Lady Knights dominate early portion of season
Pick any moment from a season that a high school softball team might celebrate.
The options are seemingly limitless: a shutout, a home run, a win over a program in a larger classification – a mercy-rule victory, perhaps?
The Lady Knights have already checked each of those feats off the list in their first six games of 2026.
In fact, Robbinsville (6-0, 4-0) has yet to surrender a run to its opponents – while slugging its way to 70 of its own on the scoreboard. The Knights started the year by trouncing Rosman (4-2, 2-2) in five innings at Judy Nichols Memorial Field on March 3, 12-0; squashing 4A Smoky Mountain (1-6) in a five-inning home affair March 5, 10-0; downed Rosman in a six-inning road trip March 6, 11-0; fanned the 5A Enka Sugar Jets (2-1) in their only full game to date March 9, a 5-0 road victory; and buzzed the Hayesville Yellow Jackets (1-4, 1-2) 17-0, 15-0 in a home doubleheader Friday.
Who's to blame? Well, everybody. It's a team sport, so point the finger of scorn at the collective effort.
In the season opener, seniors Sophie Roberts and Suri Watty each drove in three runs, while Daphne Barlow doubled three times.
Sydney Adams began the contagious spread of hitting homers against Smoky Mountain, launching Robbinsville's first moon shot of 2026, with Roberts and freshman Ella Nelms joining in on the fun the following day at Rosman. Kynadee Spencer and Dreylee Webster also drove in two runs to help tame the Tigers. Barlow hit a homer at Enka, while Nelms and Watty both had multi-hit afternoons.
Barlow homered in Game 1 of Friday’s doubleheader and collected an eye-popping six RBIs, while Nelms aided her own cause by hitting her second rocket over the fence as well. Roberts also drove in three runners.
The Lady Knights were more than willing to cash in on nine Lady Jacket errors in Game 2, but Adams still unloaded her second home run of the year amid the proceedings. She also finished the game with three RBIs.
So, they have offense. You have to make sure whoever is inside the circle can keep the other team in check, right?
Nelms has more than answered the call. With an unblemished ERA of 0.00, she is 6-0 since debuting on the varsity squad – striking out 61 (or an average of 6.1 per game). Her season high of 12 strikeouts in a game has already occurred twice: March 3's opener and the victory at Enka. The only time she has seceded the rubber so far was in the final inning of Game 1's doubleheader Friday, when Spencer stepped in to deliver a scoreless fourth inning of relief.
After entertaining A.C. Reynolds at 5 p.m., today, Robbinsville will host Andrews (0-2, 0-2) in another doubleheader Friday, caused once again by weather (this time, snow on St. Patrick's Day). First pitch is at 4:30 p.m.