Carter Snyder hasn’t gotten many starts so far this season for the Morris baseball team, but he sure got the visiting ballclub started Monday in Morris’ 6-3, Interstate 8 Conference series-opening victory over Ottawa.

Batting eighth in the lineup, Snyder blasted the first pitch he saw well over the fence in straightaway left field for a three-run homer to break a scoreless tie and send Morris (6-9 overall, 2-2 Interstate 8) on its way to victory over the host Pirates (5-6-1 overall, 1-2 in the I-8) at Ottawa’s King Field.

“I was just looking for a first-pitch fastball,” Snyder said. “I don’t want to swing at offspeed first pitch, but it was a fastball, and I got to work. It was the perfect pitch.

“Big team win. This boosts our confidence a lot going into the series.”

Snyder’s blast put the exclamation point on an out-of-nowhere, two-out rally that started with Cade Laudeman and Landon Norris singles after Ottawa starting pitcher Lucas Farabaugh set down the first five hitters he faced – three on strikeouts.

“I thought both pitchers threw well,” Ottawa coach Levi Ericson said of Morris’ Bryce Lee and his own starter, Farabaugh. “There in the second when [Morris] scored, they go two-out hit, two-out hit, and then they get the big home run. We attacked the bottom of the order, and their No. 8 hitter hits a three-run homer.

“You’re not really expecting that in that situation.”

Morris went on to add what would prove to be three key runs on the fifth against Farabaugh, Snyder this time starting the fun with a leadoff triple to left-center. Mick Smith and Lee each followed with RBI doubles, and courtesy runner Brycen Johnson came home in Lee’s stead on a Sean Skrtich RBI single.

The insurance runs proved vital when Ottawa finally started to figure out Lee the third time through the order. The Pirates broke up the shutout with a three-run sixth powered by back-to-back-to-back singles off the bats of Brendyn Fuchs, Colt Bryson and George Shumway coupled with a pair of Morris fielding errors on Bryson’s RBI liner to right-center.

Lee (7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 K), however, ended that threat with his fifth strikeout and used his sixth to end the seventh with the potential tying run at the plate to finish off his complete game.

“We’ve got a different ballclub this year, and we had some rough spots last week for sure,” Morris coach Todd Kein said, referring to a series loss to La Salle-Peru. “We came into this week hoping our guys learned some things last week dropping those two games in a row to end that series, and I like the mindset we came out with today.

“I thought Bryce took the mound with the right attitude, and the way he pitched showed that. ... And what can you say about Carter coming in in that situation and putting us on the board? It was a really big moment for him. He’s been sort of moonlighting for us, and here he gets the start today, comes up in a big spot and puts a great swing on it.

“I think that gave the entire team the confidence we were looking for.”

Lee’s counterpart, Farabaugh (7 IP, 6 R, 6 ER, 10 H, 0 BB, 6 K), also went the distance.

“Credit to Lucas,” Ericson said. “He pounded the zone all day, forced the issue, and [Morris] just strung some hits together in two innings while we waited until the sixth to put anything together. ...

“We waited too long.”

Snyder – with his three-run homer and leadoff triple leading to a run scored – was the lone player to tally multiple hits, runs scored or RBIs on the day. Smith, Lee and Skrtich also drove home runs for Morris, while Bryson and Shumway delivered the RBIs for the Pirates, Rizon Contreras adding a double.

With a promising forecast for the week, the I-8 series is scheduled to continue Wednesday in Morris and wrap up Thursday back in Ottawa.