It did not take freshman Alex Franc long to make his mark on Section 4 baseball. In fact, the section opener against rival Sringdale was the first chance he would get and apparently the only chance he would need to display what the right-handed rookie pitcher had to offer.

Franc coupled his devasting curve ball with a solid fastball and posted a complete game shutout for Vincentian during this home opener. "His command was unbelievable - like he had the ball on a string," Springdale Coach Dave Killian remarked about Franc's performance. That outstanding command resulted in 10 strikeouts, while walking noone and yielding only three hits. Equally impressive as the strikeouts and shutout effort was the fact that Franc only threw 75 pitches, which included a 3 pitch fifth inning.

Ross Cortese and John Gourley spearheaded the offensive output. Cortese reached base all four times, ripping two base hits off the centerfield wall while walking twice. Gourley reached base in all of his three plate appearances, lashing two singles and stealing four bases. Cortese also swiped two bases as the Royals as a team stole eight bases for the game. Sophomore Eric Reid made his 2008 debut with two base hits and two stolen bases, including a theft of home.