ROCKPORT

Monday’s battle between the Morse and Camden Hills High School softball teams came down to which young squad was going to outlast the other. Figure, both starting pitchers are in their first high school season, and the field behind each of them consisted of a majority of freshmen and sophomores.

Shipbuilders’ Marissa Parks went the distance on the hill, paving the way to Morse’s 9-3 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory over the Windjammers.

“All year we’ve been pretty good offensively,” Shipbuilders’ head coach Will Laffely said after the game. “We’re really young, so I’m surprised that we’re hitting the ball as well as we are. But, I would say it was definitely the offense. I also think Marissa did a nice job of not walking a lot of people.”

That offense went to work right from the start. Olivia Potter had a pitch come too far inside, allowing her to head down to first with one out and then advanced to second when Hope Faulkingham singled down the left-field line. A wild pitch pushed both runners into scoring position.

After a strikeout put two outs on the board, Meghan Stover drew a walk to load the bases. Sara Graves sent a bloop single into right field to plate Potter and Faulkingham for a quick 2-0 lead.

Parks was dealing from the first hitter she faced, striking out two of the four batters in the opening inning and recording all three outs via the ‘K’ in the second, adding to an overall nine strikeout performance on the mound for the freshman.

Morse (3-2) took a commanding 6-0 lead in the top of the second, but all on just one hit. Aleshia Aucoin reached first on an error and then advanced to second on a Mikayla Rose sacrifice bunt. After Potter was issued a walk, Faulkingham was hit in the leg to load the bases followed by Parks drawing a five-pitch walk, forcing a run across the plate. Two more walks were issued in the inning and Graves notched her second hit of the day to score Parks.

“We said from day one that we were going to focus on hitting,” Laffely said. “We’ve done very little infield in practice lately. We have the machine going, one in the cage and one on the field, and they’re hitting 48 to 50 balls a day and that’s what we’ve been focused on. I’m hoping that’s why we’ve been hitting so well.”

The Windjammers (0-5) broke on to the scoreboard in the third inning and did it quickly. Kristen Kirren reached first on a throwing error and was able to advance to second on the same play. A passed ball put her on third based and just 60 feet away from the dish. Another pitch found its way to the backstop and Kirren made it down the line to score with ease.

Camden Hills was held off the board again until the bottom of the seventh inning. Parks was able to get two quick ground outs, but ran into a little bit of trouble. Kirren singled to right and was followed up by Laticia Billings, who worked the count to her favor, eventually drawing a walk. Juliana Haynes drilled a pitch into left-center field. The ball was mishandled on the fly, allowing Haynes to reach second, and Kirren and Billings to touch home.

Parks forced a chopper back to the mound to end the game and push the Shipbuilders back over the .500 mark.

“I think the chemistry with this group is really nice,” Laffely said about his team. “I think it started last year with this year’s senior leadership, that junior class. They were pretty much leaders for us even as juniors. It just seems like the young ones have just fallen into what they’ve started in the last year.”

The Shipbuilders hit the road once again today to face Erskine Academy. Game time is slated for 4 p.m.

Morse 9, Camden Hills 3

At Camden Hills High School in Rockport
Morse — 240 100 2 — 9-11-4
Camden — 001 000 2 — 3 – 3-2
Marissa Parks and Meghan Stover; Gillian
LeFleche and Maddie Bowman, Hillary Merrifield
(7) and Claire Pierce (7).
Doubles — (Mo) Meghan Stover, Sara Graves.
Repeat hitters — (Mo) Sara Graves (3), Sierra
Wallace.
Records — Morse 3-2, Camden Hills 0-5.
Up next for the Shipbuilders — Today at Erskine
Academy, 4 p.m.