Bryson City – It was a tale of two games for Murphy baseball March 14-15 against the Mustangs and Maroon Devils.
Against Smoky Mountain, the Bulldogs trailed 7-2 before rallying in the fifth and sixth innings for an 8-7 win. Then against Swain County, Murphy jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Maroon Devils scored late to pull out a 4-3 win. It was Swain County’s first win over the Bulldogs since 2014.
“Early in the game our momentum from yesterday’s game was carrying over,” Murphy head coach Adam Clonts said. “We scored in the first inning, then we got comfortable and allowed them to stay in the game. After the first couple of innings, our approach at the plate was not good enough to get on base and get our runners scored.”
Murphy struck immediately against Swain County. Will Carringer led off the game by reaching on an infield single, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Braden Rumfelt. Briggs Cornwell singled into left and Carringer scored, while Cornwell would score on an RBI single by Isaac Cole two batters later. Cole Laney struck out the side in Swain County’s first time up.
Like its game against Union County on March 11, Murphy’s pitchers did enough to win but didn’t get enough runs. Laney was excellent through the first five innings, only allowing one run on a sacrifice fly by Gabe Lillard in the bottom of the third.
That was the only one of the first five innings where he got into a serious jam. He had runners on first and second with one out, but Cole caught a fly ball in right field and threw to Rumfelt at second to get Cameron Blankenship and end the inning. Cornwell’s RBI single in the top half of the inning pushed Murphy’s lead out to 3-0.
From there, Swain County pitcher Charlie Collins settled in, too. The Bulldogs had a runner reach in the fourth, but he got out of it when Carringer grounded into a fielder’s choice. Then with runners on first and second and one out in the fifth, he struck out Cole and John Ledford to end the inning.
Collins struck out the side in the sixth and finished with 10 strikeouts. Murphy’s top five batters in the lineup had all of its hits, while the bottom four went 0-for-11 with nine strikeouts.
“Throughout our lineup, we have to do a better job executing with two strikes,” Clonts said. “Right now, we’re not doing the greatest job that we could with two strikes on us.”
As the Bulldogs scuffled at the plate, the Maroon Devils finally took advantage in the bottom of the sixth. Laney started to get behind hitters, and a one-out single by Carter Hayes cut the Murphy lead to 3-2. Cornwell relieved Laney after that, and Will Jenkins lined a two-run single down the left-field line to give Swain County its first lead of the game.
That would be enough. Rumfelt would reach on an infield single with one out and steal second, but Cornwell flew out to the left-field warning track and Joe Swain popped up to end the game.
“Right now, with the way Cole Laney pitched and Briggs came into today, we have to do better at the plate to help them out,” Clonts said. “They pitched too good for us to lose today.”
Murphy bounced back Thursday with an 8-1 win over the Maroon Devils. Cornwell homered and struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings, while Ledford homered as well.
The Bulldogs traveled to Robbinsville on Tuesday, which took place after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. Murphy hosts Copper Basin, Tenn., on Thursday, then the Black Knights on Friday at Konehete Park.