FRANKLIN, LADY CATS TO PLAY FOR STATE TITLE

It took lightening to slow Lexi Franklin Saturday afternoon.

To be clear it was slow, not stop Franklin in Saturday afternoon’s 5-0 win over Hackett in Lincoln that punched the Lady Bearcats (19-13) ticket for the state championship game.

Franklin (shown) threw a two-hit shutout, her second shutout of the state tournament, and was 4-for-4 with 2 runs batted in at the plate.

Franklin had doubled in the top of the seventh inning to drive in a run and had stolen third on ball one to Roni Tillery when a lightning strike within the safety halo sent the teams to the dugout for a mandatory 30-minute delay.

After the delay Franklin would be stranded at third but Hackett, who had beaten Franklin and the Lady Bearcats 2-1 in the regular season and 12-2 in the district tournament final, had only three outs left in their season.

Franklin got the first of those on a ground out and, with a runner aboard via a base hit, induced a line drive to shortstop Layla Byrum for a double play that touched off a celebration of a state title appearance for the first time since 2004.

The seventh inning base hit by Hackett was just the second for the Lady Hornets. The first met with the same fate of a double play with Leigh Swint touching third and throwing to first to complete the double play in the sixth when it was a 4-0 game.

Franklin singled leading off the second and was still aboard with two down but made her way around the bases on a double by designated hitter Kylie Lunsford for a 1-0 lead.

After walking a leadoff hitter in the Hackett third, Franklin saw the potential tying run moved into scoring position by a bunt and, even after an error complicated things, induced a pair of fly balls to end the threat.

By the time she returned to the circle the lead was a more comfortable 3-0 as Cam Parish delivered a shot through the middle to drive in two.

Swint had drawn a walk, Franklin had singled, and another walk to Tillery had loaded the bases for Parish before an out was recorded.

Hackett managed to avoid further damage after Parish’s hit but Franklin threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning.

Byrum started the Lady Bearcat fifth with an infield single and, with two away, Franklin chased her home with her third hit of the day and it was 4-0.

Ellie Smith bunted and reached on an error in the Lady Bearcat sixth which got Franklin to the plate with two down. Franklin’s double scored Smith and it was 5-0.

The Arkansas Activities Association will likely announce the game time for the state championship game with Atkins. The game is set to be played at UCA in Conway.