SOFTBALL: Morton dazzles in circle as Claremore blanks Muskogee after early tie
· Yahoo Sports
Alexis Morton wouldn't let Muskogee's third-inning rally linger for long.
Moments after the Lady Roughers erased Claremore's early lead, Morton helped the Lady Zebras answer with her bat before shutting the door in the circle to secure a 3-1 preseason scrimmage victory Friday.
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Morton was outstanding on both sides of the ball, allowing just 1 run on 7 hits over 6.1 innings while striking out 3 without issuing a walk. At the plate, she collected 2 extra-base hits — a triple and a double — and scored a run.
The Lady Zebras backed their ace with a flawless defensive effort, committing no errors.
Tilly Andrews handled a team-high 6 defensive chances at first base, while Addison Reavis paced the offense with a perfect 3-for-3 performance. Caroline Messner and Morton each added 2 hits, and Claremore finished with 8 hits overall.
The Lady Zebras manufactured the game's first run in the opening inning.
After Claire Pilkington singled and Reavis followed with another base hit, Andrews hit a ground ball that was misplayed by the Muskogee shortstop, allowing Pilkington to score for a 1-0 advantage. The Lady Zebras threatened for more, but Muskogee turned an inning-ending double play to limit the damage.
Morton settled in immediately, working around 2 first-inning singles before retiring 6 of the next 7 batters. She struck out the side's final hitter in the second and faced the minimum through two innings.
The Lady Roughers finally broke through in the third, though.
A pair of singles put runners on the corners before a sacrifice fly tied the game at 1. Claremore quickly escaped further trouble when catcher Pilkington threw out a runner attempting to steal third to end the inning.
Morton opened the fourth with a triple into right field before Riley Fay brought her home with a sacrifice bunt, putting the Lady Zebras back on top 2-1. Two batters later, Messner tripled to right and scored on Bella Michael's sacrifice fly, extending the advantage to 3-1.
That proved to be all the offense Morton needed.
The senior retired Muskogee in order in the fourth, worked around a bunt single in the fifth and escaped the sixth after the Lady Roughers put runners at the corners with two outs. Michael fielded a ground ball cleanly and threw to Andrews for the final out of the inning.
Claremore had another scoring opportunity in the sixth after Morton doubled, but the Lady Roughers prevented the deficit from growing.
Muskogee mounted one final threat in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of singles surrounding a sacrifice bunt, but Morton induced another groundout to strand the tying runs.