Hayesville – Hiwassee Dam softball head coach Roger Adams didn’t want his team to have a repeat of what happened to his Lady Eagles in Clay County last year. Hiwassee Dam entered that game undefeated, but fell to a Lady Jackets’ team that they mercy ruled just days earlier.
The Lady Eagles didn’t enter this year’s trip to Hayesville on April 4 with the same gaudy record, but were still favored to win. The Lady Jackets only two wins were one-run squeakers against Andrews, a team Hiwassee Dam mercy-ruled twice the previous week.
Whatever Adams said worked, as the Lady Eagles came out swinging and didn’t let up in a 12-1, five-inning mercy rule win.
“This year he gave us the talk right before the game,” Olivia McNabb said. “It kind of put some spark in us, and we didn’t want to feel that again.”
Hiwassee Dam (6-3 overall, 4-0 Smoky Mountain Conference) scored in all but the second inning, with every batter reaching base. McNabb homered for the second straight game, sending a two-run shot well over the center-field fence for an 8-0 lead in the top of the fourth.
“Just all the way through the order saw what they liked and executed,” Adams said. “Kind of picked up where they left off last week.”
The Lady Eagles struck for three in the top of the first, starting with an RBI double down the left field line by Brinkley Payne. Payne would later score on a wild pitch, and Allison Stiles would add another run on an RBI groundout.
Two more runs came home in the top of the third, as Stiles’ single scored Olivia McNabb and Stiles scored on a groundout by Katie McNabb. Before Olivia McNabb’s home run in the top of the fourth, Sky Taylor led off the inning with a single to left and later scored on a wild pitch.
While Hiwassee Dam continued to put good swings on the ball, Hayesville (2-4, 2-3) never got going against Olivia McNabb in the circle. The sophomore, who sometimes struggles with control, was locked in from the beginning of the game, allowing just one hit while striking out 11.
The Lady Jackets scored one run in the fifth on a bases-loaded groundout by GraceLynn Anderson, but McNabb ended that threat by striking out Morgan Crawford with the bases still full.
“She had control of all her pitches,” Adams said. “I was very pleased with how she pitched. She hit good locations.”
After Hayesville scored, Hiwassee Dam answered with four runs to put the game into mercy-rule territory. Katie McNabb led off with a double, then traded places with Taylor Burt, who doubled to center. Burt went to third on when Kiera Taylor reached base on an error, and scored on an RBI groundout by Payton McNabb. Taylor would score on an RBI triple by Brinkley Payne, and Payne later scored on a wild pitch.
Two home runs from Stiles helped the Lady Eagles take care of business against the Lady Jackets two days later, 11-1. Hiwassee Dam enters spring break on a four game win streak, but enters arguably its’ toughest stretch of the season after the break, with six games in 12 days starting with a Monday home game against Bradley, Tenn. The other five are conference games, with two against both Murphy and Robbinsville, as well as a makeup game Thursday, April 27, at Swain County.
Sometimes it can take a team some time to get back into the swing of things after a light week, but Hiwassee Dam doesn’t have much margin for error. Olivia McNabb has seen the team grow closer on and off the field as the season has gone along, and sees that carrying over despite time off.
“We’re all starting to come together and play as one,” she said. “So I’m hoping this break of not as much practice and not being there, I hope it doesn’t pull us apart, but I don’t think it will.”