Franklin County downs St. Joe but they’ll meet again
Following a 6-4 come-from-behind win in the districts last week against Port St. Joe, the Franklin County Seahawks softball team will again face the Lady Tiger Sharks in their regional opener.
The game, to be played in Eastpoint May 8, will mark the teams’ fourth outing this year, as second-seeded Franklin County takes on third-seeded Port St. Joe.
The top seeded Liberty County Lady Bulldogs, who defeated Franklin County 13-2 May 1 to win the district title, host the fourth-seeded Cottondale Lady Hornets, also on May 8.
The match-up between Port St. Joe and Franklin County last week opened with the Lady Tiger Sharks striking first blood with a run in the top of the eighth, and then padding their lead with three more in the top of the third.
The Lady Seahawks got back into it with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, thanks in part to senior pitcher Sarah Ham’s solo home run to open the inning.
Trailing 4-2, Franklin County jumped ahead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to clutch hits by their two Wakulla County transfers, junior Mateah McClendon and sophomore Peyton Jones.
The teams’ offensive performance was similar, with St. Joe banging out nine hits and Franklin County eight. Defensively, each team committed a single error.
Ham struck out nine and walked one, with four earned runs. Port St. Joe’s Christina Clayton, in five-and-two thirds innings of work, struck out two and walked two, while giving up three earned runs on six hits. Junior Brooklyn Bishop walked one and gave up two earned runs on two hits, in one inning of work.
Ham, Jones and McClendon led the Lady Seahawks’ attack, each with two hits, McLendon had a double and drove in three runs, while Jones had a double and drove in a run.
Sophomore Lilah Millender’s double drove in a run, while junior Alexis Webb had a double, and senior Micahlyn O’Neal singled.
Clayton led the Lady Tiger Shark attack with three hits, including a double, and two runs batted in. Junior Elli Newman had two hits, including a triple, and Bishop smacked a one-run double. Sophomore KK McNair had a one-run single and sophomore Annie Gainer had a hit as well.
Against Liberty, Lady Seahawk junior Averie Johnson and McClendon managed the only hits, but McLendon’s was a solo homer. O’Neal was credited with the other run batted in.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.