Gary Corsair • Clay County Progress Hayesville first baseman Jackson Sellers readies for a throw from third baseman Chance Hughes in the final inning of Hayesville's 16-0 rout of Cherokee.
By Gary Corsair
Sports Writer
Friday’s rematch between Smoky Mountain Conference leaders Murphy and Hayesville promises to be the baseball game of the year in western North Carolina.
Hayesville is — 8-1 conference, 8-3 overall — on a mission to avenge Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Murphy — 9-0 in the SMC, 10-5 overall.
Expect the Yellow Jackets to pour every ounce of athleticism, intelligence and determination into engineering a win that will give Hayesville co-ownership of the conference championship.
Hayesville at Murphy at 4:30 Friday, April 28. Mark your calendar.
What promised to be an epic battle between the only unbeatens in SMC play began with great promise for Hayesville but ended in despair Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets plated 3 runs in the first inning and carried a seemingly safe 4-1 lead into the seventh inning only to see Murphy explode for 4 runs in the seventh to steal the victory.
In hindsight, Hayesville’s lead should have been much larger than 4-1 entering the final inning. The Yellow Jackets left six runners stranded, including Kyle Lunsford at third base and Logan Caldwell at second in the first inning, Michael Mauney at third base in the fifth inning and Dakota Matheson at second in the sixth.
The missed opportunities in the late innings were especially painful because there was just one out when Mauney reached third on a wild pitch after being hit by a pitch and pushed to second by a base on balls to Avery Leatherwood. There were no outs when Matheson motored to second base after blasting the ball to the Century 21 sign in left.
“We struck out 11 times. That beat us and not moving runners,” Hayesville Coach Joe Jack Sellers said. “This one hurt.”
Hayesville inflicted the hurt early on.
First-inning fireworks began when Mauney legged out an infield single, took an extra base on a throwing error and stole third. The next batter, Braxton Cherry, beat out an infield grounder. He then stole second. Leatherwood’s sacrifice fly brought Mauney home and put Hayesville up 1-0. Cherry came home when Matheson crushed a two-out triple. Lunsford’s sizzling warm burner under the gloves of both the shortstop and third baseman brought Matheson in and gave Hayesville a 3-0 advantage.
Murphy closed the gap to 3-1 in the third inning when Isaac Cole’s smash kicked up lime on the third base foul line before appearing to land outside the white stripe just beyond the bag. Robert Turner hoofed it home on the controversial hit as an umpire signaled “fair.”
A fly-out to center fielder Tate Roberts ended the threat and Hayesville appeared to be firmly in control as Cherry blanked Murphy in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Then, the disastrous seventh.
Cherry exited after a lead off single, moving to right field after allowing five hits, one walk, and striking out seven. Cade Caruso took over. He issued a walk after running the count to 3-2 on the first man, but bounced back to get an out on a fielder’s choice. The Bulldogs next three batters each singled to tie the score at 4-all. A sacrifice fly to center by John Ledford put the Bulldogs in the driver’s seat, 5-4.
Turner, who came on in relief after Matheson opened the bottom of the sixth with a double, set Hayesville down one, two, three in the seventh.
Matheson increased his batting average of .548 – best in the SMC – with a triple and double, a run, an RBI, stolen base and an assist.
Roberts, .385, had a hit and made five putouts. Mauney, .441, and Logan Caldwell, .419, were 2-for-2 stealing. Lunsford, .378, and tied for the team lead in RBIs with Cherry and Leatherwood also swiped a pair of bases.
Hayesville 16, Cherokee 0
Hayesville had no trouble at the place when it bounced Cherokee, 16-0, on Friday.
Nine batters banged out 15 hits and played errorless defense in support of hurlers Cade Denton and Kendall Boyer, who combined to throw a 3-hitter.
“We played our game against Cherokee,” Sellers remarked.
Two Hayesville standouts did significant damage. Matheson — Hayesville’s leader in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, and runs — smoked Cherokee with a 3-for-3, three RBI, three runs performance. Cherry, the team leader in hits, tied with Matheson, RBI, tied with Leatherwood and Lunsford, and doubles, eight, extended his hitting streak to nine games by rapping two doubles and a single in four at bats and scoring three times.
Matheson and Cherry weren’t the only bad hombres:
• Lunsford drove in three and scored twice while going 2-for-3.
• Chance Hughes, .417, went 2-for-3 with two RBI’s and made two spectacular defensive plays at third base.
• Leatherwood was 1-for-2, scored three runs and smoked a wicked, barely-foul liner that had “double or more” written all over it.
• Roberts was 2-for-4 with a triple.
• Caldwell knocked in two runs.
The Yellow Jacket bats began booming in the bottom of the first after Cherokee went bye-bye, one, two, three thanks to a picture-perfect double play, Matheson-to-Mauney-to-Lunsford.
The Braves defense wasn’t nearly as adept. Hayesville took advantage of two errors in the infield, another boo-boo in left field and three free passes, two hit batters and a walk, to post a six-spot on three stolen bases and singles by Cherry, Lunsford and Caldwell.
Hayesville added four runs in the second and six more in third.
The Yellow Jackets were cruising 14-0 when Sellers emptied his dugout and watched the back-ups continue the domination with Hughes’ brilliant fielding, a single by Ben Bethel, a sacrifice fly by Jackson Sellers and Cooper Matheson taking a pitch to the thigh to gain first base.
Towns County 7, Hayesville 2
Hayesville’s high-octane offense outhit Towns County, nine to seven, but only a few Yellow Jacket hits translated into runs as the Indians prevailed.
Hayesville rapped four doubles and five singles but left 14 runners on base against a very good Towns County squad.
What doomed Hayesville? “Lack of adjusts in the box and not staying focused on your job during at bats,” according to Sellers.
Hayesville’s two runs came from Cherry, who doubled twice and Roberts, who went 2-for-3 with a double.
Mauney led the good guys with three hits, two steals and one RBI. Denton had the other ribbie.
Towns County took the lead after a scoreless first inning and never trailed.