LEXINGTON – Never short of making games interesting, what postseason pizzazz Franklin-Simpson had left in the tank came 90 feet short from fruition.

The Wildcats couldn’t get the tying run home from third to help complete a seventh-inning rally and fell to Pleasure Ridge Park 4-3 in the first round of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament on Friday afternoon at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.

No. 10 Franklin-Simpson (31-6) rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the top of the seventh to cut it to 4-3 with no outs. A pair of fly-outs and a Dawson Gardner walk loaded the bases for Clay Spears to bring in the tying run. Panthers left-handed starting pitcher Garrett Schmeltz got Spears on a called-third strike to push No. 5 PRP (37-5) into the second round.

“We did that all year long and did it again today and came up a little short there at the end,” Franklin-Simpson coach Kyle Gammons said. “We competed and had lots of opportunities to score some runs and that was kind of the difference for us today. PRP took advantage of their opportunities to score runs and we left quite a few out there today.”

In their first appearance in the state tournament since 2000, the Wildcats outhit PRP, taking the University of Louisville commit Schmeltz for eight hits, but left 10 total runners on base.

Rylan Thomas led off the top of the seventh with a hit to right field to bring Franklin-Simpson back to the top of its lineup. Kyler Pritchett and Jackson Caudill each reached on second baseman errors that scored two runs to bring the game within one run.

Jacob Curtis, who hit a home run nearly 370 feet at Nick Denes Field in the Region 4 final last week, nearly brought in the tying run with a deep shot near the warning track in left field, but Reed Blaszcyk made a leaping grab for the first out.

Jordan Jones singled to center and pushed Caudill to third for the tying run, which prompted PRP into a pitching change. Right-hander David Aguilar got Hunter Janes to pop out to second before Gardner walked to load the bases.

Schmeltz (13-1) reentered to record his 10th and final strikeout on Spears.

“I believed the whole time and I believe in every guy that steps in that box,” Caudill said. “I believed we were going to get it done and that’s all you can do. That’s baseball. It doesn’t always work out for you and you’ve got to live with it.”

Franklin-Simpson’s postseason run ends after winning the region for the first time in 17 years. The Wildcats held off Warren East in the top of the seventh for a 3-2 win in the region semifinals, then rallied themselves against Logan County in the region final.

This time, their comeback fell short.

“This group of guys fought all year and we never gave up,” Caudill said. “Most competitive team I’ve been a part of. We always give ourselves a chance to win.”

Franklin-Simpson got out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning with Spears’ RBI single that scored Hunter Janes.

PRP shifted momentum when Wildcats sophomore starter Zach Sliger hit Noah McDonald, then gave up three runs on three straight hits for a 3-1 Panthers lead.

Sliger (10-2) allowed four straight hits before striking out the last two batters to end the third inning.

The sophomore lasted 4 2/3 innings with six strikeouts and allowed six hits.

“He might not have had his A-plus stuff, but he had pretty good stuff today,” Gammons said. “His breaking ball was working well and he kept the ball down on those guys. I thought he did a good job keeping their hitters off balance and giving us a chance to win.”

PRP added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth with Matt Cavanaugh’s RBI double. Junior Rylan Thomas, who led Franklin-Simpson with two hits, relieved Sliger two batters later for the rest of the game.

Franklin-Simpson graduates five seniors and returns its top two pitchers next year in Sliger and Thomas. Curtis will return as catcher after leading the Wildcats this year with seven home runs.

“Great experience for our young kids to hopefully have a chance to keep working and be back here with a good group of kids,” Gammons said. “Seniors have to step up every year to lead and hopefully next year we find those guys like we had this year. … Great to get their feet wet in the state tournament.”{&end}