ND's Morgan finding his groove at the plate, of late

There was not an abundance of offensive highlights in Notre Dame’s 5-2 loss at Class 3 No. 2-ranked Scott City (26-3) in a rain-shortened contest on Thursday. However, one degree of success was attained by junior Reid Morgan, who has been on a tear of late.

Morgan drew a walk against Ram junior hurler Kobe Watson, which at least was a testament to his eye at the plate.

“Reid has been in the middle of the order for us,” first-year Bulldog coach Dave Lawson said recently. “He’s kind of a (number) 3 or 4 guy for us.”

Morgan was the lone Notre Dame player named to the All-SEMO Conference Tournament Team after producing very well throughout the event and helping Notre Dame win two of three games.

In the tourney opener against Dexter, Morgan tallied three hits, including a double, while driving in four runs and scoring once.

In an 11-0 thumping of New Madrid County Central, Morgan got one hit, scored once, and got hit by an Eagle pitch.

Morgan closed the tournament by bashing two hits against Sikeston in a 12-1 win, driving in another four runs, and scoring once.

That hot stretch, which included another two-hit performance against Sikeston prior to the tournament, followed a three-game stretch in which Morgan went hitless.

“He had gone through some struggles,” Lawson said, “but he is the middle of the order guy for us and has been good for us.”

Lawson said that because Morgan is hitting in the three or four spot, he “gets pitched to a little differently,” which makes producing at the plate challenging at times.

“He is getting pitched to tougher than he ever has in his life,” Lawson continued. "He is learning how to be a three-four hitter, and he is doing a pretty good job with it.”

Defensively, Morgan has not had a miscue in the field all season.

The Bulldogs have already matched last season’s 13 wins.

Notre Dame will host Class 5 No. 6-ranked Festus (20-6) on Monday at Notre Dame (4:30 p.m.).