Franklin Wins State Title

ALEXANDRIA _ Franklin 12-year-old All-Stars won the 2018 State of Louisiana District 3 Dixie Youth Baseball Majors Best 2 of 3 State Championship with consecutive victories over West Carroll Friday and Saturday in sweltering heat here at the Johnny Downs Complex.
Franklin will now represent Team Louisiana in the 2018 Dixie Youth World Series in Lumberton, North Carolina on August 3-9.
A resilent Franklin team swept past West Carroll in the State Best 2 out of 3 contests on Friday (6-1) and Saturday (4-3), ending the notion of a third game if necessary third game later Saturday afternoon.
In Friday’s opener, Franklin turned in a dominating performance on the way to a 6-1 victory against West Carroll.
Franklin earned a thrilling 4-3 triumph over West Carroll in Saturday’s contest, winning the State Title with two straight wins while also garnering a spot in the 2018 World Series.
Franklin Manager Clint Judice was impressed with the way his team fought back Saturday’s nail-biting victory.
“It’s what impressed me the most as we hadn’t committed many errors up until that inning but we kept fighting,” he said. “We fought back and that’s a testament of how much we’ve grown. It also makes us strong going forward.”
In Saturday morning’s Championship game, Franklin rallied for a 4-3 series clinching victory displaying the character of a veteran team. Franklin jumped out front to a big lead before uncharacteristically committing three errors to allow West Carroll back into the game.
Franklin collected solo blasts from Loren Wells and John David Hidalgo along with a score from Alonzo Alexander for a 3-0 lead over West Carroll in the third inning.
Franklin’s lead quickly evaporated as West Carroll tallied three runs on errors in the top half of the fourth frames as things change in the blink of an eye with both teams playing out of their minds in the stifling heat.
Starting pitcher Alonzo Alexander of Franklin went toe-to-toe with Seth Ray of West Carroll in an epic mound battle.
Ethan Judice _ who appeared in relief of Alexander in the bottom of the fourth frame _ twice worked out of bases-loaded jams to help preserve Franklin’s dramatic victory.
Alexander, who joined forces with Landon Walden and Ethan Judice on the bump to win Game 1, returned to the hill on Saturday and handcuffed the West Carroll batter’s over the first three frames.
Judice hurled the final three innings in relief of Alexander, turning in a masterful job on the mound silencing the West Carroll batters..
Franklin benefitted from solo homers from Loren Wells and John David Hidalgo along with a run from Alexander to build a 3-0 lead over West Carroll.
The West Carroll All-Stars capitalized on Franklin three errors in bottom of the fourth to knot the game at 3-3 in a
Franklin regained its composure as the dust settled with Judice gaining his second strikeout of the inning to retire the side.
In the top half of the sixth frame, Franklin’s Alonzo Alexander and Ethan Judice received free passes to first base, putting runners in scoring position. John David Hidalgo later walked to first base, loading the bases. Alexander later scored on Landon Walden’s free pass, giving Franklin a 4-3 victory.
Franklin’s Judice bared down in the openning moments of the hectic bottom of the sixth inning as fanned the first two batters before allowing a single to Seth Ray. Judice managed to get James Harris to hit a soft liner back to him for the game-ending final out.
In Game 2, Franklin posted a 4-3 triumph over West Carroll with Alexander and Judice working three innings apiece on the hill.
Leading hitters for Franklin were: Alonzo Alexander, 1 for 2; John David Hidalgo, 1 for 2, homer; Carter Faucheux, 1 for 1 and Loren Wells, 1 for 3, homer.
In Game 1, Landon Walden, Alonzo Alexander and Ethan Judice all pitched two innings to lead Franklin to the 6-1 victory.
Alonzo Alexander lined a pair of homers to lead Franklin in batting. Ethan Judice went 2 for 3 while Landon Walden went 1 for 1 with Gabe Hebert batting 1 for 2 and Dan Ibert going 1 for 1.