Spring Fling
Peyton Warren belted a triple and two doubles and Walker Palmerton allowed just one run over 5 1/3 innings as Franklin Road Academy completed a perfect run through the Division II-A State Baseball Tournament with an 8-1 win over Harding Academy in the championship game Thursday at MTSU.
Warren drove in three runs with the three hits to pace the FRA offense. Kenny Cooper had a pair of hits and a run scored and RBI each while Christian Drake scored three times in the triumph.
FRA (25-11) exploded for five runs in the first inning and never looked back. That was plenty of run support for Palmerton, who threw 40 of his 63 pitches for strikes. Warren retired the five batters he faced to close the game.
Casey Harford was the loser for Harding, giving up eight hits and five runs – all earned – in 3 2/3 innings.
It was the fourth state baseball title for FRA (1984, 1988, 2000). Two of those titles were won under longtime coach George Weicker, who died in February after coaching the team for 30 seasons.
His successor, Jon Wilson, wins a state title in his first season heading up the Panther program.