A year after coming up short in the championship game, Franklin Township made amends for its shortcomings this time around.

Arguably the class of the Babe Ruth 14U double-elimination tournament from the start, Franklin finished the job on Saturday afternoon, dispatching Valley 8-5 to claim the title."When I took over as the coach two years ago, they were a bunch of kids that were a second-place team, and that was the reputation that they had," said Franklin mentor Glen Hibbler. "This year, it was the same guys but a different attitude. They were really hungry and they brought it and came to play. They did everything a coach wishes his team would do every single day."After both teams went scoreless in the first two innings, Valley jumped on top in the third when AJ Knepper brought in Austin Anthony to take a 1-0 lead.But Franklin answered in a big way in the bottom half of the inning, putting up five runs, highlighted by Gabe Wagner's bases clearing double."Just see ball, hit ball," Wagner said of his approach. "I just stood in there and did what I could do."Valley trimmed the deficit to 6-5 with three runs in the fifth, as Franklin made three errors and pitcher Chris Heim helped himself with a two-run double that scored Jared Bielen and Derek Oberender.But once again, Franklin responded, as Wagner opened the bottom of the inning with a leadoff single and later stole second and third base. Wagner scored on a Colin Haupt single, and Harris Coklija brought in Haupt when he grounded out to make it 8-5.Knowing what Franklin was capable of offensively, Valley coach Frank Brynock admitted that falling behind early was simply too much for his team to comeback from."We knew we had a tough task to beat these guys. They're a very good team," he said. "We made some mistakes that are hard to overcome at this level."They battled pretty well and were in the game, but it just wasn't enough."Part of the reason Valley was never able to complete its comeback was because of the gritty performance of Franklin starter Frank Bokan, who went the distance and earned the win."He's a gamer," Hibbler said of Bokan, who had four strikeouts. "I gave him the ball because I knew he was going to be around the plate and throw strikes. We have a lot of confidence in our defense and he just pitched his heart out. He really deserves it."While Franklin got contributions from throughout the lineup, Daniel Keer had arguably the most impressive performance of the day, going 4-for-4 with a double and a run scored.Despite his remarkable individual showing, Keer was more excited about what the team was able to accomplish with the win."It really feels great," he said. "We've been going at this since little league and haven't won it. We just took the same approach into every game and did our thing."What Franklin will be doing now is moving on to the state tournament, something the team has been working towards all season.The team opens pool play on Wednesday against the Levittown Americans at 5 p.m at Mifflin County, Lewisburg, PA."When we began practice two weeks ago, all they were focused on was winning districts and making states," said Hibbler. "And we've worked hard everyday since, and a lot of these guys have been working hard since March."They put their time in and it's very well-deserved."And the experience is one they're sure to enjoy."We're going to go to states and hope to make some noise," said Hibbler. "We want to go out there and have a good time. But we're also going out there with expectations to win."Valley 001 130 0 - 5 6 3Franklin Twp. 005 120 x - 8 8 5Heim and Welch; Bokan and Wagner. W - Bokan. L - Heim.