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Logan Knight won the District 10 2A title in the discus last spring. (Photo by Richard Sayer)
Spence Singleton is 20 feet better in the javelin over last year. (Screen shot by Connor Malek)
They're good at throwing stuff...
knight breaks
own Franklin
mark in shot
Turns out Logan Knight broke his own Franklin record in the shot Tuesday. It was originally reported that his winning throw against Titusville was 54-4 -- but it was 59-4. That's two feet better than the 57-4 he put up last year when he broke Corby Allen's record (53-83/4) set in 1973. Tuesday, he also flipped the discus 158.
The two throws came on the heels of the 53-31/2 and 141-1 he put up Saturday in the West Middlesex Duals.
Knight has a 60-23/4 indoor heave in the shot to his credit. He was fourth in the state indoor meet on March 1.
Meanwhile, Oil City senior Spence Singleton bettered his effort from the WMD with a 183-1 javelin throw Tuesday against Warren. Singleton threw 180-11 Saturday.
His previous best was 160-6 as a junior when he took fourth in the District 10 meet, so he's come a long way.
Worth mentioning: Grove City senior DeLathian Boanes is back badder than ever. He set records in the Butler County Classic Saturday with a 59-31/2 shot and a 155-4 discus.​
Boanes, who was 2A state runnerup in the shot in 2025, has committed to play football and "run" track at Slippery Rock.
Jacob Lauer is averaging 4 kills per set for Rocky Grove. (Christy Fackler)
Spring is here!
EDITOR'S NOTE: For some track, volleyball stats and all scores, click here. Ball numbers to come with more games.
​
As we head into April, and the wind has yet to let up, action on the sandlots is just getting started.
That is to say, most schools have hardly any games in, except for Franklin, previously undefeated before taking on Slippery Rock Monday in its fifth game of the season.
The Knights continued their heavy hitting (.291) but lost to the Rock, 20-12, behind Bryce Covert’s four hits and seven RBI. Soph Luke Marsteller had three hits and three RBI for the Knights.
Senior Nate Fezell, who has two outstanding performances to his credit, didn’t pitch against the Rock (and the ones who did left with some pretty unsightly ERAs.) But Fezell has fanned 20 batters in 11.2 innings in earlier games while posting a 2-0 record.
Also off to a stellar start on the mound is Oil City’s Alex Craft, and as with Fezell, did not pitch Monday in a 10-2 loss to Grove City.
Craft, a junior, has pitched scoreless and hitless ball over six innings. He’s been a little wild (five walks), but has 13 strikeouts.
Casey Rybak led the hitters with a .667 batting average before Monday. The Oilers have had their way with North Clarion and also own victory over Erie, but the loss to Grove City dropped them to 2-1.
Cranberry has played just once, and the Grove got its third game in Monday in a 1-0 loss to Cambridge Springs. Haydon Bevier went the distance and hurled a three-hitter, but took the loss. He walked two and struck out 10.
Cranberry’s softball team is off to a 2-0 start with an 18-0 romp over Franklin and a 9-7 decision over St. Marys. Cheyne Scarborough is three-for-five with two homers and Emma Morrow is hitting .429 with six RBI. Last year’s hurlers, Gracee Hess and Danica Wenner, are still around and now the staff has added Kennedy Stewart, who has eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Hess is the workhorse, though, and is 2-0.
While Oil City has played just one game, Franklin and Rocky Grove clashed Monday with the Orioles prevailing over the winless Lady Knights, 8-4. Abigail Mawhinney and Zoe Cresswell teamed for five doubles and six RBI.
The Orioles followed that up Tuesday with a game not to remember. They led 5-2 when Slippery Rock tied the game with consecutive two-out RBI singles before a freshman belted a three-run dinger to win it, 8-5.
Stepping inside for a moment, the Rocky Grove volleyball team is off to a 2-1 start after bouncing Cambridge Springs, 3-2, Monday behind Maxx Baker’s 19 points and 36 assists.
The Orioles have a 6-6 first-year junior in Jacob Lauer who had 40 of the team’s 93 kills before adding 16 more spikes against the Spa.
Big things are expected from the track teams, team-wise and/or individually, and Oil City tennis was scheduled to open Monday against Greenville. Or maybe not.
Keeping up with Luke Guth
Luke Guth rebounded from a so-so outing Friday night with a scoreless inning Saturday in Vanderbilt's 6-5 decision over No. 21 Tennessee in 16 innings.
He didn't pitch Sunday as the Commodores (18-12) completed a three-game sweep with a 16-15 victory or Tuesday in an 11-3 romp over Belmont.
They visit Texas A&M Thursday through Saturday. Start times are 6 p.m. for the first two games and 2 p.m. Saturday.
This space is dedicated to keeping up with Guth, a 6-1, 188-pound junior right-hander from Franklin.
Football
Franklin finds
its man
Austin Ion was introduced as the new Franklin football coach at a school board work session on Jan. 19. He officially became Franklin's 26th paid coach at the board's Jan. 26 meeting.
Ion succeeds Matt Turk, a former Knight all-star, who resigned after six years at the helm.
Ion is a 2017 Keystone High School graduate who played football, basketball and baseball for the Panthers.
He played wide receiver at Grove City College, where he majored in accounting.
He has coached at Keystone for eight years and most recently served as jayvee coach under coach Todd Smith.
The commiittee to select a new coach at Franklin consisted of athletic director Becky Barnes, high school co-principal Tom Holoman, Central Elementary principal Joe Keenan and assistant AD Chris Romanowski.
Ion was the choice among "nine good applicants," according to Barnes.​