The Hagerstown baseball team traveled to Frankton on Monday, March 30, for its season opener against the perennial power Eagles, which have been a model of consistency. Over the last 10 seasons they have averaged over 16.5 wins per year and have won three sectional titles.
The Tigers started eight sophomores in the game. Junior outfielder Nick Tinkle was the most experienced in the lineup. Jaxon Hale led off the game with a single and Kaden Hall drew a walk, but they were both stranded. In the bottom of the first inning, Frankton had two batters reach base on errors and another was hit by a pitch. Doubles from Caine Oakley and Kendall Harvey produced four runs to give the Eagles a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers responded with eight runs in the top of the second inning. Six Tigers had base hits in the frame, highlighted by a two-run homer from Jack Rector and a three-run homer from Graham Vinson.
The Tigers added two runs in the third inning, two runs in the fourth inning, a single run in the fifth inning and seven runs in the sixth inning to push their advantage to 20-4. Frankton scored a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning before the game was halted because of the 10-run mercy rule.
The Tigers collected 19 hits in the game. Graham Vinson led the way with four hits and drove in five runs. Jaxon Hale collected four hits and drove in three runs. The Tigers also stole 10 bases.
Gaige Howard was the winning pitcher, and Heath Johnson pitched in relief.
Hagerstown (1-0) 0 8 2 2 1 7 20
Frankton (0-1) 4 0 0 0 0 1 5
Hagerstown hits: Dawson Brown, Fletcher Callahan (2), CJ Gwin, Hale (4), Howard (2), Zack Logston, Rector (2), Tinkle (2), Vinson (4).
Frankton hits: Harvey, Trace McCorkill, Oakley (2), Carl Osborne, Anthony Tillery (2).
A version of this article appeared in the April 8 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.