Through the first two-and-a-half innings Sunday, the Concordia 11-year-old All-Star team went toe-to-toe with the powerful Franklin All-Stars.

Concordia combined superb defense with clutch pitching and timely hitting to remain tied at 1-1 as the game entered the bottom of the third inning.

Then Franklin demonstrated why it’s perhaps one of the top teams in the state.

Franklin rallied for five runs in the third and then six more in the fourth to pull away from Concordia 12-2 in a Dixie Youth State Tournament in Vidalia.

“The first two games we didn’t play real well,” Concordia coach Glenn Whittington said. “We showed up today and played ball. They still lost, but they played hard.”

Franklin struck first in the bottom of the first inning with a solo run, but Concordia responded immediately.

With two outs in the top of the second, Tyron Singleton drove a pitch deep to centerfield that bounced up against the wall allowing Clay Watts to score.

“We were putting the bat on the ball,” Whittington said. “We were showing that we wanted to be here.”

Franklin, however, responded emphatically with its rallies in each of the final two frames.

Concordia’s Lawson Reyes scored his team’s second run after swiping base and coming all the way on a pair of throwing errors from Franklin.

“I love these kids to death,” Whittington. “(The coaches) love these kids like if they were their own.”