Baseball Game Preview: Franklin County Rebels vs. Oakland Patriots

The Franklin County Rebels will face off against the Oakland Patriots at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Franklin County took a loss when they played away from home on Tuesday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They came out on top against Smyrna by a score of 8-3.

James Colson Kelley looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

Samuel Vincent

Hits

04/17/25 vs Smyrna	4
03/17/25 vs Forrest	4
04/14/25 vs Giles County	3
04/09/25 vs Central Magnet	2
03/03/25 vs DeKalb County	2
+ 7 more games

At the plate, Samuel Vincent was incredible, going a perfect 4-for-4 with two triples, five RBI, and two runs. He has become a key player for Franklin County: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three hits, but 6-15 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Gavin McBee, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

The home team had won the previous two meetings between Oakland and Blackman, and Oakland kept the tradition alive. The Patriots narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the Blaze 3-2.

Lane Veron looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Patrick Freeman, who went 2-for-3 with one home run.

Oakland pushed their record up to 14-12-1 with the victory, which was their ninth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Franklin County, their victory bumped their record up to 9-15.

Franklin County skirted past Oakland 10-9 in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. Will the Rebels repeat their success, or do the Patriots have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.