Monroe – The Diamond Dogs’ season came to an end in the first round of the state 1A playoffs on May 7, as Murphy fell to Union Academy 11-0.
It was the last game for four seniors on the Bulldogs’ squad – Tyler Cook, Tommy Crapse, Zack Skogen and Hunter Stalcup.
The Cardinals (19-7), ranked fourth in the N.C. West Division 1A Rankings, wasted little time as they took advantage of two walks and two Murphy (6-11) errors to score two runs with their first four batters in the bottom of the first. Union Academy would go on to bat around in the first innings, putting up six runs on only two hits. The other four runs were the results of walks and errors committed by the Bulldogs.
It was bad enough that Murphy was having problems in the field, but their bats could not get going, either. The Bulldogs went down in order in the first and second innings and didn’t have a base runner until the top of the third inning, when Charlie Morgan led off with a single. Morgan was stranded at first base as the next three batters were retired.
Union Academy added four more runs in the second inning as a walk, a hit and an error loaded the bases before the Dogs could get the first out. Two more walks and an error helped the Cardinals register four more runs to take a 10-0 lead at the end of the second inning.
Murphy’s biggest scoring threat came in the top of the fourth inning, when Alex Roldan singled to lead off and stole second base. He advanced on an Adam Cook ground ball to third base with one out, but was stranded there as Union Academy shut down two more Murphy batters before he could score.
Union Academy added another run in the bottom of the fourth and shut Murphy down in the top of the fifth to end the game early with an 11-0 win.
Murphy finished the season with a 6-11 record, good for fourth place in the Smoky Mountain Conference. The good news for first-year head coach Tyler Edwards is that most of his stat leaders are coming back next season.
Cook led the team in hitting with a batting average of .411 and was second in on-base percentage at .459. Four of the top five pitchers for the Dogs are coming back next year, and two are only freshmen.
“We would have liked to have had a better showing this season, but with all the younger players we started, we kind of knew we would have growing pains this year,” Edwards said after the game. “I hate we couldn’t have advanced for our seniors, but with the nucleus we have coming back next year, we have a good chance to get better.”