BATH

The Morse High School softball team trailed Erskine Academy 6-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth frame in Friday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference contest at Tainter Field.

Just one week earlier on the same field, the Shipbuilders were defeated by Leavitt, 33-0, so the safe bet was to watch the Eagles pick up their first win of the campaign.

But, Morse, feeding off a pinch-hit bloop single from Morgan Cram to begin the sixth, and helped along by two key Erskine errors, put together a six-run inning for an 8-6 come-from-behind win, giving Morse a 2-2 record with a visit to Winslow slated for today.

“This is a special group,” said Morse coach Will Laffely. “Even when we were down 33-0, they were still on their feet in the dugout cheering each other on. They don’t give up. It was the same thing today. They are eager.”

The comeback

Things looked bleak after Erskine (0-4) scored two runs in the top of the sixth for a four-run lead. Amber Grady, who was 3-for-4, singled and McKenzie Gayer walked with two outs. Katelyn Sutter launched a long flyball that just tipped off Morse center fielder Leia Graves’ glove for a two-run double.

Cram pinch hit to open the sixth, and her pop fly dropped behind third base for a single. After Kate Dube walked, Erskine pitcher Mallory Chamberlain (six innings, nine hits, eight strikeouts, three walks) retired a Morse hitter for the second out. Alesha Aucoin, the No. 9 hitter who was 0- for-2 up to this point, lined a single to right-center field to score Cram and Dube to cut the Eagles’ lead to 6-4.

“Alesha has struggled a little bit with a loop in her swing, but that was a line drive and it picked up their spirits,” said Laffely of Aucoin’s key hit. “We are putting the ball in play, top to bottom.”

“It boosted everyone’s spirits, and this is a huge win,” said Aucoin. “I think we can go through the rest of the season and be up there.”

An error kept the inning going, and Ali Gagnon (2-for- 4) ripped a single to center to draw the Shipbuilders to 6-5. Another Erskine error allowed Lauren Chandler to score the tying run, and Jacelyn McNeill delivered a two-run bloop single to give Morse its only lead of the game.

“I knew I had a hard time on the mound earlier that inning and it was my chance to redeem myself and get us going,” said McNeill. “We feel like we’re a team. We are a family and it is starting to come together.”

“Having that senior leadership back on the mound is big for us,” said Laffely of McNeill, who earned the mound win with two strikeouts, four walks and eight hits allowed.

Erskine claimed a 1-0 lead in the first. Gayer walked and scored on two-out RBI double by Emma Robertson.

Morse answered in its first at-bat, with McNeill (2-for-4, two RBIs) singling in Gagnon, who had also singled.

The Eagles put together a three-run rally in the third. Cassie Ray walked and Grady singled. After a sacrifice bunt by Gayer moved the runners up a base, Sutter doubled just inside the third-base foul line to give Erskine a 3-1 lead. Chamberlain lined a single to left field to give herself a threerun cushion.

Morse closed the gap in the home half of the third on an RBI single by Hope Faulkingham.

McNeill escaped a major jam in the fifth. Erskine loaded the bases on a single by Gayer, a walk to Sutter and a fielder’s choice that failed to produce an out. Back-to-back plays at the plate, with catcher Meghan Stover stretching out to haul in the throws, and an inning-ending groundball to second baseman Micailla Barone, kept the Shipbuilders behind by just two runs.

Defensively, Laffely saw a major improvement, with his squad making just two miscues after committing eight in Wednesday’s 7-4 win over Maine Central Institute.

“We sat down on Thursday and went over some things, like where everyone needs to be on certain plays and moving on every play,” said Laffely. “We worked for over an hour on the basics, and it really seemed to make a difference today.”.

Morse 8,
Erskine 6

At Bath
Erskine — 103 002 0 — 6-8-3
Morse — 101 006 X — 8-9-2
Mallory Chamberlain and Taylor
McLaggan; Jacelyn McNeill and
Meghan Stover.
Doubles — (EA) Emma Robertson, Katelyn Sutter 2; (Mo)
Meghan Stover.
Repeat hitters — (EA) Amber
Grady (3), Katelyn Sutter; (Mo)
Ali Gagnon, Jacelyn McNeill.
Records — Morse 2-2, Erskine
Academy 0-4.
Up next for Morse — Today at
Winslow, 4 p.m