Candler – Enka Sugar Jets (11-1; 5-0 MAC) concluded last week as the only undefeated team in 4A/3A Mountain Athletic Conference contests.
“We control our destiny,” Enka head coach Todd Coggins told his squad as they march toward their second undisputed league crown in three seasons. “We can take it as far (in playoffs) as we want.”
In the standings, 4A McDowell (5-5, 4-1 MAC) and 3A Erwin (5-3, 3-2) follow, along with A.C. Reynolds (4-7, 2-2) and NBHS (5-6, 1-3). Enka remains unbeaten since their 10-5 loss to 3A West Henderson (9-1, 3-1 Mtn7) in the opener, where West’s catcher Makena Henderson hit two home runs. West averages 12 runs per game, while Enka averages 9.5.
The 3A Sugar Jets defeated NBHS 5-2 at home on March 25. A day later, they pummeled Smoky Mountain 20-0 as Karly Presnell pitched a perfect game. Enka earlier won 22-0 at T.C. Roberson.
North Buncombe, led by six-foot superstar Karlyn Pickens, won the MAC in 2019, ‘21 and ‘22. The Hawks had 12-0 MAC marks in 2021, and as the 3A state runner-up (25-3) in 2022. They reached the round four in 2019 and 2021.
Enka is nearly halfway toward another perfect conference record. Enka, NBHS and 4A McDowell were MAC co-champions at 9-3 in 2024. In 2023, Enka won the MAC at 12-0, went 23-1, and reached playoff round four. Enka won state softball titles in 1996, 2015 and 2016.
‘That a Babe!’
Enka has a superb starting pitching combination of husky freshman Savannah Frisbee and seasoned left-handed senior Presnell. They split starts. Presnell (1.57 ERA) changes speeds and has pinpoint control and good movement. Frisbee (1.86, 76 K’s in 41 IP) lets it rip. Their contrasting styles will be extra useful in playoffs later-round series, should Enka make it far. Presnell plays first base when not pitching.
Frisbee won a pitching duel at home on March 25 over North Buncombe’s hard thrower, super sophomore Sadie Jo Hunter of NBHS. Flame-throwing “Fireball” Frisbee no-hit the Hawks in a complete-game victory. “My (pitch) movement was good,” Frisbee said. She struck out 14 batters — her most in MAC games and within three of her personal best. She walked three batters.
“I was pumped up” for the “competitive” rivalry challenge against the Hawks and their ace Hunter, Frisbee said.
Hunter fanned 11 Sugar Jets. She yielded four hits and two walks. She was often behind in the count. Frisbee said the umpires called a tight strike zone.
Enka assistant coach Kyle Reagan kept encouraging Frisbee, reinforcing her strikes and strikeouts. He shouted not the common “that’a boy,” but instead “that’a babe!”
Fishing for Runs
Frisbee knocked in the game’s first run. She singled in Haley Fish, who walked, in the second inning. Two innings later, Fish scored on a two-base error. Enka ran at will on bases, often getting into scoring position. “With our speed, we make things happen,” Coach Coggins said.
“We have a great lineup,” Coggins said. Gracie Merrell, Presnell, Emma Payne and Hailie Vick are fourth-year standouts.
Third baseman Fish made a crisp putout. This Fish thrived in the upstream “battle” against Hunter, also a sophomore. She calls theirs a friendly rivalry since travel ball clashes. Beating NHBHS and scoring runs off of Hunter felt “awesome!”
Enka tacked on three runs in the fifth inning. Junior Averi Coggins beat out an infield hit, to bring in a run. Sophomore Kerigan Phillips scored on a passed ball. Kelsi West singled in Coggins. Enka led 5-0. NBHS scored two unearned runs, spoiling the shutout.
‘Velociraptor,’ ‘Huntress’
Hunter (4-4, 0.72 ERA) has 131 strikeouts in 58 innings to average 2.25 – surpassing the 1.86 strikeouts she averaged in her sensational (8-3, 0.43 ERA) freshman season.
The sturdy “Huntress” had an amazing recent week. She no-hit Owen 2-0 on March 21. She struck out 16 Warlassies, walking merely one. She homered and doubled, scoring both runs. Hunter struck out 13 McDowell batters and had three hits, in a 1-0 loss three days earlier. In between, she pitched three shutout relief innings versus Tuscola.
Hunter’s two-way heroics brought memories of Pickens, now a Tennessee Volunteer junior. Pickens last week heaved a softball pitch for a collegiate record of 78.2 miles per hour. That equivocates to nearly a 110 baseball fastball.
Pickens has earned new nicknames from the *Tribune*, including “Velocity Queen” and the deadly “Velociraptor,” likening her to the swift bird dinosaur from *Jurassic Park* that attacks with lethal speed. Three of her 2022 Hawk teammates are now seniors: Molly Clark, Gracelynn Fisher, and Ali Jo Rice, along with seniors Alyssa Mayberry and Kaitlyn Richards. Their head coach is David Griffin.