Class 3A state baseball final:
Franklin 7, Brock 4

By Douglas Pils

ROUND ROCK – It makes sense that Franklin’s Class of 2024 didn’t finish playing ball until 15 days after high school graduation.

That took seven senior members of the Lions to last Saturday at Dell Diamond, where they led Franklin to its first Class 3A baseball state championship after a 7-4 victory over Brock.

Coach Matthew Anderson took over in this class’s freshman year, stepping in for Mark Fannin when he rose to head football coach and athletic director in 2020. The legacy of greatness created in the past four years in both programs will reverberate for a long time.

Anderson’s record now stands at 112-22-1 with an unbeaten run through four years of district games, one regional final appearance and now a state title. Stack that with Fannin’s four trips to a 3A state final, two championships and a 58-5 record and it’s easy to see 2024’s legacy. The little kids asking for autographs as the Lions stepped off the field and into Dell Diamond’s stands will be the ones carrying that legacy forward.   

They will seek to follow baseball examples set by Cort Lowry (bound for Tarleton), Josh Atomanczyk (Concordia), Blake Autrey (St. Thomas), Cadyn Shaw (Tyler JC), Eric “Peanut” Gomez (Wiley College), Colby Smith and Luke Johnson. The number grows to eight when you include manager and statistician Kolt O’Quinn.

Beyond football and baseball, the Class of 2024 set a standard that will be tough to duplicate. In the past three years, softball with Reese Cottrell and Railyn Youree went to state and made two region finals. Boys basketball nearly advanced to the school’s fourth regional tournament and second in three seasons. Golfer Ryan Tucker went to four straight state tournaments. Tennis senior Will Prochazka made three trips to state, winning the boys double title with Caleb Berger this spring.

The class was stacked with greatness.

Masters of overcoming adversity

Franklin’s 2024 baseball championship story can’t be told without what each senior provided this year and as they grew out of disappointing ends to the previous three seasons. Twice the undefeated 20-3A district champs fell in bi-district to the fourth-place team from 19-3A, Little River Academy in 2021 and Lorena in 2023. In 2022, the Lions entered the regional final with Diboll with a sparkling 30-4 record but fell in three games. That team was three wins from the 3A title.

They weren’t denied this year.

The ability to turn adversity into a 5-4 state semifinal victory over Gunter and then a 7-4 win against Brock in the Class 3A championship game was born in those tough moments. All the offseason hours, summer games and dedication to improvement showed in each little play that delivered 12 runs and 42 outs over two hot days in Round Rock.

Everyone plays a part

In the Gunter victory, every player made a difference on defense with at least one put-out, none bigger than Gomez’ game-ending tag of Brock Boddie at third after freshman first baseman A.J. Phillips’ laser throw following Lowry’s errant pickoff attempt.

Gunter took a 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth and the Lions’ ability to handle adversity and execute every small detail quickly restored Franklin’s lead. Junior Noah Tart tied the game with a double and his third RBI of the game. (Tart was 4 for 6 with four RBIs in two games in Round Rock.)

That set the stage for two textbook suicide squeeze bunts by sophomore pinch-hitter Walker Anderson, for a hit and RBI, and a sacrifice by Gomez for a 5-3 lead after runs by Lowry and Tart.

Phillips’ dart secured the victory, giving Lowry an 8-0 final record and setting the championship stage.

Building a quick lead

In Saturday’s title game, once again it took something from everyone.

The first inning included RBIs from Phillips and Tart and runs by Atomanczyk, Lowry and Phillips. The Lions manufactured an important run in the third inning with no hits. Tart’s walk, freshman Dylan Stallones’ sac bunt, a wild pitch and Gomez’ sacrifice fly scored Tart to give Franklin a 4-1 lead just before Brock got to Shaw for three runs and a 4-4 tie.

Atomanczyk gave up one RBI hit after relieving Shaw, but then he baffled the Eagles. He doesn’t throw hard, but he’s a master at changing speeds and location. So much so that Brock managed one hit and three baserunners in the fourth through seventh innings. That extended Atomanczyk’s streak of no earned runs to 60.3 innings stretching back to Feb. 29 and capped a 10-0 senior season before he heads to Concordia in Austin.

Before the state tournament MVP clinched the title in the seventh inning with another amazing game-ending defensive play in Round Rock, the Lions sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the seventh for the winning runs.

It takes a team

Phillips drew a two-out walk and then Tart lifted a seemingly harmless pop-up behind third base that probably should have ended the inning. Tart thought it was foul, but the wind fooled him and three converging Eagles. It fell in shallow left, allowing sophomore pinchrunner and state track sprinter Kade Kram to score from first for the go-ahead run.

Anderson, who suffered an arm injury in early March but battled back, delivered an RBI single to left to score Tart and then Gomez added more insurance with a single and Anderson scored on a throwing error.

With a 7-4 lead, the Lions’ crowd got louder as the anticipation of celebrating a long-awaited championship built until Atomanczyk fielded a two-out grounder to his right, spun and threw to Phillips for the final out.

The players’ dogpile, hugs, medals, UIL trophy and tears on the field and from parents in the stands made the years of hard work worth every second of waiting for that moment.

And with that, the Class of ’24 had worn the Franklin uniform for the last time. They ride off to college and the real world as champions once more.

Franklin’s eight baseball seniors

Photos by Nash Pils