DODGE CITY — Stephanie Morrison got the Great Bend High School softball team’s offense started against Dodge City on Tuesday at Legends Park.
And then some.
The junior third baseman drove seven runs in the first game of a doubleheader, a 19-5 win over Dodge City in six innings.
Morrison drove in three runs with a double, three more with a three-run home run and her final run on sacrifice fly during the Lady Panthers’ eight-run sixth.
Great Bend completed the sweep with an 11-0 run-rule win in five innings and is now 12-0 on the season.
“Well, I was just glad that girls were on when I hit those,” Morrison said of her RBIs. “They did a real great job of getting on, and I just got lucky on my hits. I really think everyone is having fun and they are stepping up there with confidence, believing they can hit it.”
Great Bend got started in the second inning with pitcher Braylin Bretz hitting a single. Kelsie Doll followed that with a single, and Bonny Boultinghouse reached on an error to load the bases for Morrison.
Morrison struck her base-clearing double, and Kaylie Doll made it 4-0, driving in Morrison with a groundout.
Dodge City scored a run in the bottom of the second, but Morrison’s three-run smash extended Great Bend’s lead to 7-1 in the top of the third.
“That’s the way Stephanie’s performed from Day 1” GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said. “Stephanie is a real good player. She’s a very smart ball player. They gave her what she wanted to see, I guess.”
The Lady Demons were able to make up ground in the bottom of the third with four runs.
“I think Dodge is a team that is improving,” Minton said. “They make plays. I think it took our girls a little while at the plate again, but once we found that groove, it’s just a matter of being patient. We know that we’ll find it. It’s just a matter of when it will come.”
The Lady Panthers scored two runs in the top of the fourth, and McKenna Mauler had a two-run home run in the fifth before a eight runs in the sixth inning gave Great Bend a 19-5 advantage.
“I think sometimes, she’s really hard on herself as a hitter,” Minton said of Mauler. “It was nice to see her have that kind of success.”
Bretz had four strikeouts and allowed eight hits and five runs in the complete game.
Hunter Middleton pitched five scoreless innings in the second game while scattering two hits and recording six strike outs.
“It was another great outing for both the pitchers,” Minton said. “You know, Dodge City came out hitting a little bit against Braylin to start out. Defensively, we weren’t quite ready for that. Once we got settled in, Braylin settled in too. She ended up hitting her spots and doing a great job for us.”
Great Bend batted through the order in the top of the fourth to jump ahead 7-0 in the second game.
McKenna Mauler fouled out to lead off the fourth for the Lady Panthers, but a Barber walk and a Hannah Mauler bunt single set up Middleton’s sacrifice fly RBI and Samantha Dreiling’s RBI single.
The Lady Demons traded pitchers midway through the inning with Jordan Seabolt taking the mound.
Stueder scored on a wild pitch, and Dreiling scored on a past ball.
Kaylie Doll followed it up with an RBI single, and McKenna Mauler struck an RBI triple to close out the scoring for that inning.
The Lady Panthers tacked on four runs in the top of the fifth. Middleton closed out the bottom of the fifth to conclude the run-rule win.
Great Bend, which is 4-0 in the WAC, hosts Hays on Thursday. The doubleheader begins at 4 p.m.
“Everyone’s really excited and I don’t know, we’re just really pumped,” Morrison said of her team’s 12-0 run. “We’re ready to go. We’re ready to take on Hays.”