Lady Knights continue tear; 18 team homers this year
Cherokee – No matter the opposition, there seems to be no cure for Robbinsville’s hot bats.
Despite not playing a conference game in 13 days, the Lady Knights picked right up where they left off in divisional action April 20, walloping Cherokee in a road game, 10-1.
Bolstered by two home runs and five RBI from sophomore Zoie Shuler, Robbinsville (14-2, 9-0) – as well as a solo homer off the bat of senior Ivy Odom – did all the damage needed in the middle innings, including a five-spot in the fifth.
Brook Turpin – who leads the team with a .574 batting average – smacked two hits, as did starting pitcher Memory Frapp, who struck out four in a complete-game effort.
Cherokee (6-10, 6-4) scored its lone run in the bottom of the first, when Lady Braves hurler Paytyn Barker drove in Julia Layno.
Unsweet tea
Candler – The Knights extracted a measure of revenge the following day, making the trek to suburban Asheville and handing the Enka Sugar Jets a 5-1 loss.
Enka had defeated Robbinsville on April 11 at Western Carolina University, 11-1. During the outing, it took the Lady Knights until the sixth to record a hit.
That was not the case on April 21. With two outs in the bottom of the first, Memory Frapp doubled, before dashing home on a single from Odom.
“I told the girls that a lot of the blame for the way we played at Western fell on me, because we did not prepare them for a 60-61 mph rise ball,” head coach Billy Knight said. “Position for position, I felt like we were a better team.
“So we went to Enka with the mindset of winning, and we did.”
Shuler connected to score Halee Anderson in the bottom of the second and soon enough, Robbinsville drove away Enka starter Abigail Brewton – who had decisively limited the Knights in the April 11 game – early in the fourth.
The Sugar Jets called on freshman Karlyn Presnell after Brewton walked both Sarah Gibby and Anderson to start the fourth, but Presnell walked in two runs and surrendered an infield single to Aynsley Fink, which scored Turpin.
“This group of seniors has played 58 games in their high school career and they’ve won 51 of them (a .879 winning percentage),” Knight added. “So they expect to win. You bounce back from a loss like that.
“To me, who won the game was the dugout. They were off the chain. They got in the pitcher’s head and she was rattled. They didn’t let up; it was continuous energy, and the girls that were on the field fed off that.”
Patience Frapp staved off Enka (9-6) until the bottom of the sixth, when Bentlee Chockley doubled home Gracie Merrell. Memory later entered in relief and recorded the last four outs of the game.
Cats tamed
Robbinsville – In their only home game of the week, the Lady Knights easily disposed of Andrews, 14-1.
Odom homered for the second time in a three-game span, with Ally Ayers joining the barrage with a solo launch of her own. Shuler and Memory Frapp had three-hit performances, with both driving in two runs apiece.
Memory improved to 9-2 by striking out eight Lady Wildcats.
Andrews (1-12, 1-8) picked up its only run on a fielding error in the top of the fourth, which allowed Emily Mealer to charge home.