Story was originally published in The Sylva Herald
The Smoky Mountain baseball team lost at Murphy on Monday, March 14, by a score of 8-7.
A strong late game push catapulted the Bulldogs to the win, taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Mustangs took an early lead, with strong third and fourth innings, where they were able to climb to a 7-2 advantage.
“The runs don’t represent how poorly we performed on offense,” Coach Jeremy Ellenburg said. “We need to have a better approach at the plate. Plain and simple. We are not executing at the plate the way I know we’re capable of.”
Ellenburg quotes the approach at the plate due to the Mustangs being able to muster only five hits in the contest while striking out 12 times.
“Twelve strikeouts is just flat out unacceptable and not what this program is about,” Ellenburg added.
A four-run fifth inning drew the Bulldogs within one and a two-run sixth put them in front, heading into the seventh inning.
Zeb Fisher and Parker Wilson each had one hit, while Clayton Dillard went three of four with three singles. Lincoln Sutton and Zeb Fisher each earned an RBI in the contest.
Murphy chipped away at the lead, behind a three of four effort from Briggs Cornwell. He tallied one single and two doubles while driving in two.
All but two Bulldogs had a hit, with John Ledford driving in two runs, while Joe Swain, Isaac Cole and Braden Rumfelt each had one RBI.
“Murphy did a great job fighting and clawing their way back into this game,” Ellenburg said. “They refused to quit and it showed on the scorebook.”
Parker Wilson started on the mound for the Mustangs, pitching 4 1/3 innings, giving up one run in the first and third, and three in the fifth.
Cale Justice (1-1) came on in relief giving up a sacrifice fly in the fifth and two runs in the sixth.
