Hiwassee Dam – Unlike the fall and winter sports seasons, there’s only one day between when the bracket is announced for the N.C. High School Athletic Association baseball and softball playoffs and the first-round game.
So when Hiwassee Dam softball coach Roger Adams found out his team was the No. 14 seed and was playing No. 19 seed Elkin in the first round, he scrambled to try to find information. The Buckin’ Elks only put their schedule and roster on MaxPreps, and film of the team was hard to come by.
If he had more time, maybe it would have made a difference. But considering that Elkin pitcher Lily Robbins was so dominant, it might not have mattered. The junior left-handed pitcher gave up just two hits and struck out 17 batters, ending Hiwassee Dam’s season with a 6-0 loss.
“We didn’t get a good idea of what was coming,” Adams said. “I didn’t think we’d see a lefty that had that much movement. She just had a lot of movement in her ball. It was just tough to hit.”
Adams said Robbins had a curveball, screwball and a rise-ball, and had command of all of them. Add in that she was a lefty, which is not common in the Smoky Mountain Conference, and Hiwassee Dam (12-7 overall) struggled to adjust.
Olivia McNabb kept the Lady Eagles in the game as long as she could in the circle, but Elkin (12-8) got one in the third, two more in the fifth and then three in the sixth. The Buckin’ Elks fell 6-4 to No. 3 seed Robbinsville (19-4) in the second round two days later.
A season that rose to a defacto Smoky Mountain Conference championship game just four days earlier against Robbinsville was suddenly over. The game against the Lady Knights was the fourth in the last five days, and the potential for a conference championship and to be set up for a potential playoff run fizzled just as it came into focus. After scoring more than five runs in 15 of their first 17 games, the Lady Eagles scored just one run combined in their last two games.
Hiwassee Dam will say goodbye to seniors Payton McNabb, Allison Stiles and Kiera Taylor. After their freshman season barely got off the ground due to COVID-19, they were everyday starters for the rest of their time as Lady Eagles, with McNabb being named to the Citizen-Times All-WNC Softball team as a junior.
“They played a lot of ball between the three of those girls,” Adams said. “They had an outstanding year, and once again very proud of it.”