The Franklin Parish 13-year-old All-Stars erupted for four runs in the second inning and five more in the fourth en route to breezing past the Concordia All-Stars 12-2 to advance to the championship round of the Louisiana Dixie Youth boys baseball tournament.

“They just hit the ball better than we did,” Concordia coach Matthew Freeman said. “They squared up some good pitches, and they ran the bases well, and they made all the defensive plays — they made some really good plays defensively that weren’t routine.”

Caleb Hill led the hitting barrage as the Franklin leadoff hitter reached base four times and drove in two runs, highlighted by a run-scoring triple.

“They don’t get cheated out of their cut,” Freeman said. “If they see a fastball down the middle, they’re coming out of their shoes. They’re real selective, and they picked the curveball up out of our pitchers’ hands, and nothing really fooled them.”

Franklin received an equally impressive pitching performance from Trey Middleton. The bulky right-hander allowed just two earned runs in his five strong innings.

Concordia scored solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

Peyton Fort roped a double to left to lead off the fourth and scored on Cody Brown’s RBI single.

In the fifth, Jakaylin Adams led off with a single up the middle and scored on Terrance Charles’ RBI single.

Concordia will attempt to bounce back at 7 p.m. today when it faces East Ouachita, which it defeated 2-1 Saturday.

“We just really didn’t seem like we wanted to be here today, and it showed on the scoreboard,” Freeman said. “I told them, go home, rest up and play the game they know how to play and get us a win.”