What could have been.

On Friday, Council Rock Newtown punched its ticket to the Little League World Series with a 5-1 victory over Washington, D.C. in the Regionals in Connecticut.

That same Newtown team is the one that Franklin Township faced twice in the Sectionals after FT captured its District 18 championship.

Despite losing those two contests, both games were close.

“We think about it,” said Franklin’s manager Ben Moyer. “We think about what if. We think what if a few balls would have bounced a different way, we think about if we could have pushed a couple more runs across. But we played them tight.

“Us and Southern Lehigh probably played them tighter than most of the teams they’ve faced going through states and regionals. We think about it, but at the same time we’re proud of our kids and what we accomplished. We’re happy for them, and hope they can keep it rolling.”

Moyer’s club actually held a lead and out hit them in the opening game of Sectionals on July 14. Newtown used a four-run fourth inning in that contest to offset a 2-1 deficit and eventually gain a 5-2 victory.

After Franklin battled back through the loser’s bracket, Moyer’s club met Newtown again and gave them a battle before dropping a 4-1 decision.

“That first game that we played them, we were up going into the fourth and we had some opportunities to push some more runs across,” said Moyer. “The ball goes two or three inches a different way and we could have scored some more runs, but that’s why they are where they are. They managed to win big, they’ve managed to win close games. They’re a very good team and very well-coached. They have some very good players on that team. Kudos to them.”

Newtown’s run at states included four consecutive wins. In three of those games, they scored nine-or-more runs. At regionals, two of the three victories came via the 10-run rule.

So it’s safe to say if FT could have gotten past the Blue Dawgs, it would have had a legitimate chance to reach Williamsport.

“You think about how things turned out,” said Moyer. “You never know. Especially that game they played against Southern Lehigh before we played Southern Lehigh where they were down by a run going to the bottom of the sixth and they had to score two in the bottom of the sixth to win.

“If that goes the other way and Newtown ends up in the loser’s bracket ... there’s a million and one ifs at the end of the day. It takes some luck — and a lot of good baseball — to get where they are. We just wish them the best of luck.”

No matter what, Franklin Township can boast about a few things. In the first meeting against Newtown, it finished with nine hits — including two each from Colby Solt and Jakoby Andrews. No other team since then has had that many hits against Newtown.

In the second matchup, FT held Newtown to just three hits. That’s the lowest hit total they’ve had during their tournament run.

“I think it’s a testament to how good the baseball is in our district, how good the baseball is in our section,” said Moyer. “I mean, it’s a testament to our team, it’s a testament to all the teams in our district. We certainly compete, and there’s a lot of good baseball in this area, a lot of good baseball in our section. It definitely reflects on the type of team we had this year.

“We were kind of in a unique situation this year. We had six 12-year-olds, and six 11-year-olds. So, the six 11-year-olds would be eligible to come back and the six 12-year-olds obviously have to age out. There’s not a lot of teams that you’re going to come across that had that many 11-year-olds on it. A lot of the teams we played are strictly 12-year-old kids, so they should have a good solid team next year.”

There will be a lot of Pennsylvanians pulling for Newtown, as it will be representing the state and has somewhat of a home-field advantage. But there’s added incentive for Franklin to be pulling for a team that ended its season.

“Would it be cool to say you lost to the Little League World Series champs? Sure,” said Moyer. “I think our kids would be happy that their only two losses were against the Little League World Series champs. That would be a cool thing to say. Franklin Township is pulling for them.”

The LLWS starts on Wednesday.