LARRY OWEN

SPORTS EDITOR

The Morris Lady Eagle varsity fastpitch softball team came away with a split decision at home last Thursday evening.

The Lady Eagles began last Thursday’s 2-game schedule with a 14-0 win over the Liberty (Mounds) Lady Tigers. The shutout win over Liberty (Mounds) was the seventh-straight for the Morris diamond squad.

In the nightcap last Thursday, the Morris squad suffered their first loss since back-to-back losses to Haskell August 15 and 16, falling to the Hominy Lady Bucks by a narrow 5-4 margin. In the loss to Hominy, the Lady Eagles’ shutout streak ended at 27 innings following a run by the Lady Bucks in the top of the third.

The Morris ladies were back in action Monday and Tuesday with district showdowns with the Eufaula Lady Ironheads. The Lady Eagles traveled to Eufaula on Monday then hosted the Lady Ironheads on Tuesday.

In last Thursday’s shutout win over Liberty (Mounds), the Lady Eagles opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first, then put the game out of reach in the home half of the second, erupting for 11 runs in the stanza for a decisive 14-0 advantage.

The Morris defense kept the Lady Tigers off the scoreboard in the top of the third to award the Morris squad their seventh-straight shutout win.

The duo of Jessica Wilson (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI) and Kaydence Ausbrooks (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI) led the Morris offensive attack against Liberty (Mounds) with two hits apiece.

The other Lady Eagle base hits in the shutout win came on singles by Alli Guynes and Briley Cagle, 2-run single by Ashlyn Clevenger, and 2-run inside- the-park home runs by Maddie Moore and Marti Yaerger.

Other baserunners for Morris in the shutout win were Moore (walk), Wilson (hit by pitch), Yaerger (2 walks), Cagle (walk), Emma Duclos (hit by pitch), Dezmond Lewis (walk, hit by pitch), and Brooklynn Thomas (walk).

Duclos drove in one of the three Morris runs in the first with an RBI sacrifice fly, while another first-inning run for the Lady Eagles came on an RBI ground out by Firé Clark.

In last Thursday’s loss to Hominy, the Lady Eagles broke a scoreless tie with a run in the bottom of the second.

Hominy countered with a run in the top of the third, then added two in the fourth for a 3-1 advantage.

A run by the Lady Eagles in the home half of the fifth made it a 3-2 lead for the visitors, while Hominy plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, extending their margin to three, 5-2, after five and one-half innings of action.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Morris ladies attempted to overcome the 3-run deficit. The Lady Eagles scored a pair of runs in the frame and had the winning run in scoring position with one out, but the runners were left stranded, as the next two batters were retired to end the comeback attempt with the Morris squad on the short end of a 5-4 outcome.

The Lady Eagles totaled 12 hits in the loss, led by Briley Cagle with a 4-for-4, 4-single, performance. Cagle’s final base hit was an RBI single in the seventh.

Marti Yaerger was next offensively for Morris, finishing 3 for 4 with two singles, a triple, and an RBI, followed by Brooklynn Thomas, who went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and an RBI.

The final three base hits for Morris in the loss came on singles by Jessica Wilson and Firé Clark and a double by Maddie Moore.

Other baserunners for the Lady Eagles against Hominy were Moore (hit by pitch), Clark (walk, fielder’s choice), Thomas (fielder’s choice), and Emma Duclos (fielder’s choice, error).

--- Morris 14, Liberty 0

Liberty:0-0-0 0-0-3 Morris: 3 - 11 - x 14 - 9 - 1 WP: Brooklynn Thomas LP: Unknown HR: Morris: Maddie Moore, Marti Yaerger --- Hominy 5, Morris 4

Hominy:0-0-1-2-0-2-0 5-6-1 Morris: 0-1-0-0-1-0-2 4-12-1 WP: Walker LP: Emma Duclos HR: Hominy: Johnson