Lady Devils Eliminated from Softball Third Round of State Playoffs

By Brandon Stephens

(Bryson City) – – There is a new era of success softball at Swain County High School.  The Lady Devils ended an exciting season at 17-and-6 and 9-and-3, for a second-place finish in the Smoky Mountain Conference (SMC).  Wednesday night in Bryson City, Swain County lost 6-to-3 against defending 1-A state champion South Stokes Sauras in the third round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state playoffs.  The last time Swain County made the third round of playoffs was in 2010.  During that season, Swain County was conference champions and lost a two-game series to East Surry.

Offensive success is the building block for Swain County each season since sports reopened from pandemic closure.  During the 2025 season, Swain defeated its opponents on average 8-to-2.  The most runs the Lady Devils scored were 19 against Andrews in their second meeting.  Later they were shut out in two games by Robbinsville, which cut the team short of getting an SMC regular season championship.  The team batting average has made a steady improvement that ranged from .270 to .311 from 2021 to 2024 to a current average of .350.  More importantly, the Lady Devils’ on-base percentage has also improved from .350 to .426.  Once on, Swain County used its speed to steal base and advance to scoring position lead by Molleigh Woodard who is in double digits for stolen bases.

Defense is the foundation for real success and excitement in most Swain County games.  The Lady Devils allowed 61 runs this season, which averaged 2.7 runs per game.  The most runs allowed occurred in an 8-to-7 loss to Tuscola.  Star pitching from Ryle Rawls helped keep opponents sidelined.  Rawls, a rising senior, maintained a 1.26 ERA by winning 17 games this season.

THE SOUTH STOKES GAME  

Defense is the name of the game between Swain County and South Stokes.  The opening moments of the game ushed in five runs between the Lady Devils and the Sauras through the first three innings before cooling from an offensively themed game to a defensive one.  South Stokes jumped out to an early 3 run lead through the top of the third.  The bats finally heated up enough for Swain County to score Rylee Rawls and Maddie Bird in the bottom of the third inning.

The winning edge is in the South Stokes side of the softball diamond going into the bottom of the seventh inning. The Sauras held a 3-to-2 advantage.  Swain County players and fans held some deep emotions until Rylee Rawls cranked a home run to start the bottom of the seventh inning.  The Lady Devils got a piece of the ball as the Sauras changed pitchers.  Through the bottom of the seventh inning, Swain County had four players reach base and, in most cases, went to second or third base, where South Stokes stopped the Lady Devils advancing to home.

South Stokes unleashed its ability to hit and get past third base in the extra inning.  The first three batters in the eighth inning scored to give the Sauras a 6-to-3 lead.  The Lady Devils almost went three up and three down in the bottom half of the inning.  The final score is South Stokes 6 Swain County 3.

The accomplishments and success built for the Swain County Lady Devils softball team is a little difficult to feel after a home loss in the third round of the state playoffs.  Swain County Softball Head Coach Toby Burrell says the loss is difficult to take, but there is excitement to know many experienced players will return in 2026 to build on the new era of stronger Lady Devils will be back.

South Stokes is a number 14 seed in the playoffs and will face the winner of the Cherokee Braves versus East Wilkes softball game being played on Thursday (May 15, 2025).  Cherokee and Murphy are the remaining teams from the SMC now that Swain County has been eliminated.