* Robbinsville baseball midseason report
After returning to the postseason picture in 2024 – their first appearance since 2011 – and collecting 10 wins for the first time since 2010, the Black Knights entered 2025 with a lot of optimism.
Bryce Adams returned to the team after missing the 2024 campaign, while Tanner Hedden also debuted to join fellow seniors Quinn Jumper, Tytan Teesateskie, Avery Webster and Dayne Webster as the elder statesmen of the club. A mixture of talented underclassmen with youthful exuberance gave Robbinsville plenty of reasons to believe that success was just 21 outs away.
Headed up by new skipper Adam Brooks, the Knights dug right in with a trip to Towns County, Ga., on Feb. 27. It took five games to get things on-track – including Jumper hitting a grand slam in a 10-9, extra-inning heartbreaker to Rosman on March 10 – but a flawless showing from freshman sensation Rylen Orr on March 17 gave the Black Knights their first victory of 2025: a 13-0 shutout at Copper Basin, Tenn. The ace of the pitching staff so far, Orr (2-4, 5.32 ERA) tossed a no-hitter, striking out 11 Cougar hopefuls to aid the cause.
Robbinsville seized conference victory No. 1 later in the same week, scoring seven runs across its last six outs to upend Andrews on March 21. Easton Shuler (.344, 3 HR, 10 RBIs) homered in the late comeback, while Adams tapped the dish for the rare walk-off walk in the bottom of the seventh.
The Knights easily disposed of another divisional foe the following week, outscoring Hiwassee Dam in a home/away series 20-6. Luke Lovin (1-5, 7.58 ERA) fanned 11 Eagles in March 25's home victory, lasting 5 2/3 to pick up the win.
Adams leads the team with a .375 mark at the plate, which includes six doubles and six RBIs.
Doubleheader loss
Robbinsville – In a unique set of circumstances, the Black Knights concluded a game that started March 13 on April 9 – and they did so on their home field, rather than where the contest originated.
Franklin led Robbinsville 9-2 in the bottom of the third when a trio of lightning delays forced the suspension of March 13’s game in Macon County. With a home appointment penciled in for April 9, the Panthers and the Black Knights agreed to settle things at Loudon Orr Memorial Field.
In a pair of 5-inning contests, Franklin swept the unusual doubleheader 13-3, 13-5.
Everyone was positioned as they were March 13 for the resumption of Game 1, save for a new face on the hill for Robbinsville (4-12): Adams.
The senior lasted for the remainder against Franklin (8-9), but the Panthers were unrelenting in their attack. Addix Sutton scored on a wild pitch moments after the suspension was lifted, while Gunner McConnell sprinted across following a fielding error and Hunter Lowe plated Franklin run No. 12 on another wild pitch in the fourth.
Robbinsville manufactured one run in response as the “away” team, when Adams knocked a single to score Deacon Hyde in the fifth. Anderson Terrell wrapped up the 27-day delay with a two-out, solo homer in the bottom of the fifth for the Panthers.
Looking to reverse the narrative, the Knights came out of the gate and seized a 2-1 lead after the first inning of Game 2. Jumper scored on a fielder’s choice, before Teesateskie singled to bring in Shuler.
Lowe scored on a wild pitch in the second to tie the game, but Robbinsville took control again in the home half of the segment when Shuler drilled a three-run homer in the home half of the segment – which propelled the Black Knights to a 5-2 advantage over the Panthers.
Franklin began its comeback bid in the third, when Terrell drove in Sutton and William Rauers dashed home on a wild pitch. The Panthers pulled ahead with a three-run fourth, when Sutton and Isaiah Deas both scored with the bases loaded and Rauers flew out to plate Cayson McAllister.
A six-run fifth put the finishing touches on the afternoon sweep. With two outs, McAllister singled to score Damion Bowles; Deas scored on a bases-loaded walk; and Rauers cleared the field with a grand slam.