It wasn’t really a matter of who would win the baseball Franklin County Tournament; it was more about who would advance to the finals to face the Phil Campbell Bobcats.

Phil Campbell came into the tournament with a 24-3 record and is widely considered one of the top teams in Class 3A. The battle to the finals to face the Bobcats was won by the Tharptown Wildcats.

Tharptown beat Red Bay and Vina to advance to the finals before falling to Phil Campbell late in the night, 16-0.

Phil Campbell had beaten Belgreen earlier in the day 17-1 to advance to the finals.

“Winning the Franklin County Tournament is one of our team goals every year,” said Phil Campbell Coach Jonathan Raper.  “I am proud of how the guys battled every at-bat. The kids work hard at this game, and they love it. It is a great reward for their effort.”

Austen Baker threw a no-hitter in the finals against Tharptown and was three walks away from a perfect game.

The Bobcats had nine extra base hits in the game.

Bryant Anthony had a triple. Luke Barnwell had three doubles, Mason Swinney two doubles, and Baker, Levi Crittenden and Ridge Raper had one double each. Baker had four RBIs, and Barnwell had three RBIs.

In Phil Campbell’s win over Belgreen, Brett Saint got the win pitching four complete innings, allowing two hits and one earned run.

Belgreen issued 11 walks in the game, but Ridge Raper did most of the damage at the plate, going two-for-three with a triple and five RBIs. Baker, Trey Leindecker and Mason Swinney had doubles in the game.

In Tharptown’s run to the championship, the Wildcats beat Red Bay 11-7 in the opening game. The Wildcats had a big game by Hunter White at the lead-off spot with two hits, a double and a triple, and he scored three runs. Blake Daily had two hits and three RBIs.

Tharptown also beat Vina 13-7.

Ty Engelthaler started for the Wildcats and shut down the Red Devils for four innings. Tharptown led 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth inning. Vina scored seven in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-3 lead.

Tharptown reclaimed the lead by scoring six runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 9-7 lead.

Colton Simmons, Hunter Motes, Blake Daily, Jackson Clement and Dominic Baker all had two hits each and scored two runs each.