Baseball - Franklin Regional vs Kiski Area

April 08, 2019

Pair of 1st Inning Homers Spark Franklin Regional Baseball to 4-0 Win over Kiski Area

If anyone heard reports of hailstones as big as baseballs hitting the roof of the Murrysville Community Center on Monday, it wasn't from a storm in the meteorological sense. They weren't hailstones, they were actual baseballs, as the storm that is the Franklin Regional baseball team struck with a pair of first inning solo home runs, both over the left-center field fence and onto the roof of the community center, to lift the Panthers to a 4-0 win over Kiski Area at Haymaker Field in Murrysville.

After the Panthers' starting pitcher Palmer Jackson retired the Cavaliers in order in the top half of the first inning, Franklin Regional leadoff batter Michael Klingensmith blasted a 3-2 pitch from Kiski Area's Billy Perroz over the fence for a quick 1-0 Panther's lead. Two batters later, Tommy Kegerreis took his turn with the long ball as he dropped a blast into almost the same spot on the community center roof, and suddenly the Cavaliers were facing a 2-0 deficit. A pair of singles set the Panthers up for more with runners on first and second and two outs, but Perroz caught pinch runner David Baird with his pickoff move and ended the inning with the tag at second base.

Both teams failed to score in the second, with each stranding a runner who had been walked. After the Cavaliers were retired in the third on three groundouts, the Panthers used singles by Jacob Williams, Tommy Kegerreis, and Louie Kegerreis to load the bags before Bryson Harper's blast to center field scored Williams on the sacrifice fly. A ground ball retired Louie Kegerreis at second base and Tommy Kegerreis was tagged out well short of home plate as he tried to score on the play, ending the inning.

The fourth inning for the Cavaliers started with a Derek Hald single, but the Panthers ended any threat with a pair of fly outs and a ground out. The Panthers went down in order in their half of the fourth on a fly out and two groundouts. A two-out single by Zach Morrill in the fifth went for naught as the Cavs were retired on a fly out to end the inning. Franklin Regional added another run in their half of the inning as Michael Klingensmith singled and reached second on a ground out, then scored on a Tommy Kegerreis single to left field. Perroz got Louie Kegerreis to fly out before he was replaced on the mound by Ryne Wallace due to pitch count, and Wallace got Harper to ground out to third baseman Ryan Rametta. A two-out walk in the top of the sixth inning failed to help the Cavaliers, and the Panthers went down in order to end the sixth inning.

Franklin Regional knuckleballer Palmer Jackson rang up his first strikeout of the game to open the seventh, then a fly out brought the Cavaliers down to their last out. A pair of walks to Nick Smith and Zach Morrill gave the Cavaliers brief hope, but Jackson rang up his second strikeout of the game to close out the Panthers' win.

Tommy Kegerreis led the offensive effort for the Panthers with 3 hits and 2 RBIs, and Klingensmith added a pair of hits. Kegerreis and Klingensmith had the only extra-base hits in the game with their home runs in the first inning. Bryson Harper picked up an RBI on his sacrifice fly. Palmer Jackson notched the complete game win on the mound for Franklin Regional. Starter Billy Perroz took the loss pitching for Kiski Area.

The Panthers are on top of the Class 5A Section 1 standings with a 3-0 record. Kiski Area is 0-2 in section play.