Murphy – A 4-3 loss to Swain County on March 15 might have been what the Bulldogs needed to get going in the 2022 season.
Murphy responded with an 8-1 win over the Maroon Devils two days later, then beat Robbinsville 15-2 on March 22 and again 12-8 on Friday.
The Bulldogs are now 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Smoky Mountain Conference.
“As long as we keep building, learning and growing we’ll get better,” head coach Adam Clonts said.
After the disappointing loss to Swain County, Clonts knew his team needed to get better at the plate. Though they weren’t able to get on the field the next day because of rain, they spent two hours in the batting cage to make some adjustments. He thought the Bulldogs had good swings against the Maroon Devils, but their timing was off.
Whatever the Bulldogs did worked. Seven Murphy batters got hits after the lineup was top heavy in the first matchup against Swain County. Briggs Cornwell and John Ledford hit Murphy’s first home runs of the season.
“Worked on some things and came back with Swain on Thursday a completely different team,” Clonts said. “We hit the ball up and down the lineup, scored runs, played a little bit of small ball – probably our best complete game.”
It wasn’t as complete a performance in the first game against the Black Knights (1-4, 0-3), but the Bulldogs once again came out on top. Cole Laney, who had been excellent on the mound coming into the game, walked five batters in the first inning and recorded just two outs.
Isaac Cole relieved Laney and threw well, striking out five in 3⅓ scoreless innings. Murphy’s bats did the rest, scoring at least three runs in each of the next four innings for a five-inning mercy rule win.
All but two Bulldogs recorded hits and everyone in the starting lineup reached base thanks to eight Robbinsville errors. Cornwell came on in the fifth to close out the victory.
“We did a good job adjusting at the plate,” Clonts said. “Of course, Robbinsville made some errors, but we were able to take advantage of those mistakes and errors.”
In the rematch Friday at Konehete Park, Murphy once again came out on top, 12-8. Like the first game, the Black Knights scored first to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. But the Bulldogs answered back with six runs in the bottom of the inning, and led 10-3 before Robbinsville’s rally in the top of the sixth and seventh innings came up short.
All but one Murphy batter got a hit, with Ledford leading the way with three. Will Carringer also made his season pitching debut, giving up three runs on five hits in three innings.
Murphy returned to the diamond Tuesday at Cherokee (3-3, 3-1), which took place after this week’s edition of the Cherokee Scout went to press. They travel to 3A school Tuscola (2-7) today, then host Cherokee at Konehete Park on Friday.