It was a busy, tough week for Murphy’s baseball and softball teams.
Both teams traveled out of state and faced tough competition. The Lady Bulldogs came out of the week with two wins, while the “Diamond Dogs” baseball team lost two games.
Softball
The Lady Dogs started their week by defeating Smoky Mountain Conference opponents Cherokee at home on March 24. The game was an originally scheduled for March 11, but was postponed due to the Cherokee girls basketball team’s state championship run.
Murphy hosted the Tsalagi Anata Anitsvyasdi (Cherokee Lady Braves) and defeated them 5-2 in their first meeting of the season.
The Lady Dogs got the scoring started in the bottom of the first with three runs. Julia Dockery singled to score Emma Hensley for the first run. Paisley Johnson then doubled to score Piper Dalton and Dockery.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Dogs drove in two more runs. With two outs, Emma Laney doubled to score Hensley. In the next at bat, Dalton doubled to score Laney to give the Lady Dogs a 5-0 lead.
The game remained at 5-0 until the top of the sixth inning when the Lady Braves scored two runs to make it 5-2. The Lady Braves scored their two runs on a RBI double that scored both runs.
The game ended when Johnson had one strikeouts and two pop outs in the top of the seventh. With the win, the Dogs improved to 4-3 overall and 3-1 at home.
In their second game of the week, the Dogs hosted Rosman on March 26. In their second straight home game, the Lady Dogs lost 10-3.
The Lady Dogs took an early 1-0 lead following a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
Rosman took a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning following a two-run shot. Rosman extended their lead in the top of the sixth to 8-1 before the Lady Dogs added two runs to make it 8-3.
Rosman drove home two more runs in the top of the seventh to won 10-3.
On Friday, the Lady Dogs traveled to Tellico Plains, Tenn., for their third game of the week. In their last matchup, Murphy won 2-1 – and in this game they did it again, winning 6-5.
The game started with four complete scoreless innings before the Lady Bears got on the board to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The lead didn’t last long as the Lady Dogs grabbed the lead with six runs in the top of the sixth to lead 6-4. The Lady Bears scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lady Dogs fought them off to win 6-5.
Baseball
The Dogs hit the road on March 24 and traveled to Rosman, where they lost 6-5 despite a late rally.
The Dogs got on the board first in the top of the second inning as, with two outs, Colton Morgan stole home on a wild pitch to give them a 1-0 lead. Rosman took the lead in the bottom of the third, when they scored two runs to lead 2-1.
Murphy tied it up in the top of the fourth inning, when Caleb Kephart hit a sacrifice single to score Adam Cook from third base.
After the Dogs tied it up, Rosman immediately regained the lead with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to lead 4-2. They added another run in the bottom of the fifth to lead 5-2.
The Dogs tightened Rosman’s lead in the top of the sixth with two runs. They made it 5-3 when Peyton Bain scored from second on a Kephart single. Then Morgan scored on a Aayden Williams sacrifice fly to make it 5-4.
In the bottom of the six, Rosman added a run to lead 6-4 heading into the top of the seventh, where they could end the game.
The Dogs were able to rally for one run when Bain hit a sac fly to center field scoring Zack Hogsed, but they failed to tie it or take the lead despite having runners in scoring position for most of the inning. Rosman won 6-5 to hand the Dogs a fourth straight loss.
The Dogs played their second game of the week Friday, when they traveled to take on Rabun Gap-Nacoochie, Ga. Murphy struggled to get its bats going, losing 15-0. The Dogs had one hit courtesy of Cook.
Up next
Both teams will travel to Graham County on Friday to take on Robbinsville. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m.
The baseball team will return home to face Towns County, Ga., at 5 p.m. Monday. They will return to conference play following spring break.