8-run frame bolsters triumph over Cougars
Robbinsville – Head coach Billy Knight had seen enough.
Robbinsville’s skipper gathered his infield for a mid-third inning chat Monday, after the Lady Knights – with three seniors around the horn – had committed two errors in the frame.
Whatever Knight said worked. After a clunky start, the Lady Knights swiftly put Monday’s game against the Copper Basin, Tenn. Lady Cougars out-of-reach. Sparked by a pair of homers from Zoie Shuler in the third and Ally Ayers in the fourth, Robbinsville went from clinging to a 3-1 lead to promptly defeating the opposition, 14-1.
It was the Lady Knights’ first game in 10 days and for several of the athletes, the first time donning cleats during much of the break.
“Honestly, a lot of girls from our team were out last week – because of the HOSA trip – so I felt like that might’ve had a lot to do with it,” Ayers said of the early miscues. “Not to make excuses or anything, but this is the first time a lot of us have been on the field in a week.
“But overall, we’re playing really well together. It’s all new – we’ve never really played with these freshmen – but we’re working into a bond.”
Robbinsville (3-1, 1-0) wasted no time getting into the run column. Aynsley Fink – who finished the game with three hits and two stolen bases – dashed home on an error in the bottom of the first, before Ivy Odom sliced a single to drive in Shuler. One error and stolen base later, Patience Frapp grounded out to bring Odom home and give the Knights the early advantage.
A fielding error gave Copper Basin its only run of the game in the third, when Sydney Hickey dropped a hit and later rounded the bases in the confusion.
“He told us we’d better clean it up and play our game,” Shuler said of Coach Knight’s third-inning pep talk. “But this team is very close. There’s no cliques. Everybody encourages everybody; nobody plays for themselves.
Following Shuler’s two-run bomb in the home half of the inning, Halee Anderson would fly out to score courtesy runner Christina Jenkins.
“It’s been a struggle to adjust from the fast pitching I saw last summer (while playing travel ball) to slower pitching, so it felt good to get back in time today,” Shuler said about her home run.
Ayers’ leadoff homer in the fourth set off a chain reaction. Later with one out, Fink scored again on an error, while Shuler and Odom strung together a respective single and double that widened the margin to 10-1. From there, three consecutive walks eventually afforded Anderson a bases-loaded walk, before Ayers collected a pair of RBIs on a double. Liz Carpenter then roped a hit to drive in Ayers and the deciding run.
“It’s always fun to see, because I can remember being that freshman, getting in the box and literally shaking because I didn’t want to do bad,” Ayers said of the freshmen players that appeared late in Monday’s game. “It’s fun to see them get excited.”
In her second start of the season, sophomore Memory Frapp surrendered just two hits and struck out seven Lady Cougars. Patience Frapp carried the fifth, fanning one batter.
Jackets swatted
Shuler did it again the next day.
A 3-run launch in the bottom of the second gave Robbinsville a 5-0 lead in the divisional opener against Hayesville (2-1, 2-1), which the Lady Knights later expanded into an 11-3 win.
Memory Frapp drove in Shuler and Odom in the bottom of the first on a single. Ayers doubled twice in the eventual blowout, but the game was a battle for most of the affair.
Hayesville trimmed the deficit to 5-3, thanks to a 2-run single from Mallory Peck in the fourth and an RBI hit in the fifth, courtesy of Faith O’Dell.
But much like Monday, Robbinsville exploded in one compact inning – the bottom of the fifth, when six Lady Knights crossed the dish.
Shuler walked to start the segment and later scored on a one-out double from Patience Frapp.
Later with two outs, an error plated courtesy runner Abby Adams, while Ayers’ second two-bagger drove in Halee Anderson.
Sarah Gibby then doubled home Anderson and after Fink reached on a bunt, Brook Turpin closed out the offense with a 2-run hit.
Memory Frapp improved to 2-1 for the season, striking out nine and surrendering just two hits to Hayesville.