ARMA — The Marmarton Valley Wildcats rebounded from a 8-3 loss in the opener for a 10-0 mercy-rule victory in the finale of Monday’s doubleheader against the Northeast Vikings.
Costly errors proved the difference in the opener, but a pair of strong performances on the mound by brothers Tyler and Lane Lord kept the Vikings off of the scoreboard in the finale.
In the opener, senior Tyler Lord, playing shortstop, and senior third baseman Garrett Morrison accounted for Marmarton Valley’s only two hits. Morrison drove in Lord in the opening frame with a triple.
Northeast responded with four unanswered runs in the second and third innings, but sophomore pitcher Thomas Allee’s grounder cut the Vikings’ lead to two runs.
The Wildcats’ bats went cold until the sixth inning, when Allee struck again with another groundout-RBI, but by that time Northeast already had a seven-run advantage. The Vikings held on for the win, snapping Marmaton Valley’s four-game win streak. Allee took the loss despite posting a team-leading five strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings. Junior Todd Stevenson tallied three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings and Morrison posted one in 1 1/3 innings.
In the finale, the Lord brothers combined for seven strikeouts for a shutout. Freshman Lane Lord, playing shortstop, put MVHS on the scoreboard with a two-RBI single, then a Morrison single ended the third inning with the Wildcats ahead 3-0.
Sophomore outfielder Kaden McVey added another run in the fourth inning with an RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded walk to further extend MVHS’ lead. The Wildcats continued pouring on the runs from there with RBIs from Allee, Morrison and both Lord brothers until a four-run sixth inning forced an early stoppage.
Allee ended the night with a team-leading three RBIs, followed by Morrison and Lane Lord with two each. Morrison had a team-leading three hits while successful in 3 of 4 at-bats. Lane Lord and senior second baseman Brevyn Campbell had two hits each.
Following Monday’s doubleheader, the Wildcats have a 5-3 record and are 5-3 in the Three Rivers League. They look to improve their record on the road against Uniontown Thursday. First pitch for the opener is at 3:30 p.m.
