Kelsey Sullivan of Brunswick, left, fist bumps her teammate Sophia Morin after hitting a home run during Monday’s game against Morse. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
BRUNSWICK — Sibling rivalries are common, especially when they are close in age.
But Brunswick High softball sisters Ellie and Kelsey Sullivan, who pitch and catch, respectively, thrive off each other.
“It’s definitely an advantage; we really know each other and she knows the type of game I like to pitch,” said the younger Sullivan, Ellie, who helped lead the Brunswick softball team to a 13-4 victory over Morse on Monday. “We get to play with each other all year, it’s a good bond to have.”
With Kelsey behind the plate and Ellie on the mound, the Shipbuilders (0-1) were no match for the Dragons (1-1).
“She calls a good game, I just have to hit my spots,” said Ellie, who allowed four runs while striking out seven in seven innings.
The Dragons blew the game open late, scoring five runs in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth to take control.
Sullivan said she hopes her team won’t wait around that long to get the bats in the future.
“We have to start off much earlier, waiting around to get going doesn’t help us in any way,” said Sullivan, who helped herself out with two hits, including an RBI double in the first. “We know we have a good offense, it’s just all about executing what we do in practice.”
Ellie Sullivan of Brunswick hurls a pitch during Monday’s game at Brunswick High School against Morse. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
After a couple Morse errors that resulted in two unearned runs, the Dragons padded their lead when Gabby Swain hit a two-run double to push the lead to five. The Dragons stayed hot in the sixth, recording six straight hits, including two triples from Morgan Foster and Kelsey Cassidy. Ellie Sullivan drove in two more runs with a single.
Morse starting pitcher Camdyn Johnson finished with seven strikeouts in six innings, while allowing 13 runs (four unearned).
“It feels good to help your team on both sides of the game,” said Sullivan.
Monday marked the first game of the season for the Shipbuilders. While the March-like temperatures weren’t ideal, Morse head coach Wilfred Laffley saw positives in his young team.
“Our offense was great, but you can’t say the same about us in the field,” said Laffley. “Errors killed us today, so we know what we’ll be working on in practice. Some of the plays out there were tough with the wind gusts, but we have to be better.”
Morse slugger Brook Kulis said it was good to finally play a game after nearly two years away.
“It was awesome, win or lose we told ourselves we were going to leave today with our heads up,” said Kulis, who went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run that tied the game in the fifth. “It felt great to just get the bat on the ball.”
With strong wind gusts blowing out towards the fence, the ball seemed to carry, resulting in three home runs on the game. First, it was Kelsey Sullivan, swatting a shot to left field that cleared the fence by a wide margin. After some good pitching in the middle innings, Kulis tied the game at 2 with a two-run homer to left. Morse’s Hailie Johnson also homered, a two-run shot off Sullivan to center in the top of the sixth.
Michaela Patterson of Morse cracks a single to right field during the first inning of a game against Brunswick on Monday at Brunswick High School. Eli Canfield/The Times Record
Kelsey Sullivan finished with three hits and three RBIs.
“We have a tendency to wake up in the end, that was on display today,” said Kulis. “It felt nice to get one (home run) and to see my teammate get one also, now we have to go do that earlier on in the game.”
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