BUDE – In an exciting battle for the championship, first baseman Noah McCormick’s double play in the bottom of the sixth inning helped his Franklin County All-Stars defeat the Lincoln County Nationals 11-9 Tuesday night in the Dixie Youth Baseball AA All-Star 7&8-year-old North Sub-District Six Tournament at Leroy “Cowboy” Jones Memorial Field.

The Franklin County All-Stars will advance and host the winner of the South Sub District out of McComb Friday in Bude. Game time is 7 p.m. These two teams will automatically qualify for the state tournament in Laurel. They will just play a best-of-three series for seeding.

Franklin Co. 11, Lincoln Nationals 9 

The Franklin County All-Stars quickly set the tone of the contest in the first inning as they grabbed an early 2-0 lead.

The Nationals answered the challenge in the bottom of the first inning and tied the game at 2-all.

In the top of the second inning, Franklin County continue to hit aggressively and reclaimed the lead after pushing across four runs to take a 6-2 lead.

The Nationals, refusing to give up, worked hard to cut down Franklin County’s lead as Lincoln County scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning.

In the third inning, the Nationals’ defense stood strong as they held the Franklin All-Stars scoreless in the next two innings. Lincoln County’s offense responded in the bottom of each inning as they captured their first lead of the contest by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third and increased their lead with two more runs in the fourth to take a 9-6 lead.

The Franklin All-Stars, looking down but not out, rose to the occasion in the final two innings of play as they managed to overpower the Nationals with a 5-0 run to reclaim the lead at 11-9.

The Nationals tried to answer FC’s challenge once again in the bottom of the six inning, but Franklin County’s first baseman Noah McCormick spoiled the Nationals’ attempt as he caught a line drive hit toward first base and stepped on first base before Lincoln County’s runner could return, earning an unassisted double play to secure the win.

Robert Adcock, Caden White and Hayden Adams were the top hitters for the Lincoln Nationals with a double and a single apiece. Colton Frith provided a double. Hitting safely were Easton Sartin, Caleb Smith, Sam Evans, Noah Gatlin, London Carter and Thomas King.

Jamie Green and Dakota Chisholm were the offensive leaders for Franklin County with a pair of singles each. Jailen Hunt, Donovan Brown, Noah McCormick, Jaiden Hunt, Larry Pernell, Terrance Field and Cadarrius Young hit safely.