Ready to drive Franklin Central’s mound corps are senior left-handed pitchers Josh Hammond and Jaxon Bailey. The southpaws lead a six-deep pitching staff. FRANKLIN CENTRAL (9-13): Flashes graduated nine seniors, including catcher Cole Humphrey and outfielder Bailey Buescher (.324), both of whom are playing at the University of Indianapolis, and pitcher-outfielder Alec Bryan (Earlham) … hitting must improve after .251 team batting average … senior southpaw pitchers Josh Hammond (4-1, 2.62 ERA) and Jaxon Bailey (1-2, 4.67 ERA) are throwing harder and with more confidence … senior infielders Chris Ford at first and Matt Southwood at second, lead by example … veteran coach John Rockey has youth movement … soph Cade Fitzgerald goes behind plate … classmates Nate Wilson and Michael Stonebraker fill left side of infield … junior outfielders Ethan McDaniel, Coco Meredith and Jeremy Knott bring more speed than power … junior Jack Smith No. 1 right-handed pitcher and backup outfielder … sophs have shown ability to hit … Lawrence North visits FC Friday.
Coach’s comments: “I thought we would be better than we were last year. We played a lot of seniors, but we didn’t have any clutch hitters. Our leading RBI man had only eight for the season. We lost a lot of close games last year, and we really need to turn that around. We have the luxury of two senior left-handed pitchers and that should keep us in a lot of games. Our outfielders must hit to keep their positions. We have a lot of newcomers who must adjust to varsity pitching in a hurry. I try to coach baseball like I do basketball – try to get better every day. And then have our best nine on the field at sectional time.”
Coach’s comments: “I thought we would be better than we were last year. We played a lot of seniors, but we didn’t have any clutch hitters. Our leading RBI man had only eight for the season. We lost a lot of close games last year, and we really need to turn that around. We have the luxury of two senior left-handed pitchers and that should keep us in a lot of games. Our outfielders must hit to keep their positions. We have a lot of newcomers who must adjust to varsity pitching in a hurry. I try to coach baseball like I do basketball – try to get better every day. And then have our best nine on the field at sectional time.”
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