Murphy – The Hayesville and Murphy baseball teams entered the week tied atop the Smoky Mountain Conference baseball standings. They left the week still tied atop the conference standings.
The Bulldogs (10-6 overall, 9-1 conference) used a four-run seventh inning rally to stun the Yellow Jackets in Clay County on April 25, while Hayesville (9-3, 9-1) cruised to a 7-2 win in the rematch three days later in Murphy.
The Bulldogs hosted Swain County (7-9, 6-3) on Monday, then traveled to Bryson City on Thursday. The Yellow Jackets final two games are against Robbinsville (7-11, 4-6). If both teams sweep next week, a conference championship tiebreaker will be played Friday.
Hayesville was in control for most of the first game, getting three runs in the first as Braxton Cherry kept the Bulldogs off balance for the next six innings. Cole Laney kept Murphy in the game on the mound after a tough first inning, but the Bulldogs struggled at the plate.
Cherry reached his pitch count limit in the top of the seventh on a leadoff single by Zach Skogen. He was pulled for Cade Caruso, and Murphy took advantage.
A one-out single with runners on first and third by Mason Cook cut the lead to 4-2, then a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Turner would continue the rally with a two-run single to tie the game.
He would later score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Isaac Cole.
“At the beginning of the game I said guys settle down,” head coach Tyler Edwards said.
“Just go out there and compete and by any means necessary get on base. Then one thing happened good in the seventh and then another thing, another thing and another thing.”
Turner, who had relieved Laney in the sixth, shut the door in the bottom of the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning. The freshman also went four-for-four at the plate, and has settled into the varsity level as a top of the lineup bat and a shutdown reliever late in games.
“We know that Murphy’s going to be left in a great path with him coming up through and people coming up behind,” Laney said of Turner. “He’s just going to do what we did with him and take people under his wing.”
Caruso returned to the mound for Hayesville in the rematch, and got all but the final out. He was dialed in, and got some key plays from his defense to stifle potential Murphy rallies. The Yellow Jackets committed no errors, compared with the Bulldogs’ five.
“It really came down to they made more plays than us on defense,” Edwards said. “That’s all it really was. “
Hayesville scored two in the top of the third when Cherry scored on an RBI groundout and Logan Caldwell scored on a balk, then added two more in the fifth when Michael Mauney scored on a wild pitch and Dakota Matheson scored on an RBI groundout. Cook was hit by Caruso in the bottom of the fifth, with what looked like the start of a promising rally with the top of the lineup coming up, but Mauney made a leaping catch on Turner’s line drive and then doubled off Cook at first.
The Yellow Jackets broke the game open in the top of the sixth, with Tate Roberts scoring on a Turner wild pitch and then a two-run triple by Avery Leatherwood. Cole’s single to left-center got Murphy on the board in the seventh, and then Laney would score on a wild pitch, but it was too little too late.
Following the win, Hayesville ran out to center field and smacked the bottom of the Murphy scoreboard, which could add some juice to a potential tiebreaker game. But both teams need to hold up their end of the bargain to get there.
“Swain’s always tough,” Edwards said. “They’re always a good baseball team, especially at the end of the year. We gotta go out there and beat them twice.”