Murphy – DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” could be the official team song for Murphy Middle School boys sports this year.
The Bulldogs’ junior varsity football team went undefeated in the fall. Then the basketball team did the same, winning by an average of almost 40 points per game. The track and field team followed that up by not losing a meet in the regular season on its way to a conference title.
So, of course, the baseball team had to match that success. And the players did, going 12-0 on their way to a Smoky Mountain Conference championship.
“The boys were talking about it at the beginning of the season,” head coach Tyler Edwards wrote in an email about his team going undefeated.
“And as a team we talked throughout the season about what needed to be done in order to achieve that goal.”
The team, which had 11 eighth-graders and five seventh-graders, dominated opponents all season, batting .461 as a team and scoring 179 runs, while posting a 1.35 earned run average and giving up just 12 earned runs. AJ Rice was one of many standout performers, batting .761 with three home runs and 30 RBI, while not giving up an earned run and striking out 41 batters in 19⅔ innings.
Robert Turner batted .647 with 19 RBI, plus recorded a 1.87 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 11⅔ innings. Matthew Davis was another excellent two-way contributor, batting .500 with one home run and 19 RBI, while recording a 2.29 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 12⅔ innings on the mound.
Like every team, Murphy had its top players. However, Edwards thought every player contributed to the Bulldogs’ success, whether it was in a game or practice.
“This year’s success would not have been possible without every player on the team contributing every day in some form (i.e., giving great reps at practice, cheering on their teammates from the dugout or helping keep up with stats),” Edwards wrote.
To celebrate the incredible year, the athletic department sold shirts with the records of each of the four teams. They’ll be expected to help contribute to the state championship tradition in football, take the basketball program to the next level, and contribute to more conference championships in baseball as well as track and field.
On the diamond, the Murphy High School baseball team won a share of the Smoky Mountain Conference this year before falling in the first round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A
playoffs.
“It meant a lot that they reached a goal that they set,” Edwards wrote. “But this group is still hungry, they are aware that, yes, it is great they had so much success this year, but it doesn’t stop at the middle school level – they want to go on and win high school championships.”