BATH — Morse plated seven runs in the fifth inning to break open a tight game, while pitcher Dory Kulis fanned 17 batters as the Shipbuilders downed Mt. Ararat, 13-2 in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference high school softball action at Legion Field on Monday.

Dodging the raindrops, the Shipbuilders sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive fifth, taking advantage of five walks while collecting three hits in the frame. 

With the win, Morse improved to 2-1 and travels to Medomak Valley on Wednesday (4 p.m.). Mt. Ararat fell to 0-3 and hosts Oxford Hills, also on Wednesday, at 4:30 p.m.

“Our girls work very hard to do well out on the field,” Morse coach Will Laffely said. “I liked our approach at the plate today, getting runners on base, making things happen.”

Mt. Ararat threatened early in the first. After Ema Hawkes earned a walk and stole second, Jaden Lohr hit a sharp ground ball straight up the middle, with Hawkes stopping at third. Lohr stole on the first pitch and as catcher Paige Faulkingham’s throw came towards second, shortstop Julia Goddard cut the ball off and threw to home, where Faulkingham was waiting in front of the plate to apply the tag on Hawkes as she attempted to steal home. Kulis struck out the next hitter to strand a runner.

Morse failed to score in its half of the first, stranding Kulis on third after a two-out triple.

The Shipbuilders were more successful in the second. A pair of walks opened the frame, and Kali Pierce and Goddard each put balls in play for fielder’s choices, with Goddard’s driving home a run, giving Morse a 1-0 lead. 

A couple of Eagles errors followed, allowing Pierce and Goddard to score before Eagles pitcher Megan Reed induced a ground out to end the inning.

“We’re a young ball club,” Mt. Ararat coach Al Graffam said. “These are good girls that put in the work, but we need to cut down on our mistakes.”

Meanwhile, Kulis continued to cruise along, striking out 11 hitters through five innings, including a strikeout to end the fifth with a runner on third.

“She mixes her pitches up well,” Laffely said of the junior pitcher. “Her and Paige work so well together, they have been together for a number of years and call their own pitches. It’s fun to watch them work.”

“I’ve been throwing to her since rec,” Kulis said of Faulkingham. “I have confidence in what she calls and have no fear throwing it to her.”

As the rain steadily fell entering the bottom half of the fifth, Morse opened the frame with a pair of walks and a Pierce RBI single to extend the lead to 4-0. After an Eagles miscue, Hailie Johnson hit an RBI single to score another Shipbuilder run. After a fielder’s choice and a walk, Kulis sent a sacrifice fly to the outfield to push the lead to 7-0. Abby Carpenter followed with a run-scoring hit and eventually came around to score for a 10-0 Morse advantage after five innings.

“It was good to see our bats come around,” Kulis said. “It gets contagious as we all want to bat around in the order.”

“We wanted to work on some things at the plate today,” Laffely said. “You saw us trying to put a few bunts down, put the pressure on the defense.”

The Eagles pushed across a pair of runs in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on, Lohr lined her second hit of the afternoon followed by a base-knock by Emily Wormwood to load the bases. A dropped pop up a batter later scored Hawkes with the first run, and Lohr later scored on a throwing error on a pick-off attempt for the second. Once again, Kulis fanned a Mt. Ararat hitter to end the threat.

“She was on today,” Faulkingham said of her starter. “She mixed her pitches up and kept the batters guessing. Her fast ball was strong against them today.”

Morse plated three more runs in the bottom of the sixth behind a sacrifice fly from Faulkingham, RBI double from Kulis, and a run-scoring single from Anastasia Alaboudi.

Kulis worked around a single and a walk to strike out the side in the seventh for the win.

“Dory was very good today, she’s as tough of a pitcher as we will see,” Graffam said. “Our schedule is pretty tough to open the season, it doesn’t get any easier with Oxford Hills and Bangor this week, but we’ll learn from this and get better.”

Lohr finished with two hits and a stolen base for Mt. Ararat, while Wormwood, Camille Rowe and Amanda O’Neil each had singles in the loss.

To go with her 17 strikeouts, Kulis walked two, hit a batter and scattered five hits while giving up a pair of unearned runs while on the mound. At the plate, she finished with a double, triple and two runs batted in. Carpenter and Alaboudi also each had two hits in the win. Kaylee Creamer walked three times and scored a pair of runs in the win.

“After losing to Lake Region (2-1) the other day, this was a good win for us and a good sight to see the bats starting to pick up,” Laffely said.

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.