Hiwassee Dam – Last season, both games between Hiwassee Dam and Murphy were both decided by run, and the Lady Bulldogs came out on top both times.
The April 26 contest between the two teams was another one-run contest, but this time the Lady Eagles topped Murphy, 4-3.
“It’s a typical Murphy-Hiwassee Dam game,” Hiwassee Dam head coach Roger Adams said. “Our last three outings have all been determined by one run. Both teams always come ready to win and battle each other, but we got on top in this one.”
It was a battle on both sides, with both teams getting some timely hitting and taking advantage of the other’s mistakes. An RBI single by Ansley Hogsed scored Julia Dockery with two outs in the top of the first, and Hiwassee Dam (11-1 overall, 8-1 Smoky Mountain Conference) answered back with two in the bottom of the inning.
Kiera Taylor led off with a single to left, and Payton Palmer bunted to try to move her over. Jersey Schwalm’s throw sailed into right field and got past right-fielder Taryn Morrow, allowing Taylor to score from first. Payton McNabb followed with a single, and Palmer scored to give the Lady Eagles the lead.
Murphy (5-6, 4-5) answered back in the third, taking advantage of Hiwassee Dam mistakes. Riley Dockery led off with a double to left, and Hogsed would single two batters later. When Hogsed tried to steal second, the throw sailed into the outfield and allowed Dockery to score to tie the game.
The Lady Bulldogs had runners reach base in the fourth and fifth but didn’t score, and the Lady Eagles had a runner reach in the fourth before taking the lead in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on second and third and one out, Payton McNabb hit a somewhat shallow fly ball to left field.
Hogsed charged in and got under the ball but dropped it, allowing Sky Taylor to score. Olivia McNabb would follow with a groundout to short that scored Kiera Taylor and doubled the lead to 4-2.
Olivia McNabb replaced Lauren Brooks on the mound in the top of the sixth, and Murphy was able to get one back off the hard-throwing freshman. With a Ruby Boehm on first and two outs, Morrow lined a single into right, and the ball got past right-fielder Bella Stiles, allowing Boehm to score and Morrow to reach third.
McNabb would get Julia Dockery to pop out the threat, then retire the Lady Bulldogs’ 2-3-4 hitters in order to end the game.
“It’s difficult for other teams to adjust,” Adams said of the pitching combination of Brooks and McNabb. “When you got nothing but junk coming in, in a sense, and keeping you off balance like Lauren does and the way she spins out, and then bringing heat behind that, it normally takes a couple rounds of seeing it before getting on it.”
Though Murphy head coach Billy Dockery liked how his team battled, he wanted to see a little different approach. He would’ve liked to see his team hit better early, but the Lady Bulldogs didn’t get production throughout the lineup. Batters 1-4 had only two combined hits, while 5-9 had six hits.
“We left eight runners on base,” Dockery said. “We had to have all nine players to show up to win that game and had a couple top hitters that struggled.”
Hiwassee Dam prevailed in the second game Friday, 10-3. In a second look at Schwalm, the Lady Eagles had 17 hits, including three each from Olivia and Payton McNabb and Allison Stiles. Olivia McNabb was solid on the mound again, striking out eight in 4⅔ innings in relief of Brooks.
Hiwassee Dam hosted Robbinsville (16-2, 10-0) on Monday, the results of which were not available until after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press.
The Lady Eagles need to win both games against Robbinsville this week to clinch the Smoky Mountain Conference championship, while the Lady Knights could have clinched the championship Monday with a win. The two teams meet again in Graham County on Monday.
Murphy hosted Hayesville (4-7, 2-7) on Tuesday and travels to Clay County on Thursday for its regular-season finale.