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Offensive outburst lifts Kelly to Scott-Miss championship
Kelly players pile up in celebration near the mound after an 8-3 win against Oran to wrap up the Scott-Mississippi Conference championship Friday at Kelly High School.
Brent Shipman/Standard Democrat
BENTON, Mo – Kelly senior Bryce Morgan got the best birthday gift a starting pitcher could ask for Friday against Oran: run support.
Scoring in each of the first three innings, the Hawk’s offensive outburst culminated with a four-run third inning that helped down the Eagles 8-3 and locked up the Scott-Mississippi Conference championship.
“We stuck to our plan,” Kelly head coach Jeremy Smith said. “It was to get to (starting pitcher) Ty Johnson early and often and to keep applying pressure to him. I thought we did a phenomenal job of that.
Kelly starting pitcher Bryce Morgan delivers a pitch against Oran Friday afternoon at Kelly High School.
Brent Shipman/Standard Democrat
“Bryce Morgan is the birthday boy. He did a phenomenal job as always. We feel like we’re invincible when he’s on the mound. Just another day like that for him.”
Back-to-back two-run innings gave the Hawks a comfortable 4-1 lead, but it was the bottom of the third where Kelly broke the game open.
Errors allowed the first two base runners of the frame, scoring the first with two outs as well.
An RBI single from Drew Dirnberger with a pair of Hawks on base kept the rally going before Bryce Phelps cleared the bases with a two-RBI single to make it 8-1.
On top of the two errors in the inning, a wild pitch brought runners to second and third that eventually scored.
“We made way too many mistakes,” Oran head coach Joe Bickings said. “Too many errors and our pitchers just seemed like they couldn’t throw anything off-speed for a strike. They weren’t chasing at is, so we had to throw fastballs.
“When we threw fastballs they were able to hit it and when they hit it our defense didn’t play very well today.”
The Eagles got a run in the fifth before a home run from Luke Peterson in the sixth made it 8-3, but they couldn’t close the gap any further.
Morgan went six innings to collect the win. He allowed all three Eagle runs, only one earned, on four hits while striking out eight and not issuing a walk.
Kelly finished with 10 hits on the afternoon, led by Gavin Jansen’s 3 for 3 effort drove in a pair of runs. He also drew a walk to reach in all four appearances.
Morgan and Dirnberger each had two hits with Ty Powers and Phelps doubling.
Kelly (16-5) has won three of their last four games.
“We’ve had some really good games, both against Valle and here against Oran,” Smith said. “Our season has gone awesome for us. We’re pumped about going into district play. We have Sikeston (Saturday) and some other tough teams down the stretch to prep us for it.”
For Oran (16-4), Dawson Menz and Kolten Payne doubled and Peterson homered.
The teams combined for 10 errors with Oran’s six lead to seven of Kelly’s eight runs being unearned.
“We always preach defense, pitching, and timely hitting wins games,” Bicking said. “Today our pitching and defense let us down a little bit. When we had runners on Bryce would make good pitches and get out of the jam.
“Hats off to him. he’s a phenomenal pitcher, probably one of the best in our conference.”
Oran 010 011 0 – 3 5 6
Kelly 224 000 x – 8 10 4
WP – Bryce Morgan. LP – Ty Johnson. Multiple hitters: Drew Dirnberger (K) 2-3, Gavin Jansen 3-3 (K), Bryce Morgan (K) 2-4. 2B – Dawson Menz (O), Kolten Payne (O), Ty Powers (K), Bryce Phelps (K). HR – Luke Peterson (O).