Robbinsville ace hurls 1-hitter while sporting in-game abrasion
Robbinsville – She smacked a hit past the outstretched gloves of infielders and outfielders alike.
A run scored. Junior pitcher Memory Frapp had aided her own cause, giving herself and the Lady Knights a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third.
But she continued on, flying past the second-base bag for a double and making the wide turn to leg out a triple. Swain County’s Kennedy Anthony was waiting – ball in hand.
What followed is typical for the sport: a good, ol’ fashioned rundown. Frapp scrambled back and forth, trying to evade the tag. She finally dove back into second and was shockingly called out.
The adrenaline was flowing much too rapidly for Robbinsville’s ace to notice something was wrong. When she loosened her chin strap in the dugout moments later though, it registered: blood. Frapp leapt downward with such force that she split her lower chin/upper neck open when she collided with the base. She calmly gathered her bearings, headed back out to the circle and two innings later, put the finishing touches on a one-hit shutout of the Lady Devils. Robbinsville (9-2, 6-0) had bullied seven runs across the plate in the home half of the fourth to force the early 11-0 conclusion.
“The only thing I was worried about was finishing the game with a win,” Frapp said. “My pitching was not perfect the rest of the game, but I was determined to finish what I started. When pitching and hitting, I was concerned if I would hurt it more, but (head coach) Billy (Knight) always talks about being an ‘Alpha Female’ and that was the only thing going through my mind when I was up to bat.”
Frapp doubled again in the crowded fourth, which drove in the eighth run of the game courtesy of Claire Barlow, who singled to bring Liz Carpenter and Kensley Phillips.
Coupled with Taelyr Jackson, the Lady Knights rattled off three straight hits to begin the inning (Jackson scored on the same Barlow hit, albeit via a fielding error).
Anna Williams later roped a two-out double to cash in Zoie Shuler and Memory Frapp. It was the freshman right fielder’s second and third RBI of the evening, after she had connected for a first-inning hit that scored Naomi Taylor, whose double in the opening segment plated Suri Watty.
Carpenter began Robbinsville’s second trek through the lineup with the final punctuation mark: an RBI hit that scored Frapp.
Between each of her starts this year, the Lady Knights’ offense has manufactured 75 runs to support her efforts.
As a unit, the team is batting .386.
“I am never afraid that we won’t have people on base, because everyone in the dugout can hit the ball when they need to,” Frapp said.
“It’s a great feeling, knowing that we have put up 75 runs in the six games I have started in and it brings some comfort knowing that they have my back, no matter what. Everyone on the team has a role and knows exactly how to use it to get the win.”
Frapp (6-0) did issue two walks in the game, but sat down seven Swain County (8-6, 3-4) batters. The only Devils hit came in the fifth, when Kandyce Crisp dropped a single into the outfield to leadoff the inning.
Monday’s special game at Western Carolina University against A.C. Reynolds (6-3) was postponed. It will now be played at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, at A.C. Reynolds.