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BUDE — Franklin County High School saw its season come to an end much earlier than expected as the Region 7-1A champion and No. 1 seed Bulldogs were upset by Region 8 No. 4 seed St. Patrick Catholic School 23-5 in five innings last Tuesday night in the first round of the 2022 MHSAA Class 3A South State Playoffs.

With the win, St. Patrick came back to win the best-of-three series two games to one. Franklin County took Game 1 of the series at home 13-3 last Friday thanks in large part to a nine-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning that broke at 3-3 tie. The Fighting Irish responded with a 7-4 win last Saturday afternoon on its home field in Biloxi to even the series at one game apiece.

Not only did Franklin County struggle at the plate against St. Patrick’s duo of junior Otis Brooks and eighth-grader Bryk Bucklar, but the Bulldogs also had their problems on the mound and in the field with three errors.

Brooks, who got the start for the Fighting Irish, held the Bulldogs to two earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts and no walks over three innings to earn the win. One of the hits Brooks gave up was a home run. Bucklar pitched the final two innings and limited the Bulldogs to two earned runs on just one hit, struck out four and walked two.

St. Patrick took the home crowd out of the game early by scoring four runs in the top of the first inning, followed by five runs in the top of the second and eight runs in the top of the third to take a 17-0 lead.

Franklin County finally got on the scoreboard by plating two runs in the bottom of the third inning, but the Bulldogs couldn’t put together a big rally to get back in the game.

Cohen Wienhofer had a big game at the plate for the Fighting Irish by going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a home run, eight runs batted in, and two runs scored. Brooks helped his cause by going 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored. John Hay went 2-for-3 with a double, five RBIs and two runs scored. St. Patrick out-hit Franklin County 13 to six.

After having 13 hits in its Game 1 win, Franklin County had a combined 14 base hits over what turned out to be its final two games of the season.

St. Patrick (13-17) will take on Region 5 No. 2 seed Clarkdale High School of Meridian in the second round. Franklin County finished its season with an overall record of 16-3-1.