FRANKLIN PITCHES NEB PAST ATHENS

By: Tim Birney | AthensWildcats.com | April 28, 2021 | Photo courtesy Fay Brink

 
 FRANKLIN PITCHES NEB PAST ATHENS
 

ROME — Sophomore Thailey Franklin tossed a four-hitter to lead Northeast Bradford to an 11-1 five-inning win over Athens here Wednesday afternoon in NTL softball action.

“This game is all about pitching, and (Thailey) Franklin is the best pitcher we’ve seen this season,” said Athens coach Mickey Farrell. “She made us look bad, and no one else has been able to do that.”

Northeast Bradford built a 9-0 lead through four innings, then answered Athens’ run in the top of the fifth with two in the home half to invoke the 10-run “mercy” rule.

“They really hurt us with a lot of two-strike hits, and quite a few of them were 0-2 pitches,” said Farrell.

The top two hitters in the Lady Wildcat line-up accounted for all four of their hits. Senior Aubrey Hatch doubled and singled, and scored one run, and senior Harley Sullivan doubled and singled, and drove in one run. The remainder of the Athens line-up was 0-for-13 with eight strikeouts.

Franklin struck out eight and walked one in earning the win.

Northeast Bradford took advantage of 10 base on balls, and four Athens errors.

Maisie Neuber homered and doubled, scored two runs, and drove in three runs, while Mikayla Post doubled and singled, scored one run, and drove in two runs, and Kayleigh Thoman doubled and singled, scored one run, and knocked in one run to pace NEB at the plate.

Athens, now 10-3, travels to Towanda Friday.

 

About the Author

Tim Birney Author Bio
Tim Birney

Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.

Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.

River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).