Robbinsville – Until the bottom of the third, it was anybody’s ballgame.
Dissatisfied with the outlook, the Lady Knights brought their bats to life.
The end result? A 12-run segment, aided immensely by Dreylee Webster mashing a grand slam and a 2-run dinger from Sophie Roberts.
Copper Basin simply could not answer the bell in-between rounds, with the visitors sent packing soon thereafter to the tune of a 5-inning, 13-1 loss at the hands of Robbinsville (5-0, 2-0).
All the fun unfolded after Anna Williams led off the home-half of the frame with a single. Zoie Shuler promptly drove her in on a single, before Shuler herself dashed home on a Suri Watty hit. Proving that hitting is contagious, Sophie Roberts doubled to bring Watty across the dish, with courtesy runner Claire Barlow finding the plate moments later on an error. Liz Carpenter later made it 6-1 on a single that brought in Memory Frapp.
Two batters later, Webster stepped into the box. Moments later, the freshman made her first varsity hit as memorable as possible, clearing the basepath on a grand slam. Continuing the outpour, Williams again singled and soon enough, found home once more on a fielder’s choice.
Roberts ended the burst with her fourth home run in as many games, a 2-run bomb that affirmed the final tally.
Prior to the offensive onslaught, the Lady Cougars had struck first. Caitlin Pack led off the game with a solo homer; Naomi Taylor later doubled home courtesy runner Sydney Adams in the second.
In her first start of the season, Frapp struck out eight Copper Basin batters across four innings of work. Presley Caylor shouldered the load in the fifth, recording a pair of strikeouts.
Another spurt
Cherokee – The Lady Knights grew tired with the Lady Braves hanging around Tuesday.
So Robbinsville once again crafted a huge inning, plating 10 in the top of the sixth to end Cherokee’s hopes in the bottom of the frame, 14-2.
For the first time this year, the Knights went homerless in a game. But playing small ball is a strength for Robbinsville and with one down in the sixth, Carpenter singled before Webster doubled and a Williams grounded scored Carpenter, extending Robbinsville’s lead to 5-1 at that point.
Pinch runner Adams later dashed home on a fielder’s choice, while Williams trotted home soon thereafter when Roberts was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Back-to-back RBI singles for Frapp and Taylor scored respective runners Shuler and Watty, while courtesy runner Delaney Brooms sprinted in on a wild pitch. Ella Atwell then doubled to score Frapp. The outpour concluded, with courtesy runner Ella McGuire scoring on an error and Williams later connecting for a 2-out hit to bring home Barlow.
Cherokee (1-4, 0-4) struck out three times against Taylor, who improved to 4-0 on the year.