Scots withstand late Shorewood rally for 3-2 win

SHORELINE — One out away from a tidy, two-hit shutout of her district rival, Shorecrest pitcher Ashley Morrison encountered a patch of turbulence.

Shorewood staged a valiant two-out comeback in its final at-bats to erase a 2-0 deficit and force extra innings in Monday’s crosstown softball clash.

But Morrison buckled down and the Scots battled back to clip the Thunderbirds a 3-2 in a Wesco 4A South Division thriller at Shorewood High School.

“That’s the best ballgame we’ve been in all year. This was a heckuva comeback,” Shorewood coach Tom Rizzuto said. “Their whole attitude was different today because we were playing Shorecrest. They were bound and determined they didn’t want to lose this game.”

Sophomore second baseman Casey Maehl capitalized on one of Shorewood’s six errors to score the winning run for Shorecrest in the top of the 11th inning.

“They did a good job hanging in there,” Scots coach Kristie Oglesby said. “But I felt like we should have had more runs. We had a lot more opportunities than what we actually scored.”

Shorecrest stranded 16 runners on base, six more than the T-birds. In the second and third innings the Scots left runners at second and third and in the fourth they left the bases full.

“We had runners on base in scoring position and couldn’t get that key hit to get them in,” Oglesby said. “All we’ve been doing in practice is hitting. We’re going through a team slump.

“We’ve been talking to the girls about being up and down. We’re not consistent right now. When we play up to our potential, we’re playing great.”

Shorecrest third baseman Erica Benson broke a scoreless tie with a two-run double to deep right-center in the top of the third. Emily Weinberg led off the inning with a bunt single and Maehl reached base safely on an error.

Outfielder Brittany Lazar ignited Shorewood’s seventh-inning rally with a double to left field and advanced to third on a ground ball to the right side of the infield.

With two outs, freshman catcher Robyn Morton and senior shortstop Shannon Sullivan drew walks to load the bases for Ty Matthews, who blasted a grounder over second base to tie the score at 2-all.

“It was kind of the pitch I like. I just knew I was going to hit,” said Matthews, who struck out, grounded out and flied out in her first three at-bats.

Tendinitis in her throwing shoulder prevents Matthews from playing in the field, but her performance at the plate has been steady.

“We’ve recently moved her up in the order,” Rizzuto said. “She had three hits against Lynnwood (last week) and came up with the big hit here.”

Rizzuto felt Morton’s walk — her second of the game — was the crucial at-bat of the seventh inning.

“That allowed us to get back to the top of the order,” he said. “Shannon got on and Ty got the base hit.”

Morrison responded by fanning five of Shorewood’s next seven batters. She issued just one of her seven walks during the final four innings and finished with 14 strikeouts.

Sophomore Jackie Osborn threw all 11 innings for the T-birds, allowing seven hits and five walks to go with a pair of strikeouts.

“She’s been pitching the tough games for us and doing really well,” Rizzuto said. “She doesn’t overpower you but she moves the ball around.”

Pitching appeared to be an area of concern for Shorewood at the start of the season, but Osborn and junior Jill Wyatt have done an admirable job according to Sullivan.

“Our pitching has definitely come along,” she said. “We’ve never lost a game due to pitching. It’s always been other factors.”

Briana Davis and Geneva Hale contributed two hits apiece for the Scots, who went on to blank Jackson 3-0 Tuesday to improve to 6-3 in league play and 8-3 overall.

Hale was 3-for-3 with a triple, double and two RBI and Morrison collected six strikeouts and allowed just five hits. The win moved Shorecrest into a three-way tie with Everett and Jackson for third in the division.

Shorewood completed the first half of its Wesco South schedule Tuesday with a 5-0 loss to Everett. The T-birds (3-6, 4-7) are alone in seventh place, but Rizzuto anticipates a better second half of the season.

“We’re starting to find ourselves and we’re starting to play better,” he said. “I think the next time around it’s going to be a lot more fun for us.”