Morse, McPhail lead Oxford Hills to softball win over Brewer

BREWER, Maine — Oxford Hills High School pitcher Kyeria Morse showed why she was chosen to the All-Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A North softball first team as a freshman last season.

The hard-throwing Morse threw 5 ⅓ innings of two-hit shutout ball with 13 strikeouts and she also aided her own cause by driving home three runs with a triple and a single as the defending A North champion Vikings from South Paris built a 9-0 lead and hung on for a 9-5 victory over Brewer at Coffin Field on Thursday night.

Morse threw 83 pitches, 56 for strikes.

Oxford Hills, which wound up 18-2 last season including a 3-1 loss to Windham in the state title game, improved to 2-0 this season while it was Brewer’s opener.

Morse allowed a bunt single to Madison Shaw to lead off the bottom of the first inning but didn’t give up another one through the first four innings and struck out nine as her team established a nine-run cushion.

But the Witches battled back to score five runs off reliever Cameron Mayhan before Morse returned to the circle with two outs in the sixth and sandwiched four strikeouts around an infield hit by Jillian Ford to close out the game.

“We all feel pretty safe when she’s on the mound,” said Oxford Hills senior third baseman Maddy Miller.

“She’s the best pitcher I’ve ever faced. Definitely,” said Brewer sophomore catcher Jenna Jameson, who blasted a no-doubt three-run homer to right center off Mayhan in the fifth inning and flied out, reached on an error and struck out against Morse.

“She is fast, she has great placement and she has perfect spin on the ball,” said sophomore first baseman Ford, who struck out, lined out and singled against Morse.

“I definitely felt loose and comfortable with what I was throwing,” said Morse. “I threw mostly curveballs and a few riseballs. I also mixed in a changeup and screwball.

“My natural pitch is inside but they liked inside pitches so I threw to the outside corner and I don’t think they liked that,” said Morse.

Sophomore catcher Samantha McPhail came a triple away from hitting for the cycle as she homered, doubled and singled for the Vikings. Morse had her triple and single and Miller had a pair of base hits.

Sophomore center fielder Shaw and Ford each had two hits for Brewer and Jameson had her home run. One of Shaw’s hits was a two-run double.

The Vikings jumped out to its 9-0 lead with a run in the first, three in the third, four in the fourth and one in the fifth.

Miller ripped a single to right center in the first and scored on Morse’s bloop triple near the right field line.

In the third, Gigi DeVivo singled and an error and a double steal put runners on second and third before Morse hit a sharp two-run single to left and raced all the way to third when the ball it went through the left fielder’s legs.

Pinch-runner Emma Cooper then scored on a wild pitch.

McPhail’s lead-off double triggered the four-run fourth inning rally. Allyson Day and Miller had RBI singles and Mayhan doubled home a pair.

McPhail walloped a solo homer to right center in the fifth.

Jameson’s three-run homer in the fifth and Shaw’s two-run double over the center fielder’s head in the sixth made things interesting before Morse came on to shut the door.

“(Morse) is capable of striking people, which is nice because you don’t always have to play defense,” said Oxford Hills head coach Cindy Goddard.

Miller said it was good to manufacture a sizable lead early.

“It felt so good to just come out with a really good couple of innings,” said Miller. “We struggled in the fifth, sixth and seventh but we showed we could hold it together. That was good for us.”

Brewer coach Skip Estes was pleased with his team’s comeback.

“I was really happy. We made some early mistakes but we didn’t give up and we kept on hitting,” said Estes.

Sophomore Sara Young went the distance for Brewer and allowed 11 hits with three strikeouts and just one walk. She allowed just two hits and one run over the last three innings.

Goddard was impressed with Brewer’s resilience.

“They bunt, they run, they keep the pressure on you. They didn’t quit. It was awesome,” said Goddard. “It’s always fun coming up here playing these guys.”

Brewer will travel to play Lewiston on Saturday at 11, while Oxford Hills won’t play again until Monday at Edward Little High of Auburn beginning at 3:30.