Threes are wild: Ottawa’s three-run sixth leads to third straight regional title with win over Morris

MORRIS — Ottawa and Morris had squared off twice on the softball field during the regular season prior to Friday’s Class 3A Morris Regional championship game, and both games had been won by the Pirates by a run.

There is an old saying that it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season, but Ottawa was able to be an exception to that rule.

After Morris broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the sixth, Ottawa answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning and came away with a 3-1 win for its third straight regional title.

Aubrey Sullivan delivered an RBI single with two outs after Bobbi Snook was intentionally walked ahead of her to put runners on first and second.

The single came on an 0-2 pitch and drove home Avery Leigh, the Pirates’ No. 9 hitter who led off the inning with a double off the left-field fence. Snook went to third and Sullivan to second on the throw home. The next hitter, Reese Purcell, hit a grounder back to the mound. Morris pitcher Mylie Hughes had trouble fielding the ball, and once she got control of it, her throw was a little wide and came out of first baseman Tessa Shannon’s glove, allowing both Snook and Sullivan to score.

“It always seems like it’s a close game between us and Morris,” Sullivan said. “That was the third time Bobbi has been intentionally walked ahead of me and I didn’t execute the first two times. This time, I just sat on a pitch.

“[Hughes] had gotten me out on changeups before, so when I saw the changeup, I was able to wait and drive it to the outfield. Once we got one run, we felt like we would get more.”

Ottawa (20-10) will play Lemont at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Ottawa Sectional. Lemont defeated TF North 21-0 to win the Lemont Regional.

Morris (22-10) threatened to score in nearly every inning, but Ottawa pitcher Addie Russell kept Morris off the board through the first five innings. Morris stranded a runner at second in the first, second and third innings and one at third in the fifth.

Morris finally broke through in the top of the sixth. With one out, Cami Pfeifer singled, then stole second. Hughes then singled and Pfeifer was held at third. Alyssa Jepson followed with a single to left to score Pfeifer, with courtesy runner Anna Carreno moving to third and Jepson to second on the throw home. Russell got out of the inning by inducing a popup to first and a strikeout. She finished with 11 strikeouts and allowed six hits.

“Addie pitched real well,” Ottawa coach Adam Lewis said. “Morris put a lot of runners on, but when we needed a strikeout, Addie got it. It’s not easy to beat a good team like Morris three times in a row. They always play us tough, but we were able to get it done.

“Aubrey has been up in that situation a few times, but there was no bigger time for her to get a hit than this. And, Avery Leigh’s double to start that inning was huge.”

Morris got two hits, two stolen bases and an RBI from Jepson, while Halie Olson, Karson Dransfeldt, Pfeifer, Hughes and Addy Hackett all had a hit. Shortstop Macie Ferguson made a brilliant diving catch and also started a double play. Hughes allowed just four hits and struck out two.

“It always seems to come down to the wire when we play Ottawa,” Morris coach Jen Bamonte said. “We had opportunities to score pretty much all game, but credit their pitcher. She kept us off balance.

“It was an all-around great game. We played well, but got beat by the better team today. That’s easier to swallow than if we had hurt ourselves. We’re going to miss our seniors [Dransfeldt, Ferguson and Devin Shenberg]. They are three kids who were very important to our program and, more important, they are great kids.”