Franklin County came into Tuesday’s non-region contest with just a 7-9 overall mark on the season, and fell behind visiting #6-ranked Jefferson 8-1 in the fifth inning. The Lady Lions roared back with two in that frame and a seven-run sixth to shock the Lady Dragons (12-3).

It was Brailey Randall who came up with the 2-run double to break a tied game in the sixth, and Franklin locked it down in the final inning with stellar defense.

Jenna Rapp, the back-to-back BLITZ Player of the Year and Auburn commit, led off the game with a solo homer to left that set the tone. Lexi Bishop added an RBI single for a quick 2-0 lead.

In the third, Sophia Bunn came home on a wild pitch to put the Lady Dragons up 3-0. The Lady Lions would get one back in the home half when Ella Kinder singled in a run to make it a 3-1 deficit.

Jefferson broke the game open, or so it appeared, with a five-run fourth inning. Braelynn Vandiver had a sac fly to right before Sara Grace Cooper brought in two with a base hit. Bunn scored again on a wild pitch, and Bishop had a sacrifice fly also to right, putting the visitors up 8-1.

Jefferson subbed out several starters, including ace Kristi’Ana Truelove, who had a couple of strikeouts early on. Franklin County chiseled into the deficit with two runs in the fifth, both coming off Kinder’s bat on a single.

It still seemed a bit too little, too late, but the Lady Lions exploded for seven runs in the sixth, and the Lady Dragons had to bring Truelove back into the game. By then, the confidence and momentum were fully on Franklin.

The comeback started with an RBI single by Addison Brown. Morgan had a run-scoring hits, then Isabella Burgess added an RBI with a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Kinder’s single plated one more, and suddenly it was an 8-7 game.

Crazy happened after that. Though Truelove struck out a batter for the second out, it appeared Jefferson caught the runner too far off third. In a rundown, the throw back to the plate skipped past the batter who had just struck out, leading to the tying run scoring. After a discussion, the runner was still awarded home and it was determined the batter’s momentum took her into the baseline.

Randall then laced a double to the outfield to break the tie and give Franklin a 10-8 lead. In the seventh, Jefferson got a runner on but a final line drive went to Burgess, who made a great catch to secure the win for Franklin County.