Hayesville Lady Yellow Jackets Softball Struggles to 1-8 Start in 2025-26 Season

HAYESVILLE, N.C. — The Hayesville High School Lady Yellow Jackets varsity softball team has opened the 2025-26 season with a challenging 1-8 overall record and a 1-6 mark in Smoky Mountain 1A/2A Conference play, placing them seventh in the standings as of early April.

The team’s lone victory came on March 17 at home against conference rival Cherokee, a hard-fought 5-4 win that gave the Lady Jackets their first conference victory of the year. They dropped the return matchup to the Braves 7-5 three days later on the road.

Hayesville has otherwise been outscored 113-14 through its first nine games. The season began with a 16-0 loss to Pisgah on March 6 (neutral site). A doubleheader against Robbinsville on March 13 resulted in two 15-0 defeats. Additional lopsided conference losses followed: 14-0 at Swain County on March 24, 18-0 at home to Murphy on March 31, and 10-0 at Murphy on April 1.

The Lady Jackets sit 7th in the Smoky Mountain 1A/2A Conference, ahead only of Andrews (0-8 in league play). In the broader North Carolina 2A classification, they rank near the bottom as well.

Head coach Marissa Peck and the staff are working with a young, rebuilding squad that showed competitiveness in the close games against Cherokee but has struggled to generate consistent offense against stronger pitching. The team is in a similar position to last season, when it finished 1-14 overall.

Several more conference games remain on the schedule, including matchups against Hiwassee Dam, Smoky Mountain, Andrews, and Rosman in April. The Lady Jackets will look to build on their lone win, tighten up defensively, and improve their batting as the regular season continues.