Morrison tickled pink with regional championship win over Princeton

PRINCETON - Morrison Fillies softball is all about having fun.

They sure had a lot of it Saturday.

The Fillies got shutdown pitching by ace pitcher Bella Duncan, who had 14 strikeouts, and the hitting of Kiyah Wolber, Bella Scachette, Allie Anderson and Bella Duncan, who had nine hits and six RBIs between them.

It helped the Fillies ride off with the Class 2A Princeton Regional championship, defeating the host Tigresses 9-0 at Little Siberia Field.

“That’s our main thing. That’s why we’re winning all these games because we’re coming out here and everyone is having fun and we all win as a team,” Duncan said.

Duncan explained the pink hair theme that many of the Fillies displayed.

“We do something fun every regional game,” Duncan said. “Last time, we had tattoes. Now this time we did pink hair. The coaches said they’d only do pink hair if we win, so that kind of motivated us all to get going.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do next, but I’ll figure it out.”

Morrison head coach Chelsea Eads didn’t mind letting Duncan turn the spray paint on her.

“It’s all for the fun of the game. And we’ve been having fun,“ Eads said. ”We’re on a winning streak right now and it’s all because they’re having so much fun. I was nervous before the game, but I relaxed just seeing how much fun they were having before the game. During the game, it’s absolutely amazing because that’s what it’s all about.”

The Fillies (21-4) advance to the Marian Central Sectional to face Marengo in a semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Indians (27-9) beat Aurora Central Catholic 6-3 on Friday.

“I’m so excited. All I can think about is what fun we’re going to do next,” Duncan said.

“This means a lot. I’m super excited. I think we can make it far this year,” Anderson said.

Duncan got all the runs she would need with two runs in the bottom of the first inning – and she was right in the middle of it.

She led off Morrison’s first turn at-bat with a single, and hustled to second on a foul pop up to Princeton catcher Kiyrra Morris, who had her back turned to the field at the back stop. After a Princeton throwing error on a sacrifice bunt by Wolber, Duncan scored on a bloop to right field by Bella Scachatte.

“Me and my Bella twin,” Duncan said with a smile.

Ava Duncan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0. Princeton pitcher Reese Reviglio managed to limit the damage to just two runs after the first five Morrison batters reached base.

Morrison continued to peck away. Scachette had an RBI single in the second and Anderson an RBI single in the fourth to give Morrison a 4-0 lead.

The Fillies broke the game open with four runs after two outs in the fifth. Bella Duncan drove in a run with a double to center, Wolber knocked in two with a single and a Princeton error plated another run to make it 8-0.

“That’s the best thing about these guys, they don’t let up. The runs we’re scoring every game, we’ll chip away every single inning,” Eads said. “The way they’ve been hitting through the lineup 1 through 9 is absolutely amazing.”

Princeton coach Jhavon Hayes said the Tigresses’ five errors proved costly as only three of the eight runs allowed by starting pitcher Reese Reviglio (4 2/3 IP, 10 H, 5 Ks) were earned.

“Reese pitched a pretty good game, keeping Morrison hitters off balance but we made errors and I’m pretty sure all of them scored,” she said.

Samantha Woolley, who will turn in her Tiger stripes in to play for the Judson University Eagles next year, said the Tigresses drew a tough assignment

“They had a great pitcher. We couldn’t really get on to her,” she said. “I thought our energy was great. I was proud of us in that aspect.

“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. We really got it together in these last practices and games. I’m super proud of what we’ve done this entire season. We battled hard.”

Bella Duncan went 3 for 4 out of the leadoff hole for the Fillies while Wolber (two RBIs), Scachette (two RBIs), Anderson (RBI) and Kaylee Pruis each had two hits.

Izzy Gibson, who had two home runs in Friday’s 9-6 semifinal win over Sandwich, continued her hot hitting with a 3 for 3 day for Princeton.