Morris’ perfect season ends with extra-inning loss

The Morris Lady Eagle varsity fastpitch softball team saw their bid for a perfect season come to an end this past Saturday in the finals of the Nowata Tournament.

The Lady Eagles’ first loss of 2023 came in extra innings to the Chelsea Lady Dragons by a 4-3 margin.

The Morris squad found themselves in the championship game of the 3-day tournament after finishing with a spotless 3-0 record in Pool Play action last Thursday.

The Lady Eagles routed the Tulsa Rogers Lady Ropers 15-0 in last Thursday’s first Pool Play game, then blanked the Mounds Lady Eagles 7-0 in their second Pool Play contest. The Morris ladies concluded Pool Play last Thursday with a 14-0, run-rule, victory over the host Nowata Lady Ironmen.

In between their tournament action in Nowata, the Morris diamond squad battled Prague in district action in Morris, defeating the visiting Lady Red Devils by a 6-5 margin. (See today’s edition for complete details of Friday’s district showdown with Prague.)

In last Thursday’s Pool Play battle with Tulsa Rogers, the Lady Eagles did all of their scoring in the bottom of the first. The game ended on the run rule after the Lady Ropers were kept off the scoreboard in the top of the second.

The five Morris base hits in the blowout win came on RBI singles by Emma Duclos, Reese Pendley, Kaylynn Lukenbill, and Talee Zackery and a triple by Briley Cagle.

Other baserunners against Tulsa Rogers were Cagle (2 walks, RBI), Duclos (walk), Pendley (RBI walk), Whitaker (RBI fielder’s choice), Lukenbill (RBI walk), and Zackery (walk).

The trio of Fire Clark (3 walks, 2 RBIs), Kailyn Fixico (2 walks, 2 RBIs), and Baylee Qualls (2 walks, 2 RBIs) did not record an official at-bat in the contest, drawing walks in each of their plate appearances.

Clark allowed one hit in two innings of work, while walking three and striking out three in earning the pitching win for Morris.

In the shutout win over Mounds, Emma Duclos did not allow a single Lady Eagle batter to reach base in the four-inning contest, retiring all 12 batters faced – six by way of strikeout.

The Morris squad opened the scoring with a run in the top of the first, then added two in the third and four in the fourth for the 7-0 advantage.

After Duclos set down the Mounds hitters in order in the bottom of the fourth, the Morris ladies were awarded the Pool Play victory after the assigned time limit had expired after four innings of play.

Fire Clark led the victorious Lady Eagles on offense, finishing 2 for 3 with two singles and 3 RBIs, including an RBI groundout in the first.

Briley Cagle also recorded a 2-hit performance against Mounds, finishing 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, an RBI, and a walk.

The other five base hits for the Morris squad in the shutout win came on singles by Kaydence Ausbrooks, Alli Guynes, and Reese Pendley, double by Duclos, and 2-run single by Camara Casey.

Other Lady Eagle baserunners against Mounds were Ashlyn Clevenger (walk) and Dezmond Lewis (2 walks).

In the final Pool Play game last Thursday, the Lady Eagles erupted for 10 runs in the bottom of the first. The Morris squad added four runs in the last of the second, while the Morris defense kept the host Lady Ironmen off the scoreboard in the top of the third to put the finishing touches on the Lady Eagles’ 14-0, run-rule, victory.

The Morris offense was led by the trio of Kaydence Ausbrooks (2 for 2, 2 singles, 2 RBIs), Briley Cagle (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI), and Emma Duclos (2 for 2, 2 singles, 2 RBIs) with two hits apiece.

The final three base hits for the Lady Eagles in the Pool Play finale came on singles by Ashlyn Clevenger and Baylee Qualls and double by Talee Zackery.

Other Morris baserunners against Nowata were Clevenger (RBI hit by pitch), Duclos (RBI walk), Reese Pendley (hit by pitch), Audrey Baldwin (walk), Fire Clark (2 walks, RBI), Dezmond Lewis (walk), Alli Guynes (RBI hit by pitch), Camara Casey (RBI walk), Kaylynn Lukenbill (walk), and Dani Been (fielder’s choice).

Emma Duclos worked the first two innings in the circle for Morris to earn the pitching win, striking out four in a 1-hit shutout appearance.

Clark worked a perfect inning of relief in the third, striking out one of the three batters faced in the frame.

In Saturday’s championship game against Chelsea, who defeated Oklahoma Union, Caney Valley, and Oilton to reach the title contest, the game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth when the Lady Eagles broke the 0-0 deadlock with a run in the frame. The Morris squad doubled its lead to 2-0 with a run in the top of the sixth.

Chelsea plated two runs in the home half of the sixth to knot the score at 2-2 after six innings of action.

Neither team was able to produce any runs in their half of the seventh to send the title game to extra innings with the score still tied, 2-2.

The Lady Eagles regained the lead, 3-2, with a run in the top of the eighth, while Chelsea scored two runs in the home half of the inning to hand the Morris ladies the 4-3 setback and the runner-up trophy.

The top hitter for the Lady Eagles against Chelsea was Emma Duclos, who finished 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and an RBI.

Kaydence Ausbrooks (2 for 4, 2 doubles) and Ashlyn Clevenger (2 for 3, double, triple) also recorded multi-hit games for Morris in the title contest with two hits each.

The final two Morris base hits against Chelsea came on singles by Dezmond Lewis and Camara Casey, while Fire Clark was the only other Lady Eagle baserunner in the championship game, reaching on a fielder’s choice.

Duclos was saddled with the pitching loss for Morris, allowing four runs on six hits with five walks, three strikeouts, and two hit batters in seven and one-third innings of work.

— Nowata Tournament Pool Play

Morris 15, Tulsa Rogers 0

T. Rogers: 0 – 0 0 – 1 – 0 Morris: 15 – x 15 – 5 – 0 WP: Fire Clark LP: Unknown HR: None — Morris 7, Mounds 0

Morris: 1-0-2-4 7-9-0 Mounds: 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 0 – 0 – 0 WP: Emma Duclos LP: Abbott HR: None — Morris 14, Nowata 0

Nowata: 0 -0-0 0 -1-1 Morris: 10 – 4 – x 14 – 9 – 0 WP: Emma Duclos LP: Unknown HR: None — Championship

Chelsea 4, Morris 3; 8 innings

Morris: 0-0-0-0-1-1-0-1 3-8-0 Chelsea:0-0-0-0-0-2-0-2 4-6-0 One out when winning run scored WP: Wiles LP: Emma Duclos HR: None