It’s been a long wait, but the Franklin Duelers will once again take the field Friday night.

The Duelers are part of the Ohio Valley League, a 10-team collegiate wooden bat league. The Franklin franchise had its debut season in 2019, but the 2020 campaign didn’t happen due to the leaguewide season cancellation because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now the Duelers are back, and this year’s squad features quite a few familiar faces set to suit up for the team when it opens the season Friday night home against the Madisonville Miners. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Franklin-Simpson High School.

Franklin-Simpson graduates Jacob Curtis (Wabash Valley College), Zach Sliger (Frontier Community College), Rylan Thomas (Kentucky Wesleyan) and Franklin native Gage Holman (Brescia) offer plenty of hometown flavor.

Other former area standouts on the roster this season include Logan County graduates Dylan Penick (Volunteer State Community College), Braxton Meguiar (Wabash Valley) and Koby Wall (Lindsey Wilson), plus South Warren grad Cade Vernon (Murray State) and Greenwood grad Nate Cunningham (Kentucky Wesleyan).

“We’re blessed to have that many this year,” Duelers owner/general manager Phil Cundall said. “That was the whole purpose of me putting this team here in Franklin was to help local kids come back and play, keep them closer to home.”

Franklin features a new head coach in Matty Holem, who was hired by Cundall to lead the team last year before the season was canceled due to the pandemic. Holem has previously coached and scouted in independent minor league baseball.

The Duelers, part of the OVL’s East Division, finished 18-22 in their inaugural season in 2019. The league realigned divisional format with the addition of a 10th team, Tennessee-based Full Count Rhythm. Now the Duelers are in the OVL Southern Division along with Full Count, Fulton, Hopkinsville and Paducah.

The 44-game regular season features 24 games against division rivals and 20 against non-division opponents. All 10 teams will make the postseason.

“We’re up and coming – it’s getting better every year,” Cundall said of the OVL. “We’re trying to keep that status where we’re up there.”

Cundall thinks his team can contend this season.

“I feel this roster is pretty solid,” Cundall said. “From what we’ve seen, these kids work hard. They’re gritty and they want to play. The test is going to come throughout 44 games. But I think they’re going to compete pretty well.”{&end}