MORAN — Talk about your quick starts.
Marmaton Valley High’s softball team opened both games of its doubleheader with Chetopa on the right foot Monday.
Three straight walks to Aly Ard, Brooklyn Adams and Kendall Scharff loaded the bases for Payton Scharff, who promptly unloaded them with a double.
The sequence keyed a 13-run first inning as part of an 18-0 Wildcat romp.
The tone continued in the nightcap when Ard tripled and Adams blasted a two-run home run to set the tone for a 17-7 victory.
The doubleheader sweep lifts Marmaton Valley back to .500 on the season at 6-6 and extends MV’s winning streak to a season-high four games.
After the early flurry, Kendall Scharff had little trouble keeping the Hornet hitters in check. She allowed one hit over three innings, while striking out six.
Meanwhile, Marmaton Valley batters took advantage of 16 free bases via walks. The Wildcats required only six hits to score those 18 runs.
Leading the charge were Adams with two doubles, Payton Scharff with a double, Bailey LaRue with a pair of singles and Ard with a single.
The second game featured plenty of Wildcat baserunners once again.
The Wildcats scored three in the first, two in the second, three in third, one in the fourth and ended things with a wallop in the fourth. Seven walks and singles by Payton Scharff and Tayven Sutton ended the game once the point differential reached 10.
Sutton handled the pitching duties. She gave up four hits and one earned run, while striking out six and walking nine.
Adams homered, Ard tripled, Kendall Scharff doubled and Sutton had a single.
The Wildcats host Jayhawk-Linn for two on Thursday.
