Robbinsville – Starting pitcher Cole Patterson retired the Rosman Tigers in order in the top of the first and the Black Knights entered the second after two batters reached, though with nothing to show for it.
Then Rosman scored 11 runs.
The only bright spot from that point on came when Robbinsville freshman Dayne Webster launched a solo homer in the bottom of the second, but the Knights could not string together enough momentum to properly responded to the second-inning blow, as Rosman picked up a 5-inning, 14-3 victory at Loudon Orr Memorial Field.
“This game showed some bright spots and some things we need to work on,” said Knights coach Brent Icenhower. “We had a really bad second inning, where things just could not go right for us.
“We are a fairly-young team, so we are going to take some growing pains. Hopefully, we will get that all worked out early in the season.”
Robbinsville (1-2, 0-1) plated its other two runs in the bottom of the third, when Bryc Garrison charged home during a stolen-base attempt from Greylon Orr and courtesy runner Zeke Silvers dashed across the plate on a passed ball.
“Offensively, we only struck out five times as a team. I can handle that,” Icenhower noted. “We just hit the ball right at people; I told them to just keep putting the bat on the ball and eventually, we will get some hits.”
Rosman (2-3) benefitted greatly from five Black Knights errors, but unloaded 11 hits in the victory, including a pair of doubles from Bradley McCall and Carson Lyday. Along with Andrew Stamey, the Tigers trio collected two RBIs each.
In the junior-varsity game that followed, Robbinsville was leading 6-3 when the game was suspended – due to darkness – by umpires.
Buzzed by Jackets
Robbinsville fell victim to a 6-spot from the visiting Hayesville Yellow Jackets (1-0, 1-0) in the conference opener Tuesday.
Four more in the second put the game out-of-reach, as the Jackets triumphed 12-3.
Kade Garrison had a two-hit afternoon, while Alex Knight and Carson White recorded an RBI each.
Four Robbinsville pitchers – Ethan Orr, Carson White, Greylon Orr and Bryc Garrison – combined to strike out seven Yellow Jackets.