<body><div>HUNTSVILLE — Franklin pitcher Josh Atomanczyk must have been ready for Friday’s graduation ceremony with how quickly he got through Huntington's batters on Thursday night.The right-hander needed just one run and the Franklin baseball team doubled it as the Lions shut out the Red Devils, 2-0 in the Class 3A regional semifinals best-of-3 series opener at the Huntsville ISD Baseball and Softball Complex.The Concordia University signee was lights out as he gave up just one hit, allowed one walk and struck out seven. The walk and hit both came in the sixth inning as he did all of his work on just 73 pitches.“I was really just trying to throw the ball over the plate [and] let my defense do what they do,” Atomanczyk said. “We got a really good defense behind me. Me and these guys have been playing all year, most of us have been playing [for] four years now. [It’s a] really senior-led team [and we’ve] got a bunch of young guys stepping up and everything’s just coming together.”<h2>People are also reading…</h2>One of those young guys helped Franklin score in the bottom of the second. Freshman Dylan Stallones came to the plate and hammered a triple. He wasn’t at third long as junior Noah Tart’s groundout plated him.It was the first of two earned runs allowed by Huntington pitcher Alex Havard. The right-handed junior also gave up six hits and six walks on 91 pitches. Two of his walks were intentional, both to Tarleton State signee Cort Lowry.Franklin (30-4) had a runner reach in every inning.“That’s what we talked to them about after the game [is that] it’s hard to be upset, yeah, we didn’t score as many runs as we [would have] liked, but we hit the ball really well,” Franklin head coach Matthew Anderson said. “We just got to clean up some baserunning mistakes and I think some more runs will come out of that.”Atomanczyk also showed out at the plate as he scored Franklin’s second run in the fifth. His leadoff single was followed by a groundout that moved him to second. Lowry’s intentional walk brought up Eric Gomez.Gomez made the Red Devils (23-9-1) wish they had walked him too with an RBI single.After walking Huntington's Carson Shivers and giving up a single to Cooper Hutchinson in the sixth, Atomanczyk slammed the door in the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning.The series continues at 12:30 p.m. Friday in Huntsville. If necessary, game three will be at 8 p.m. Saturday in Huntsville.“It feels great,” Atomanczyk said of taking the series lead. “All the pressures on them now, we’ve just got to come out and play good baseball and hopefully, we’ll be playing next week.”The winner will face Orangefield in the Class 3A Region III finals. The Bobcats completed the sweep of Rockdale on Thursday with a 9-2 win at Cy Woods High School.Franklin 2, Huntington 0Huntington;000;000;0;—;0;1;0Franklin;000;000;X;—;2;6;2<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4QdOhN_0tKlS1HX00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4QdOhN_0tKlS1HX00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>Franklin pitcher Josh Atomanczyk delivers a pitch against Huntington on Thursday at the Huntsville ISD Baseball and Softball Complex. Jacob Weese</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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Franklin's Atomanczyk pitches Lions past Huntington in baseball regional semifinals opener

HUNTSVILLE — Franklin pitcher Josh Atomanczyk must have been ready for Friday’s graduation ceremony with how quickly he got through Huntington's batters on Thursday night. The right-hander needed just one run and the Franklin baseball team doubled it as the Lions shut out the Red Devils, 2-0 in the Class 3A regional semifinals best-of-3 series opener at the Huntsville ISD Baseball and Softball Complex.

Franklin's Atomanczyk pitches Lions past Huntington in baseball regional semifinals opener

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