-
Senior Brook Turpin (left) beats out a play at first during Tuesday’s loss to South Stokes. Photo courtesy of Miranda Buchanan/Robbinsville High School Yearbook
Robbinsville – The Lady Knights entered Tuesday’s third-round playoff match-up against South Stokes with one thing in mind: revenge.
Robbinsville fell to the Sauras in the first round last season, 3-0, so the Knights were focused and as head coach Billy Knight noted after the game, coming off the best practice they had completed all season Monday.
But absolutely nothing went right. Normally sharp on defense, Robbinsville (No. 3 seed, 20-3) committed an unsightly seven errors, while South Stokes (No. 11, 20-6) swung a hot bat to pepper out an 11-1 win, ending the Knights’ season in stunning fashion at Judy Nichols Memorial Field.
“It was just one of those games,” Knight said. “These kids left practice yesterday believing they could win. I guarantee you, if we played this team again, we would win. That’s the way they are. That speaks to their character and toughness; they’ll find a way to win.
“But they understand that there’s good days and bad days. You learn from the bad days, come back and do better. And I know in a day or two, they’ll look back and remember all they’ve accomplished.”
Rebecca Amos scored on an error in the top of the first for the Sauras, but Zoie Shuler cinched the run back for Robbinsville in the bottom of the frame on a South Stokes infraction.
The game went into the third still tied, but three Knights errors – coupled with a Sydney Patterson double and a passed ball – pulled South Stokes back ahead 4-1. From there, the Sauras continued to tack on runs, including a huge fourth that featured Patterson doubling home two more, before Ryleigh Pinnix cleared the basepath with a 3-run homer.
Emily Mitchell and Amos later roped respective singles in the sixth and seventh to drive in the Sauras’ final runs.
Known for its potent offense, Robbinsville only registered four hits in the loss. Madison Wilson had eight strikeouts for South Stokes.
Robbinsville bids farewell to eight talented seniors: Halee Anderson, Ally Ayers, Aynsley Fink, Patience Frapp, Sarah Gibby, Ivy Odom, Baylee Parham and Brook Turpin. The group collectively went 57-10 during their high school career and were 39-2 in Smoky Mountain Conference play.
“It’s rare to have that many kids in a senior class,” Knight pointed out. “There’s several of them that never started until this year and these practices aren’t easy. I was lucky to have this group of seniors; we started coaching them when they were little. They’re special to us.”
Trifecta
There’s an old coaching adage that goes something like this: “It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season.”
Odom made sure Robbinsville had nothing to worry about.
Tasked with hosting the Hiwassee Dam Lady Eagles (No. 14, 13-4) in the second round May 12 – for the third pairing between the two teams in a span of 10 days – the Lady Knights entered the bottom of the sixth ahead 6-1.
Robbinsville fired off three runs before an out was recorded – a 2-run single from Shuler, which scored Anderson and Fink – before Turpin reached on an infield smack to plate Shuler – and later with one out, Turpin advanced to second on a wild pitch, with Odom at the dish.
“As soon as Speck (Turpin) got to second – and was in scoring position – I told myself, ‘I want this girl to throw me a strike,’” Odom said. “She threw the first two in the dirt, so I knew if the next one was a strike, it was going for a ride.”
The homer – Odom’s seventh of the season, which tied her for the team lead with Shuler – was a no-doubter from the time the bat connected with the ball. The launch sealed Hiwassee Dam’s fate, as Robbinsville won the abbreviated contest 11-1.
“I’m really proud of the team and how we came out today,” Odom added. “We had lots of good energy and right before we took infield, there was not a doubt in my mind that we were going to win this ballgame.”
The visitors jumped on top early, when Payton McNabb doubled home Payton Palmer in the first.
But from that point forward, Memory Frapp limited Hiwassee Dam to just two more hits. She ultimately struck out five in a 72-pitch effort.
Robbinsville’s other offense came on a Memory triple and Odom single in the first, which scored respective runners Shuler and courtesy runner Claire Barlow; a Memory groundout in the third, which brought Shuler charging home; an RBI hit from Anderson in the fourth, which drove in Liz Carpenter; and Turpin sprinting home on an error in the fifth, before Carpenter connected to score Barlow.
“I was a little nervous, knowing that we had to play them,” Odom later admitted. “They’re a really good team that has always hit the ball very well. They’ve been a big rival for us since we were little. They’ve got good girls, good athletes, good people and good pitching.”