Murphy – The Andrews baseball team dropped two games to Murphy last week. The Wildcats fell first in Murphy when the Bulldogs came back from a four-run deficit to beat the Cats 13-10, and Murphy had no trouble beating the Cats 17-6 in five innings in Andrews.
On March 26, Murphy (4-3) hosted Andrews (1-4), and the Dogs won 13-10. Dogs pitcher Tommy Crapse held the Cats scoreless through two innings, and Murphy got a run in the first inning via Adam Cook’s RBI single.
Tucker Sharp started a four-run third inning rally for the Wildcats when he led off with a walk. Will Roberts was hit by a pitch to give the Cats two base-runners with no outs.
Eli Aguilar drove one run home with a base hit, and Kelby Waldroup followed that up with another base hit, scoring Roberts. Ethan Sutton followed that with a single, bringing home Aguilar and Waldroup to give the Cats a 4-1 lead going into the top of the fourth inning.
Sharpe was hit by a pitch to lead off. After two outs, Waldroup walked to give Andrews two men on base with two outs. Logan Shuler singled to bring both runs home to give Andrews a 6-1 lead, but the Dogs’ bats didn’t stay silent any longer.
Cameron Clem and Zack Hogsed had back-to-back singles to get the Dogs going in the fourth. Aayden Williams brought both runs home a long single to center field, and Murphy closed Andrews’ lead to 6-3.
The Wildcats would add another run in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 7-3, but Murphy rallied in the bottom of the fifth. Crapse led off with a single, and Alex Rolden drove him home with a double. Rolden got caught looking on the base paths, but Adam Cook kept the rally going with a base hit.
Zack Skogen was hit by a pitch, and Clem walked to load the bases. Zack Hogsed walked to bring a run home. Colton Morgan hit a sacrifice fly to score another.
Williams’ hit scored two more runs, and Hunter Stalcup tripled to clear the bases. Crapse with his second trip to the plate in the fifth singles to bring Stalcup home and complete the seven-run fifth inning to give the Dogs a 10-7 lead.
Andrews would not go quietly, as the Cats tied the game in the sixth. After a leadoff walk, Shuler singled before Ethan Sutton cleared the bases with a double. He would later score off a double by Braxton Rickett to tie the score at 10 going into the bottom of the sixth.
Murphy took the final lead when they added three more runs in the sixth, then closed Andrews down in the top of the seventh to take a 13-10 win. The Dogs’ pitching gave up 10 runs on eight hits, walking six and striking out six.
In the second meeting of the week Thursday, Murphy made short work of the Wildcats, winning 17-6 in five innings.
Murphy jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never looked back. The Dogs’ scoring started in the first inning after Crapse walked and Rolden singled. Skogen walked to load the bases, and Cameron Clem doubled to score both Crapse and Rolden, giving Murphy a 2-0 lead.
Andrews scored one in the bottom of the first, as Aguilar led off with a double and later scored on a Kelby Waldroup single. However, Murphy pitcher Caleb Kephart settled down and retired the Wildcats without allowing any more damage.
Murphy would bat around in the second inning as they added six more runs. Key hits by Williams and Clem in that inning kept to Dogs rally going. Murphy took a 8-1 lead into the bottom of the second inning. Andrews scored their second inning run via a two-out single by Waldroup that drove in Will Roberts. Murphy led 8-2 after two innings. Murphy would add another run in the third to extend their lead to 9-2.
Starting Murphy pitcher, Caleb Kephart, was relieved in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kephart would be the winning pitcher of the day as he gave up two runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked none. Andrews was not unhappy to see Kephart go.
The Cats added four runs in the top of the fourth inning off a walk and three back-to-back base hits by Waldroup, Shuler and Sutton. That scored three of the runs and an error helped bring the fourth run of the inning home, that cut the Murphy lead to 9-6.
Murphy would answer in the bottom of the fourth. Two walks and an error loaded the bases with Bulldogs. Tommy Crapse got his second single of the day that scored Colton Morgan. Alex Roldan singled to drive in Caleb Kephart and Adam Cook brought the last two runs home with a two out single to give Murphy a 13-6 lead.
Andrews was held scoreless in the top of the fifth inning and Cameron Clem led thing off for the Dogs with a walk. Charlie Morgan walked to give Murphy two base runners. Caleb Kephart singled to score Clem. Tommy Crapse singled to drive in Morgan. That gave Murphy a 15-6 lead.
Cook picked up his third and fourth RBI to end the game with a single that cleared the bases. That ended the game with a mercy rule of 11 runs ahead after five innings, as Murphy defeated Andrews 17-6.
Kephart was the winning pitcher. He gave up two runs on six hits, stuck out four and walked none.
Murphy will have a home-and-away series with its other Cherokee County rival, Hiwassee Dam, this week. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Meanwhile, Andrews will host Robbinsville at 4:30 p.m. Friday