Murphy hits strong in win over Knights
Murphy – Excitement filled the air at Konehete Park as the Lady Bulldog softball team took the field to face rival Robbinsville in their home-opener.
That excitement was quickly – yet temporarily – stemmed as Murphy’s inexperience showed in the opening inning of the game, and Robbinsville jumped ahead to an early 4-0 advantage bolstered by a miscue on a deep fly to center field that scored two runs.
After the cancellation of last year’s softball season due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lady Bulldogs only have three players returning from their 16-win campaign in the 2018-19 varsity season – senior catcher Annie Kate Dalton, senior short stop Grace Nelson and senior first baseman Kaiya Pickens.
“We’ve only got three girls that have actually played in a varsity game on our roster this year.” Nelson said. “I think that (inexperience and nervousness) was a big part of our struggles at the beginning. With the team being as young as it is and not being able to play last season, it puts these younger girls in a position where they’re not used to being in a game of that magnitude.”
The Lady Bulldogs found their own footing at the bottom of the first, snapping right back at Robbinsville with four runs of their own as Pickens, Riley Dockery, Jersey Schwalm and Maddison Seabolt drove in runs to knot the game at 4-4.
The Bulldogs built on their lead in the second, with Nelson scoring on a bases-loaded walk, Pickens crossing the plate on an error and Reagan Peterson grounding out to bring Dockery home.
Murphy would further extend their lead in the third quarter as Dalton blasted a three-run homer out of the park to make it 10-4 advantage for the Lady Bulldogs, before Seabolt scored Murphy’s 11th run on a bases-loaded walk in the fourth.
“Annie Kate is great, she’s been out catalyst for the last three to four years,” Nelson said. “Our goal is to get people on base in front of her and let her knock them in. She’s a very special kid, not only on the softball field but in the classroom.”
Robbinsville would rally in the fifth and sixth innings, closing Murphy’s lead to just 11-10, but a lineout ended Robbinsville’s comeback.
Murphy cemented its win with a three-run bottom of the sixth, which saw Dockery drive in Nelson and Ansley Hogsed singling to plate Dalton and Dockery.
“I think the biggest difference was that our girls never quit,” Nelson said. “One of our goals is to win every inning. While a couple of innings didn’t work out that way, for the most part, our girls fought for it, hung in there and were able to come out with win.”