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Oran takes care of Lady Rams in extra innings
SCOTT CITY -- With her team locked in an extra-inning battle against the Scott City Lady Rams on Wednesday, Oran junior Morgan Todt continued her strong week at the plate by guiding the Lady Eagles to their sixth win of the season.
Stepping to the plate with one out and a runner on first in the top of the ninth, Todt sent a drive to left centerfield that rolled back to the fence. By the time Todt made it safely to second base, Oran's lead runner, Anna Jones, had crossed the plate for the decisive run in a 5-4 win.
"Morgan has been getting some big hits for us," Lady Eagles' head coach Jim Eftink said. "She hit a grand slam earlier this week against Clearwater and she had a big hit against Notre Dame, which was our only hit in the game.
"Then she comes through and gets the game-winner today."
Scott City tied the game at four in the sixth inning.
Trailing 4-2 to start the frame, the Lady Rams kicked off their rally with a single by Macy Hall before a Bella Bowers put the tying run on first.
A throwing error on the infield in the next at-bat allowed Hall to score and, after loading the bases, the Lady Rams tied things up on an two-out infield single by Lindsey Rendleman.
Even after allowing the go-ahead run on Todt's double, the Lady Rams had the chance to at least tie things up when Alexis Spriggs hit a one out single in the bottom of the frame.
Unfortunately for Scott City, the potential tying run remained at first as a ground out to short left the Lady Rams down to their final out.
"If we want to win these games we have to take advantage of the opportunities and that's what they did and we didn't," Scott City head coach Amy Pobst said.
After trailing by a run early in the game, the Lady Rams were able to take their only lead of the game with a two-run rally in the third frame. Valerie Bahr started the inning with a triple before scoring and a bases-loaded walk to Hall forced in another run to give Scott City a 2-1 edge.
Oran jumped on top once again in the fourth when Tatum May hit a bases-loaded triple to put her team on top, 4-2.
Picking up the win was Jones, who stepped in to a messy situation in the sixth and minimized the damage.
Jones took the mound with the bases loaded and no outs in a 4-3 game. She secured the first two outs of the inning with a line out and a strikeout.
By the end of the contest Jones had pitched four innings without allowing an earned run. She allowed two hits and two walks while striking out three.
"Anna is a little different than our (starter)," Eftink said. "She's left handed for one thing. At first they don't know what to think of her. She's so much different than our first pitcher, Tatum.
"She's really good, she mixes her pitches and her ball moves so much."
Though she didn't pick up the win, May pitched five innings with only three of her four runs earned. She allowed five hits, four walks and fanned two.
Taking the loss was Spriggs, who pitched all nine innings for Scott City, giving up nine hits and striking out three.
"It was a hard-fought game," Pobst said. "We were down a couple of players, but they came out and played hard. Some players stepped in and played good defensively that haven't been in those positions."
At the plate, the Lady Eagles' nine-hit effort was led by Jones, May and Allie Cummins, who had two hits each.
May had a triple and Todt had the team's only other extra-base hit, the game-winning double.
For Scott City, who had six hits, Bahr had a triple while Rendleman, Julie Holder, Spriggs, Hall and Shelby Rhymer had a hit each.
Oran now stands at 6-3 on the season while the Lady Rams fell to 2-6.
Both teams get back in action next week as Scott City travels to Cape Girardeau to play Cape Central on Monday at 4 p.m. while Oran will host Sikeston on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Oran 100 300 001 - 5
Scott City 002 002 000 - 4
WP -- Anna Jones. LP -- Alexis Spriggs. Multiple hitters: (O) Allie Cummins 2-4, Anna Jones 2-4, Tatum May 2-4. 2B -- (O) Morgan Todt. 3B -- (O) May; (SC) Valerie Bahr.