The New Franklin fall baseball team shut out Clopton in a six-inning rout at home on Friday. 

The Bulldogs drove in eight of their 10 runs on 10 hits, while striking out only three times.

Connor Wilmsmeyer got the win on the mound for the Bulldogs. He allowed just two hits and issued two walks while striking out six in a six-inning performance.

“Connor did well,” said New Franklin coach Erich Gerding.

After two scoreless innings, New Franklin got on the board in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Tanner Bishop and an RBI single by Lane Hackman. 

The Bulldogs broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning. New Franklin walked four times. Bishop doubled again to drive in a runner. Wilmsmeyer, Dalton Ivy, and Brandon Phillips each singled.

Another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth gave the Bulldogs the 10-run victory.

“The top of our order took a while to get going,” Gerding said. “Several weak pop-ups to start out. We have to better, more consistent competitors up and down the lineup.”

Ivy finished the day with three hits, followed by Bishop with a pair of doubles and Wilmsmeyer with two singles. Phillips and Hackman each had one hit. Drew Rhorer had one hit and stole a base.

On Monday, New Franklin defeated New Bloomfield at home, 6-2. The win was the Bulldogs’ third in a row and improves and improves their record to 8-2 overall with five games left in the season.

Tanner Bishop earned the win on the mound. He allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts in a complete-game performance.

“Tanner was great tonight, and we made some good plays on the infield to help him out,” Gerding said. “We did a great job of finding a way to score at least one in every inning but had opportunities to put up more crooked numbers.”

New Franklin’s bats were alive against the Wildcats pitching. Drew Rhorer sent a fly ball over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth. Dalton Ivy then crushed his first career home run in the bottom of the fifth on a long fly ball over the fence in center field. Sawyer Felten and Bishop each laid down doubles. 

“It was cool to see Drew’s bomb and Dalton’s first career home run,” Gerding said.

New Franklin tallied eight hits on the night. Bishop went 2-for-3. Jake Marshall, Rhorer, Ivy, Lane Hackman, Felten, and Landon Shaw each had one hit. Rhorer finished the day with two RBI. Connor Wilmsmeyer, Ivy, Hackman, Felten, and Shaw each drove in one run.

The Bulldogs were scheduled to face Community in Laddonia on Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press. They finish out the week at Pilot Grove on Friday. 

New Franklin will cap off the season with three games next week against Eugene, Jamestown, and Northeast (Cairo).