence County in order to give their players time to recover before the regional tournament.

Franklin County head baseball coach Mike Crossland said that Saturday’s game didn’t have an ideal start, but his players didn’t give up.

“Going down 4-0 in the first is not the way you draw it up, but our kids fought back, started chipping away and got the job done,” he said, adding that reliever Cameron Denton put on a very gutsy performance to shut out the Wildcats after the first inning before referring to his team’s total effort to win three straight elimination games. “I couldn’t be more proud of the effort and how hard and aggressive this team played. This was a goal of theirs, and they achieved it.

“I’m super excited for our seniors and our entire community and school. My coaches did a tremendous job preparing these guys, and I’m super lucky to have the staff that I do.”

The Wildcats scored all of their runs for the game in the bottom of the first as a three-run home run and a bases-loaded walk put Franklin County in a 4-0 hole.

The Rebels seized some momentum in the top of the third as Taylor Austin singled and Connor Parker drew a walk to lead off the inning before Gavin McBee hit an RBI double to make it a 4-1 game.

Layton Jones then drew a walk to load the bases with one out in the frame, but a strikeout and a groundout followed to strand all three runners.

The Rebels completely flipped the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as an RBI double from Parker and an RBI single from Jones tightened the score before Josiah Cullins came through with a go-ahead, threerun double to put his team in front by a 6-4 margin.

The Rebels added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Gus Gardner recorded an RBI double to put the overall tally at 7-4 late.

A two-out single from the Wildcats in the bottom of the seventh gave them a baserunner in the final inning, but Denton induced a groundout from the next batter to clinch the threerun victory.

Parker recorded two outs on the mound for the Rebels with one hit, four walks and four runs allowed for the day.

Denton pitched the remaining 6 1-3 innings in relief with four strikeouts, four hits, one walk and no runs allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 18-17 on the season.

Rebels 11, Marshall County 2

The Rebels beat the Marshall County Tigers 11-2 at Lawrence County Friday in an elimination game for the District 12AAA tournament.

The Rebels led for most of the game and pulled away in the fifth inning as they recorded their second win of the day to stay alive in the district bracket.

The Tigers scored a run off of an error in the top of the first, but the Rebels responded with two runs in the bottom of the first as Jones scored off of an error following a single from Avery Jackson and Ayden Hodosi recorded an RBI single to give them a 2-1 advantage.

The Tigers capitalized on a Franklin County error in the top of the third to score another run and tie the game at 2-2 early.

However, the Rebels quickly pulled back ahead as Avery Jackson hit into an RBI groundout in the bottom of the third to drive in the go-ahead run, and Jones drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fourth to boost their lead up to 4-2.

The Rebels then put together a seven-run fifth inning as Gardner hit two RBI singles over the course of the frame, Parker drew a bases-loaded walk, Braden Jackson recorded a tworun single, Jones contributed an RBI double and Cullins notched an RBI single to make it an 11-2 game.

The Rebels held the Tigers scoreless in the final two innings of play as they secured a ninerun victory.

Avery Jackson pitched the first four innings for the Rebels with seven strikeouts, two hits, five walks and two unearned runs allowed for the day.

Denton pitched 1 2-3 innings scoreless innings in relief with one strikeout, one walk and no hits allowed.

Jackson Carr pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings to close out the game with two strikeouts and no hits allowed.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 17-17 on the season.

Rebels 6, Giles County 2

The Rebels beat the Giles County Bobcats 6-2 at Lawrence County earlier in the day on Friday in an elimination game for the District 12AAA tournament.

The Rebels took the lead in the bottom of the first and maintained a steady advantage for the rest of the game to advance to the next round of the postseason.

The Bobcats briefly took the lead in the top of the first as a two-out RBI single gave them a 1-0 advantage.

However, the Rebels flipped the scoreboard in the bottom half of the first as an RBI groundout from Avery Jackson and an RBI single from Hodosi put them in front by a 2-1 margin.

The Rebels expanded their advantage in the bottom of the third as Hodosi recorded an RBI single and Gardner followed with an RBI double to put Giles County in a 4-1 hole.

The Bobcats scored a run in the top of the sixth to make up some ground, but an RBI single from Avery Jackson and an RBI groundout from Hodosi in the bottom of the sixth gave the Rebels two more runs overall as they increased their lead to 6-2 late.

The Bobcats were retired in order in the top of the seventh as the Rebels clinched a four-run victory.

Colson Kelley pitched a complete game for the Rebels with seven strikeouts, four hits, five walks and two runs allowed for the day.

With the win, the Rebels improved to 16-17 on the season.

Tullahoma 2, Rebels 0

The Rebels lost to the Tullahoma Wildcats 2-0 at Lawrence County on April 30 in a first-round game for the District 12AAA tournament.

The third-seeded Rebels fell behind midway through the contest and were unable to answer back offensively as they opened the postseason with a shutout loss to the second-seeded Wildcats.

Crossland said that pitcher Gus Gardner performed well in defeat, but his team’s lack of offensive production for the day proved to be costly.

“When you can’t produce any more offense than that, it’s hard to win district baseball games,” he said. “Gus threw the ball well enough for us to win, and we did absolutely nothing for him offensively.”

Jones hit a one-out single for the Rebels in the top of the first and moved up to second on a groundout from Cullins, but a strikeout then ended the inning and left Jones stranded on the basepaths.

The Wildcats scored their first run for the day in the bottom of the third as their leadoff hitter singled, advanced up to second and third base on errors and scored off of an RBI groundout to make it a 1-0 game.

A two-out single from Cullins in the top of the sixth gave the Rebels their first hit since the opening inning, but Cullins wasn’t able to advance any further before a strikeout ended the inning.

The Wildcats loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on two singles and a walk with another walk then allowing the lead runner to score to boost the deficit up to 2-0.

Hodosi led off the top of the seventh with a single to bring the potential tying run up to bat, but a fielder’s-choice groundout and two flyouts then ended the contest as the Rebels lost by two.

Gardner pitched a complete game for the Rebels with seven strikeouts, five hits, three walks, one earned run and one unearned run allowed for the day.

With the loss, the Rebels moved to 15-17 on the season.

They will next play Friday against Battle Creek High School or Creek Wood High School at Lawrence County in a semifinal game for the Region 6AAA tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.