NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Franklin baseball team completed a busy weekend on the diamond on Sunday (Apr. 30) with two games against the Manchester Spartans.
The Grizzlies (27-9, 15-3 HCAC) claimed a split with the Spartans (19-16, 10-8 HCAC) with the Griz winning game one 11-6 and the Spartans claiming the night cap 12-5.
Game One: Franklin 11 – Manchester 6
Sean Sullivan opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single but the Spartans jumped in front with two runs in each of the first two innings. Sullivan clubbed a two-run homer in the third to cut into the lead but another Manchester run in the third made it 5-3 in favor of the hosts going to the fourth.
The Grizzlies tied the game in the fifth thanks to RBI doubles from
Colby Reed and
Tysen Lipscomb and a three-run double from
Dyllan Redmon an inning later put the Grizzlies in front for good. Sullivan and Lipscomb added RBI singles later in the game and
Matt Earley scored on an infield fly in the ninth to cap the scoring.
Sullivan went 4-for-5 with four runs knocked in and a pair of runs scored to lead the offense.
Gavin White earned the start and lasted three innings before turning things over to
Dylan Sprong (3-2) who earned the win with four innings of two-hit ball in relief.
Game Two: Manchester 12 – Franklin 5
The Spartans took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the first and kept the Griz off the board until an RBI single from Lipscomb in the seventh. Redmon,
Adam Taylor and Sullivan all drove in runs in the eighth to cap the scoring for Franklin.
Lipscomb went 2-for-4 and was the only player to record multiple hits in the game for the Griz.
Jonathan LaGuire-Cruz (1-1) tossed the first four innings, giving up four runs but just one earned run on one hit.
Up Next
Franklin opens the final weekend of the regular season next Saturday (May 6) with two games at Earlham. First pitch is set for noon.
