Morris senior pitcher Mylie Hughes has been putting some of her demons to rest as the softball season winds down.

For instance, she finally got the best of Ottawa and Coal City after not having beaten them in her first three seasons.

She may have saved her best for Friday.

Not only was Hughes the winning pitcher in Morris’ 10-0 win over Plano in the Class 3A Plano Regional championship, but she a threw a no-hitter in the six-inning win. She also recorded her 500th career strikeout in the third inning. She finished the game with six strikeouts and now has 504 for her career. She also went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and a long fly out against a stiff breeze.

“I never thought I would throw a no-hitter to win a regional title,” Hughes said. “I wasn’t even thinking about it and I didn’t even know I had one going. I was just concentrating on each hitter and trying to get them out.

“Even with the wind blowing in like it was today, I have a lot of confidence in our offense. It’s tough to hold us down for an entire game.”

Morris (28-6), which won its first regional title since 2022, gave Hughes all the support she needed in the bottom of the first inning when freshman Aubrey McConnell homered to left. They added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Ella Urbasek and one in the third on an RBI grounder to Alyssa Jepson.

The runs came more quickly after that, as Halie Olson (3 for 4, 3 RBIs) hit an RBI triple to spark a three-run fourth and later scored on an RBI double by McConnell before McConnell scored on an RBI single by Addy Hackett (2 for 3, RBI).

Morris added three more in the bottom of the fifth as Tessa Shannon (2 for 3, RBI) had an RBI single and Olson followed with a two-run single. Morris ended the game in the bottom of the sixth when Anna Carreno doubled to score courtesy runner Anslie Rink, who was running for Hughes, who led off with a single.

“As a senior, winning a regional title is everything I hoped it would be,” Shannon said. “It felt so good to get a couple of hits today. We have been waiting all season for the postseason to get here and it was like a perfect moment.

“We all feed off of each other. Once a couple of girls get a hit, we all want to get a hit and no one wants to make the last out of the inning. Then, when we get out in the field, we want to get the inning over as quick as we can so we can get back in and hit.”

Morris got a pair of nice diving catches in the outfield, one by Urbasek in left and one by Jepson in center, to prevent Plano from getting a hit. The closest to a hit that the Reapers got was a grounder to short that Olson made a nice backhanded stop of, but overthrew first for an error.

“We got that home run by Aubrey in the first inning on a day we didn’t think anything would go out,” Morris coach Jen Bamonte said. “That was obviously big, but we were also able to manufacture some runs, like in the second inning when we got a single, bunted her over and got another hit to get her in. I love that we manufactured some runs, then we were able to break through.

“Mylie was really in the zone tonight, and Ella and Alyssa made some beautiful catches. That just shows how bad these girls want it and that they will do what it takes. When it gets to this time of the season, every play can be meaningful, and they have all bought into that.”

Morris advances to take on Tinley Park on at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Providence Sectional.