The team gathered around JC Dietz.

There was nearly 45 minutes until the first pitch, but the Franklin Township mentor didn’t want to waste any time.

Dietz needed to know if his club was ready.

Franklin Township responsed with a resounding 10-1 victory over Hazle Township to open the District 18 10-12-year-old Little League Tournament on Friday night.

Five runs in the first two innings helped Franklin take command, and a balanced effort on the mound made sure the game was never in doubt.

“The start was real huge,” said Dietz. “Hazle Township has a very good team, and we expected them to come to play. And the runs that we had in that first inning, I thought was real huge.”

Jake Lewis sent a deep drive to right field for a double to bring in Mike Gelatko and make it 1-0 Franklin, while Keyden Ahner followed with a single to score Elliot Ahner, pushing the winners ahead 2-0 after the opening frame.

“This is big,” said Gelatko. “That’s one of the best teams in the tournament, and it was a big challenge. We were a little bit worried coming in, but after the first inning, we were rolling.”

Franklin pushed across three more runs in the second. A single off the bat of Cole Dietz scored Zoltan Bedocs, an RBI from Gelatko plated John Light and a Jesse Waxmunski double brought in Dietz.

“They really play together, and it definitely helps them as a team,” said Dietz. “I wasn’t really concerned about them not being ready; it was more of (just having a) little bit of butterflies, which is natural in anyone’s first game, including for the manager, and our coaches.

“We have kids up and down the lineup that do different things. Some bunt, some hit for power, some take pitches well, some get singles, and we have a nice balanced lineup with all 13 kids that really can put the ball in play when they need to.”

Hazle Township got a run back in the fifth when Nick Ledger sent a pitch deep to center that scored Freddy Corrado to cut the deficit to 5-1.

But Franklin responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by Gelatko’s deep three-run homer that made it 10-1.

Gelatko got the start and pitched three solid innings without surrendering a hit. Hazle Township threatened in the top of the third with runners at second and third, but Gelatko got his fifth strikeout of the game to work out of trouble.

Dietz and Dylan Greene combined to work the final three innings.

After allowing a one-out single in the top of the sixth, Greene got a punchout – his third of the inning – to end the game in his one inning on the mound.

“I thought the pitching was great,” said J.C. Dietz. “The pitching was outstanding from all three. We decided to go with Cole second after Michael, because after seeing the flamethrower, we thought that Cole could offset him with his offspeed pitches, and you could see they were really out in front when Cole came in, and then Dylan (Greene) came in to close it out and we went back to the speed. I thought their hitters were off-balance for most of the game.”

MOVING ON

… With the win, Franklin advances to play at Tamaqua on Monday. “We’ve got a real tough opponent on Monday,” said Dietz. ”They have a real, real good pitcher there, so we’ve got our hands full come Monday. We’re going to enjoy this one first, and we’ll worry about Tamaqua starting tomorrow ... But I have confidence in our kids. They play hard, and they’ll be ready to play. I can’t guarantee if we’re going to win or lose every time. I can’t guarantee everything. But I can guarantee they’ll be prepared and ready to play. That’s what this group does.”

HITS AND RUNS

… Gelatko and Light finished with three hits apiece for Franklin, while Dietz and Aidan Albert had two hits apiece. Bedocs scored twice in the fifth, once running for Jayse Lawrence, and again on Gelatko’s blast when he was in to run for Albert.

Hazle Twp. 000 010 - 1 2 2

Franklin Twp. 230 05x - 10 13 3

Ledger, Racho (2) and Nika; Gelatko, Dietz (4), Greene (6) and Light, Lawrence (4), Lewis (5). W – Gelatko. L – Ledger. HR: Franklin – Gelatko (5th, two on).