MEADVILLE – Chris Cantrell kept McLaurin off balance at the plate as the Franklin County Bulldogs blanked the Tigers 8-0 in the first round of Class 3A state baseball playoffs Thursday night.

The Bulldogs will travel to McLaurin tonight for game two of the series, staring at 6 p.m. If necessary, game three will be played Saturday in Bude.

Franklin County (13-6) got a home run from Will Moffet and a triple from DeMartre Collins to lead the Bulldogs at the plate.

Collins led all hitters by going two-for-three at the plate with a stolen base.

Conor Quin and Antonio Christmas plated a double each that plated RBI runs for the Bulldogs.

Still the pitching of Cantrell and framework by catcher Graham Cowart gave the Bulldogs a much-needed advantage that McLaurin couldn’t solve.

Davis Bradshaw absorbed the loss for the Tigers on the mound.