The Franklin County Bulldogs scored all of their runs in the bottom of the first inning and then had to hold off a late rally to defeat the Forest Bearcats 8-7 Friday night in to take a 1-0 lead in this MHSAA Class 3A South State first-round series.

Franklin County, the Region 7-3A champion, put eight runs in the home half of the first inning. From that point, it turned out to be a matter of survival as Forest, the No. 4 seed out of Region 5-3A, would mount a comeback.

“We got to see who they started with. They made some errors and we hit the ball (in the first inning,” Bulldogs head coach Joshua Thibodeaux said. “Then we coasted after that.”

Thibodeaux added five mental mistakes attributed to four of Forest’s seven runs. He also said Franklin County didn’t play the defense he is accustomed to see it play.

Thomas Slagle got the start for the Bulldogs. He gave up no runs through three innings and then allowed five runs in the top of the fourth.

“He did well enough. We didn’t make some plays that we normally do behind him,” Thibodeaux said. “He didn’t have his best stuff tonight. He battled like always.”

Wyatt Brumfield came on in relief of Slagle and got them out of a tough situation, with the Bulldogs clinging to a slim lead.

Franklin County (17-6) will travel to Forest for Game 2 of this best-of-three series. First pitch for today has been pushed up from 2 p.m. to noon in order to get the game in ahead of possible inclement weather.

MHSAA Class 3A Playoffs

Opening Round

Game 1

FRANKLIN COUNTY 8, FOREST 7

FHS 000 500 02 — 7 6 4

FCHS 800 000 00 — 8 9 1

WP — Thomas Slagle (5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 K, 3 BB)

LP — Jarvis Williams (.1 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 0 K, 1 BB)

HITTERS — FCHS: Thomas Slagle (2-4, 2 RBI), Dalvin Hunt (2-4, 1 RBI, 2 R), DeMartre Collins (1-3, 3 RBI, 1 R).

RECORD — FCHS: 17-6.

NEXT — Game 2, Noon today at Forest.