Spring sports teams have made it through spring break of a jam-packed season. Some teams are already thriving, while others are still getting their bearings and fighting for the playoffs.
Baseball
In the Smoky Mountain Conference, Murphy sits in third place at 4-2 in the conference and 4-8 overall. Andrews and Hiwassee Dam sit in fifth and sixth, respectively, at 2-6 in the conference. Andrews is 2-7 overall and Hiwassee Dam is 3-9-1.
Heading into spring break, both the Bulldogs and Eagles are riding two-game win streaks.
All three Cherokee County baseball teams have a negative run differential. Murphy is at -40, Andrews is at -43 and Hiwassee Dam has a -96 run differential at spring break.
At the plate, Kelby Waldroup of Andrews is one of six players in the SMC to hit a home run. Elijah Cole of Hiwassee Dam has the second-best batting average in the conference as he is batting .500 so far this season. Cole also has the third-best on-base percentage at .583. Adam Cook of Murphy has scored the fifth-most runs in the conference with 14.
On the mound, Zack Hogsed of Murphy has the second-lowest ERA at 1.17 in five appearances so far this season. He is one of only three pitchers with an ERA lower than 2.00.
Murphy pitcher Colton Morgan has struck out the third-most batters so far this season, as he has dealt 35 strikeouts.
In the field, Drew Dartez and Braxton Rickett are in the top five in the conference for fielding percentage. Dartez has a fielding percentage of .967 and Rickett’s is .962.
With the state playoffs coming up soon, teams are fighting to be in the top-32. Only 32 teams in 1A West will make the playoffs.
At the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday morning, Murphy is at No. 33 according to N.C. High School Athletic Association rankings. Hiwassee Dam is at No. 39 and Andrews is at No. 41.
Playoff seeding is on Monday, May 5, with the first round being played Tuesday, May 6.
The remaining weeks of the season will be packed with in-county matchups and important games as teams look to make the state 1A playoffs.
On Thursday, The Bulldogs will play the Wildcats in Murphy at 4:30 p.m. On Tuesday, April 22, and Friday, April 25, the Eagles will face the Bulldogs. The April 22 game will be in Murphy, while the April 25 game will be in Hiwassee Dam.
Andrews will face Hiwassee Dam on Tuesday, April 29, and Friday, May 1. The April 29 game will be at Hiwassee Dam, while the May 1 game will be in Andrews.
All games are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
Softball
Following spring break, Hiwassee Dam is in third in the standings with a conference record of 5-3 and an overall record of 5-5. They are one of three teams with a winning SMC record.
Murphy is in fourth at 2-3 in the SMC, while Andrews is in seventh at 0-7.
A total of 11 SMC softball players have hit home runs this season, including Emma Hensley and Piper Dalton of Murphy, and Olivia McNabb of Hiwassee Dam. Hensley has three homers, while McNabb and Dalton have two each.
McNabb has the third-best batting average in the SMC at .531. She is one of four batters hitting more than .500 so far this season. She also has 12 RBI, fifth most in the conference.
Hensley has the third-best slugging percentage at .929. McNabb’s slugging percentage of .906 is fifth best in the SMC.
Two Lady Eagles are in the top five in on-base percentage. Olivia McNabb’s is .595 and Avery McNabb’s is .548.
Julia Dockery of Murphy has the fifth-most stolen bases with seven so far this season.
On the mound, Olivia McNabb has the third-best ERA at 3.26, while Paisley Johnson of Murphy both have an ERA of 3.31. Johnson has the second-most strikeouts with 62, while Olivia McNabb has 59.
In the field, Aiden Smith of Murphy and Dalton are tied for the best fielding percentage in the SMC at 1.000.
With the state playoffs coming up soon, teams are fighting to be in the top 32.
At press time, Hiwassee Dam is at No. 8, according to the N.C. High School Athletic Association rankings. Murphy is at No. 12, while Andrews is at No. 40.
Seeding for the playoffs is May 5, and the first round will be played on May 6.
Like with baseball, the softball teams’ remaining weeks of the season will be packed with in-county games. Murphy will face Andrews on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Murphy. Murphy will then take on Hiwassee Dam on Tuesday, April 22, and Friday, April 25.
The Wildcats will wrap up their regular season against Hiwassee Dam on Tuesday, April 29, and Thursday, May 1. The April 29 game will be in Hiwassee Dam, while the May 1 game will be in Andrews.
Girls soccer
Coming out of spring break, the Murphy Lady Bulldogs are 6-3-1 overall and 6-1 in the SMC. They sit in second place behind rivals Swain County. The Dogs are on a three-game wins streak with all of them being shutouts. All six of their wins have been shutouts.
Tri-County Early College’s women’s soccer team is 0-7 overall and 0-6 in the SMC.
Halie Hill of Murphy leads the SMC with 21 goals so far this season. Hill also has the fifth-most assists with five.
Brooklyn Johnson has the third-most assists in the SMC with seven. Lady Bulldogs goalkeeper Ella Howard has the third-best goals against average in the conference with it at 1.073. Howard also have the third-most saves with 43 so far this season.
Tri-County has scored one goal through seven matches this season. Sophia Smith scored and Bryanna Ramirez-Jaime had the assist.
Today, Murphy and Tri-County will meet for the second time this season at 6 p.m. at Murphy High School. When they played on April 3, Murphy won 9-0.
Murphy will wrap up their season with a stretch of road games. They will face Polk County on Friday, then kick off a four-game road trip with games against Blue Ridge Early College, Hayesville, Summit Charter and Swain County. They will wrap up the season at home against Highlands at 6 p.m. May 5.
Following its match with Murphy, Tri-County will travel to Hayesville, then return home to face Blue Ridge Early College on Wednesday, April 23. The school will then hit the road to face Swain before returning home for their last home game of the season at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 1, against Highlands.
With the state playoffs only a few weeks away, the NCHSAA has Murphy ranked No. 10 in 1A West at press time. Tri-County Early College is ranked No. 45.
The top 32 teams make the playoffs from 1A West. Playoff seeding is May 9 and the first round will be played on May 12.
Track & field
Track and field is the only spring sport to feature all four local teams. Each team has been excelling in different aspects of the sport. Hiwassee Dam and Tri-County do well in the distance running events, while Murphy and Andrews have done well on both sides in various track and field events.
Andrews has already qualified seven athletes in seven events. Senior Kylie Donaldson has qualified in long jump, triple jump, 100-meter dash and is a part of the 4x100m relay team that has qualified for the regional meet.
That 4x100m relay team includes Kaiya Ellis, Allie Gibson, Alexis Beasley and Donaldson.
Also qualifying from Andrews are Beasley in shot put, Ellis in 100m hurdles, Jaden Crocker in discus and Demi Davis in shot put.
On the boys side, reigning state champion Logan Shuler has already qualifed for regionals as he looks to repeat as champ. William Wood has qualified in discus. Wood is not just looking to make it to state, but he is chasing the school record in the event.
From Hiwassee Dam, distance runners Ethan Russell and Oscar Page have qualified for regionals.
All four schools will use the last two meets before regionals to qualify as many athletes as they possibly can with hopes of making it to the state championship.
Boys golf
So far this season, both the Andrews and Murphy men’s golf teams have had success at their matches.
For Andrews, Brady Queen and Tucker Stalcup have been consistently shooting low scores for the Wildcats.
For Murphy, Bradey Golden and Connor Golden have been going low and even winning events for the Bulldogs.
As a team, the Bulldogs have been consistently shooting in the low 200s or breaking 200 at each event.
The Wildcats have also been shooting low scores, breaking 200 at almost every match this season.
A SMC champion will be crowned following two rounds of competition on Thursday, April 24, and Monday, April 28. The first round will be played at Mountain Harbour.