FREEPORT

The Morse High School Softball team hasn’t had much trouble scoring runs this season.

The Shipbuilders have been so prolific on offense that Thursday’s 20-2 win over the Freeport Falcons wasn’t even a season high for runs. Morse opened the season with a 21-0 win over Lake Region. The bats came to life again in Thursday’s matchup with Freeport.

“There’s a couple games that we struggled they weren’t hitting,” said Morse Coach Caren Barone. “The last few games the girls have been hitting really well, 13 or 14 hits a game.”

The Shipbuilders piled on 17 hits in the five inning game. Morse jumped out to an early lead, batting through the order and putting five runs on the board in the first inning. They would get to Falcons’ starter Megan Cormier again in the third, breaking the game open with a seven run inning.

Morse pitchers held the Falcons to to five hits and two runs total. Dory Kulis started the game, surrendering one run in the first. Marissa Parks took over in the second inning and finished the game pitching four innings, allowing one run, three hits, with four strikeouts and no walks. Even with the run support, Parks kept the Falcons off the base paths

“We don’t take any team for granted regardless of the record,” said Barone.

Morse threatened early as the first two batters of the game, Brook Icalis and Sierra Wallace both singled. After Cormier got the next batter to ground into a double play, Parks looped a double down the third base line to score the game’s first run. Abby Carpenter followed that up with a double to the left field fence. The Shipbuilders tacked on three more runs before the inning was over.

The Falcons responded in the bottom half of the first inning. Alexa Koenig hit a one-out triple to the left field fence. She would later score on a wild pitch. Kulis surrendered one another hit in the inning, but kept Freeport off the score board.

Cormier held the Shipbuilders to one run over the next two innings before the game opened up in the fourth. Morse loaded the bases to begin the inning. Vanessa St. Pierre singled in a run before Kali Pierce followed that up with a two-run line drive single of her own. Parks also brought home two runs in the inning, placing a single through the left side of the infield.

“They played well,” said Barone. “They’re back to hitting and on their game.”

The Falcons second run came in the third inning. Brooke Toothaker led off the inning with a double. After Parks was able to get the next batter to ground out, Koenig brought Toothaker home with an RBI double to right field. Parks allowed no further damage, taking matters into her own hands with an impressive diving stop and throw to first for the final out of the inning.

“Defensively they’re doing really well and pitching is strong,” said Barone “We’ve got a young team of sophomores, freshman and a couple seniors which is good.”

The Shipbuilders tacked on four more runs in the fifth inning, ensuring a the game would end after five. After a pair of singles, Parks again cleared the bases with a double ripped to the left field fence. Parks later scored on a Paige Faulkingham single.

It was an impressive offensive outing for the Shipbuilders. Parks matched her pitching performance with four hits, driving in four runs. Pierce and Carpenter drove in three runs apiece for Morse. Brook Iculis reached base in four of five plate appearances, driving in two runs.

“The defense has been been strong all season long. We struggled with some hitting,” said Barone. “The hitting is coming back around, we happened to adjust at the plate and made some plays in the field.”

Morse 20, Freeport 2

At Freeport

Morse — 510 104 — 20-17-1 Freeport — 101 000 — 2-5-3

Dory Kulis ( 1), Marissa Parks,
and Paige Faulkingham; Megan
Cormier (3), Alexys Langley, and
Amie Kelley
WP—Parks; LP—Cormier
Doubles— (Mo) Marissa Parks,
Abby Carpenter, and Vanessa St.
Pierre; (F) Alexa Koenig, Megan
Cormier, and Brooke Toothaker
Triple — (F) Alexa Koenig
Repeat Hitters— ( Mo) Brook
Iculis, Sierra Wallace, Marissa
Parks, Abby Carpenter, Paige
Faulkingham, Vanessa St. Pierre,
and Kali Pierce; (F) Alexa Koenig.
Records — Morse 9-4; Freeport
2-10.
Up next for Shipbuilders —
Wednesday at Gardiner, 4 p.m.
Up next for Falcons — Monday at
Poland, 4 p.m.