Murphy – With runners on second and third and the bottom of the sixth inning against Union County on Friday, Murphy baseball had another opportunity. The Panthers scored three in the top of the first inning and still led 3-0 in the sixth.
A wild pitch by Will Duncan got past Union County catcher Brayden Sweat, and Briggs Cornwell sprinted toward home plate. Sweat picked up the ball and tossed it to Duncan, who tagged Cornwell before he could reach home plate.
The Bulldogs would score later in the sixth inning, but it was a day of missed chances. Murphy had runners reach base in all but the seventh inning, but couldn’t capitalize in a 3-1 loss to the Panthers.
“Our pitchers pitched well enough for us to win the game,” head coach Adam Clonts said. “We had opportunities to score, and we’ve got to do a much better job taking advantage of those opportunities.”
The two teams were supposed to play at Union County on March 8 before playing last Friday, but that game was rained out. The two teams will meet in Blairsville, Ga., on April 20 for a makeup game. It was only the Bulldogs’ second game of the year, while Union County had already played nine entering this contest.
The Panthers (2-8 overall) looked like the more comfortable team early, striking for three runs in the top of the first to take a lead they wouldn’t give up. Murphy (1-1) struggled against Union County left-handed pitcher Lake Hughes, and their inexperience showed.
Clonts said the Bulldogs may have faced one left-handed pitcher last year, and it showed. Murphy had lead off guys reach in the first two innings, and Hughes picked off both of them.
“He threw hard, hit his locations and had a really good move to first,” Clonts said. “And our inexperience facing lefties hurt us there a little bit.”
With the Bulldogs’ bats scuffling, the pitching did its part after the first inning. Isaac Cole threw well the next two innings, and was replaced by Cole Laney in the top of the fourth after throwing 3⅓ innings.
After throwing three scoreless innings against Smoky Mountain on March 4, Laney threw the final 3⅔ innings against the Panthers. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out five.
“He’s taking the lead as being one of our go-to guys,” Clonts said of Laney.
Murphy’s pitching settled in, but the hitting never did. In the third through sixth innings, the Bulldogs had runners in scoring position. With a runner on second and two outs in the third, Braden Rumfelt grounded out to third base. They had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth before Union County pitch
arker Grisham retired the next two batters to work out of the jam.
Dominick Rummler had a one-out double to start the fifth, and Grisham once again got the next two batters to keep Murphy off the board.
Cole would score on a John Ledford walk that turned into a passed ball, and Ledford reached third when a Ty Laney ground ball went through Duncan’s legs. Duncan would bounce back and strike out Isaiah Temple to end the inning.
Murphy hosted Smoky Mountain on Monday and travelled to Swain County on Tuesday for its Smoky Mountain Conference opener, the results of which were not available until after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. The Bulldogs host the Maroon Devils on Friday.
“We look to win the conference,” Clonts said.
“And looking from last year to this year, I think Swain and Hayesville, possibly Robbinsville, will be our toughest competition for us to accomplish our goal of a championship.”