Franklin roster is out!

2013 Franklin boys baseball roster!!!

Franklin picked to place 2nd in HCAC poll

By Franklin News:

FRANKLIN, Ind. (Jan. 22) – Franklin College was picked to finish second in the race for the 2013 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball regular season championship, the league announced today.

Rival Manchester University received seven of the 10 first-place votes in the annual HCAC Coaches’ 

Preseason Poll and collected 94 points in all. The Grizzlies finished second, claiming one first place vote and 85 total points.
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology finished third in the poll with 76 points and one first place vote and was followed by Anderson University which claimed 75 points and the final first place vote. Hanover College (55 points), Transylvania University (54), Bluffton University (39), Earlham College (30), College of Mount St. Joseph (22), and Defiance College (20) rounded out the poll.

Franklin will be looking for the school’s first baseball title since 2009 this spring. The Grizzlies finished last season 18-7 in league play, finishing a half game behind Rose in the standings, and posted a 31-11 overall mark.

FC went 1-2 in the HCAC tournament last spring, falling to Anderson 5-1 in an elimination game.

Two All-HCAC first-team selections return to lead the Grizzlies lineup this spring. Senior catcher Jesse Wilson (Seymour, Ind./H.S.) returns after leading the Grizzlies at the plate last season.
Wilson hit .380 with 29 runs scored, 10 doubles, two home runs, and 45 RBI. Junior outfielder Scott Windler (Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic) hit .355 with 40 runs scored, six doubles, three triples, and 31 RBI a year ago.

Senior shortstop Nick Stoia (Camby, Ind./Decatur Central), an All-HCAC Second Team pick in 2012, also returns. Stoia batted .331, collecting team-best totals in both doubles (18) and home runs (four). He was second in the league in stolen bases with 14.

The 2013 baseball season opens on Feb. 22. The HCAC portion of the schedule will begin on March 22 with the HCAC Tournament, which is hosted by the league’s regular season champion, slated for May 9-11.

Kennedy, Stone lead No. 1 Central Catholic to share of Hoosier Conference baseball title

Written by
JEFF WASHBURN
OXFORD — Thanks to sophomore designated hitter Evan Kennedy and senior right-handed pitcher Nick Stone, Class A’s top-ranked Central Catholic eliminated any mystery about the Hoosier Conference baseball championship’s outcome Wednesday night at Benton Central.

Kennedy had a run-scoring single in the top of the first at Snodgrass Field and added a two-run, second-inning single to establish the early momentum in the Knights’ 8-2 victory against the Bison. Benton Central was limited to five hits by the hard-throwing Stone (6-1).

Coupled with Class 3A West Lafayette’s victory against Twin Lakes, Central Catholic and WL share the league crown, each at 11-1. The Tippecanoe County rivals split their two-game series in April.

In this week’s two-game sweep of Benton Central (13-11, 7-5), Kennedy was 5-for-7 with three runs and six RBIs from the cleanup spot. CC was 24-for-56 with 20 runs in 14 innings against the Bison.

Kennedy’s early offense staked Stone to a 5-2 lead, and the pitcher tossed six shutout innings, allowing three singles, the rest of the way for CC’s 11th consecutive victory.

“We were trying not to hit pop flys,” Kennedy said. “Anybody can catch pop flys. We were trying to hit line drives and groundballs. That worked out for us. It was important to get those early runs for Nick so that he could just go out there and pitch with the lead.

“It’s great to win the conference when people were calling us 1A. We can compete with Class 3A teams. It’s really significant to win the conference. It was a good series for me.”

CC coach Tim Bordenet, whose team was a member of the Hoosier Heartland Conference until this school year, looks forward to coaching Kennedy for two more seasons.

“I might just want to stay away,” Bordenet said. “I don’t want to mess him up. He takes a good approach and doesn’t overswing. He hits the ball where it’s pitched. He has great balance in there. He is an extremely hard worker.

“Of anybody we had in the offseason, no one outworked Evan in the weight room or in the batting cage. He is just coming into his own. He had a great series and is one of the big reasons we were able to win the conference this year.”

The Knights (23-2) had five successful sacrifice bunts, helping them score in five of the seven innings.

Martin's Moments/Plays of the week

Nick earns play of the week with his batting performance against #3 Frontier. He had 3 HR's, a grand slam, a game lead off HR, and a 2 run shot. Also threw a 3 hitter against Frontier.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - This week in Martin's Moment I chose two great defensive plays from the softball field and a grand slam from the baseball field.

It was once again a tough week to make a decision on the plays at the two and three spots. At number three, I selected the catch by Central Catholic's Alex Haan. She gave an incredible effort on the play and made the catch look easy. I decided to give the second play this week to Frontier's Kattie Lee. I thought the hustle by Lee and the focus she showed to turn the non traditional double play at second earned her the second best play this week. It was really a toss up though for me, maybe just consider it a tie.

The number one play this week was an easy decision for me though. Central Catholic's Nick Stone just had one of those games that doesn't come around often. He had a grand slam and a total of three homeruns in the Knights 16-4 win over number two Frontier. Stone also added 7 RBI's and struck out 7 batters on the mound! I was impressed!

Martin's Moments April 29: wlfi.com