For only the third time in the last 12 years, the Morris Lady Eagle varsity fastpitch softball team will be one of eight teams battling for the Class 3A state championship in Oklahoma City.

The Lady Eagles punched their ticket to the 2022 Class 3A state fastpitch softball championships five years to the date of their last state tournament appearance with a 4-3 victory last Friday afternoon over the Sperry Lady Pirates.

The narrow win came in the championship game of the Region 5 regional tournament at Sperry High School.

The Morris diamond squad, who also earned state tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011, needed four-straight elimination-game wins in the 4-team, double-elimination tournament following a 5-2 loss in the opening round to the host Sperry Lady Pirates last Thursday.

The Lady Eagles’ first obstacle was the Coalgate Lady Wildcats last Thursday in the loser’s bracket semifinals, The Morris squad avoided elimination with a decisive 12-2, run-rule, victory over the Lady Wildcats.

The Lady Eagles then ended the Adair Lady Warriors’ season last Friday with an 11-5 victory in the loser’s bracket finals to earn a rematch with the host Sperry Lady Pirates.

Needing two-straight wins over the host Lady Pirates, the Morris squad needed just one run in the first meeting to defeat Sperry by a 1-0 outcome, then held off a seventh-inning rally in the decisive regional championship game to punch their ticket to the Class 3A state fastpitch softball championships.

The Lady Eagles will begin state tournament play Thursday at 11 a.m. in an opening-round showdown with the defending Class 3A state champion Washington Lady Warriors. A win will put the Morris squad into Friday’s semifinal round at 11 a.m., while a loss to the defending champs will bring the Morris squad’s season to a close.

See today’s edition for a complete rundown of the Class 3A state fastpitch softball championships.

In last Thursday’s regional tournament opener against Sperry, the host Lady Pirates opened the scoring with two runs in the top of the first.

Morris tallied two runs in the home half of the third to knot the score at 2-2.

Sperry went back in front, 3-2, with a run in the top of the fourth, then added a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh to hand the Lady Eagles the 5-2 setback.

The Morris offense finished with seven hits in the opening-round loss, led by Marti Yaerger, who finished 2 for 2 with a single, triple, and RBI. Yaerger also reached on a pair of hit by pitches in the contest.

The other five Lady Eagle base hits last Thursday against Sperry came on singles by Maddie Moore, Jessica Wilson, Briley Cagle, Brooklynn Thomas, and Firé Clark.

Other Morris baserunners against Sperry were Moore (2 walks), Cagle (error), and Kaydence Ausbrooks (fielder’s choice, error). Cagle drove in one of the two Morris runs in the third with an RBI sacrifice fly.

In last Thursday’s elimination game against Coalgate, the Lady Eagles kicked off the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first.

Coalgate answered with two runs of its own in the top of the second to knot the score at 2-2, while Morris plated seven runs in the home half of the frame to take over the lead for good, 9-2, after two innings of action.

After the next two and one-half innings went scoreless, the Lady Eagles ended the game on the run rule, pushing across three runs in the bottom of the fifth to avoid elimination with the 12-2 victory.

Camara Casey was the top hitter for the Lady Eagles, finishing 3 for 3 with three singles and 2 RBIs.

Marti Yaerger (2 for 2, 2 singles) and Briley Cagle (2 for 4, 2 singles, 3 RBIs) also recorded multi-hit games for Morris against Coalgate with two hits each.

The final five Morris hits in the elimination contest came on singles by Maddie Moore, Brooklynn Thomas, Ashlyn Clevenger and RBI singles by Jessica Wilson and Emma Duclos.

Other Lady Eagle baserunners against Coalgate were Moore (2 walks), Yaerger (2 walks), Duclos (RBI fielder’s choice, error), Cagle (error), and Kaydence Ausbrooks (error).

In Friday’s elimination game against Adair, the Lady Eagles led 3-2 after one and 7-2 after two. After a scoreless third inning, both teams tallied a run in their half of the fourth to give Morris an 8-3 advantage.

The Lady Eagles extended their lead to eight, 11-3, with three runs in the top of the fifth.

Adair plated a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings, then the Morris defense kept the Lady Warriors off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh to award the Lady Eagles the 11-5 victory.

The trio of Maddie Moore (3 for 4, single, 2 doubles), Jessica Wilson (3 for 5, 2 singles, double, 2 RBIs), and Emma Duclos (3 for 4, 3 singles, 3 RBIs) led the way offensively with three hits apiece. Moore also reached on a hit by pitch, while Duclos also reached on a fielder’s choice in the contest.

Marti Yaerger (2 for 3, 2 singles, 2 RBIs) and Camara Casey (2 for 3, 2 singles, RBI) also had multihit games for Morris with two hits each.

The final two Lady Eagle base hits against Adair came on a single by Kaydence Ausbrooks and a 2-run single by Briley Cagle, who also had an RBI ground out in the first.

Other Morris baserunners in the elimination game were Yaerger (2 walks), Casey (walk), Brooklynn Thomas (fielder’s choice, error), and Ashlyn Clevenger (fielder’s choice).

In last Friday’s first meeting with Sperry, the lone run of the contest came in the bottom of the first. Maddie Moore began the inning with a leadoff walk. With Jessica Wilson at the plate, Moore moved into scoring position with a stolen base. Moore came across to score the only run of the contest on a defensive mistake by the Sperry second baseman following a lineout by Marti Yaerger, giving the Lady Eagles the early 1-0 advantage.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Brooklynn Thomas broke up a no-hit bid with a 1-out single to left. Ashlyn Clevenger was the only other Lady Eagle baserunner in the contest, following Thomas’ single by reaching on a fielder’s choice.

Neither team tallied any runs in the final inning and one-half of regulation to award the Morris Lady Eagles the thrilling 1-0 decision.

In the regional title game, the host Lady Pirates opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first.

The Lady Eagles tied the score at 1-1 with a run in the top of the second, then took over the lead at 2-1 with a run in the top of the third.

Sperry knotted the score at 2-2 with a run in the last of the fourth, while Morris regained the lead, 4-2, with two runs in the top of the fifth.

The score remained at 4-2 until the bottom of the seventh, where the host Lady Pirates threatened to end the Lady Eagles’ bid for State.

After the first Sperry hitter grounded out to third for the first out of the inning, the next hitter doubled to center. The runner at second scored to make it a 4-3 contest on a 2-base error.

With the tying run in scoring position and only one out in the frame, Brooklynn Thomas, who took over in the circle for starter Emma Duclos at the start of the fifth, got the next hitter to fly out to Maddie Moore in center field for the second out of the inning.

The next batter came to the plate, looking to provide a clutch base hit, but Thomas had other plans, as the Morris right-hander coaxed a 2-2 count to the Sperry hitter after four pitches. A foul ball kept the at-bat alive, then Thomas closed the door on any 2-out rally attempt, getting the hitter to swing and miss for Strike 3, sending the Lady Eagle players, coaches, and fans into celebration mode, celebrating the Morris squad’s 4-3 victory, regional championship, and first state tournament appearance in fastpitch softball since 2017.

Briley Cagle was the top hitter for the Lady Eagles in the regional championship game, finishing with 2 for 3 with a pair of singles.

The other Morris base hits in the contest came on singles by Moore and Marti Yaerger, RBI singles by Duclos and Kaydence Ausbrooks, and an RBI double by Jessica Wilson.

Other Lady Eagle baserunners in the regional title game were Moore (walk), Wilson (walk), Yaerger (walk), and Duclos (fielder’s choice), who also had an RBI ground out in the third.

--- Class 3A Regional Tournament First Round Sperry 5, Morris 2

Sperry: 2 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 1 5 - 10 - 2 Morris:0-0-2-0-0-0-0 2- 7 -2 WP: Angielski LP: Emma Duclos HR: Sperry: Scarbourgh --- Loser’s Bracket Semifinals Morris 12, Coalgate 2

Coalgate:0-2-0-0-0 2 - 4 -6 Morris: 2 - 7 - 0 - 0 - 3 12 - 12 - 1 WP: Brooklynn Thomas LP: Lee HR: None --- Loser’s Bracket Finals Morris 11, Adair 5

Morris: 3 - 4 - 0 - 1 - 3 - 0 - 0 11 - 15 - 1 Adair: 2-0-0-1-1-1-0 5 -10-1 WP: Emma Duclos LP: Wheeler HR: Adair: Peper --- Winner’s Bracket Finals Morris 1, Sperry 0

Sperry: 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 0 - 3 - 1 Morris: 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 - x 1 - 1 - 0 WP: Emma Duclos LP: Angielski HR: None --- Championship Morris 4, Sperry 3

Morris: 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2 - 0 - 0 4 - 7 - 2 Sperry: 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 1 3 - 7 - 0 WP: Emma Duclos LP: Angielski SV: Brooklynn Thomas HR: Sperry: No. 17