Scott City routs Oran to pick up 20th win

Eyeing win number 20 and the Scott-Mississippi Conference championship, the Scott City Rams battled the Oran Eagles on Wednesday afternoon.

Early offense led the way as the Rams downed the Eagles 9-1, picking up win number 20.

“I’m really proud of how we came out today,” Rams coach Morgahn Petersen said. “This was a pretty big game coming into this week and this is what we wanted to get going into districts.”

After a quick inning defensively to open the game, led by pitcher Alyssa Dirden, the Rams’ offense went to work.

Scott City worked three consecutive walks to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first.

Dirden helped herself by blasting a two-run double to score a pair of runs and make it 2-0 Rams.

“She’s been awesome this year,” Petersen said. “She’s amazing wherever we put her and she’s a really tough out at the plate. She does it all for us and she’s a really good senior leader.”

The next batter, Halle Comer, drove in a run with a single after Mackenzie Lawless scored on a passed ball to extend the Rams’ lead to 4-0.

“That was big for us,” Petersen said. “We’ve been struggling to come out on top right out of the gate and we did that today. That’s what we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks.”

After giving Dirden a 4-0 lead, she rewarded her offense by making quick work of the Eagles in the top half of the second to get their bats back to work.

“We always talk about winning the inning,” Petersen said. “Anytime we can put a zero up for them and at least one for us is good.”

Much like the bottom of the first, the top of the order manufactured a run for Scott City and this time it was Gracie Karrenbrock who worked a walk, stole second base and then when stealing third base, scored on a throwing error to make it 5-0.

Following another scoreless frame posted by Dirden, the Rams led off the bottom of the third with a walk by Dirden herself and then a single by Comer scored Dirden after she stole second base.

The Rams’ lead ballooned to 7-0 when Summer Wagner reached on an error, seeing Comer score with two outs in the inning.

“We’ve done a good job of staying disciplined at the plate and working counts,” Petersen said.

Despite trailing 7-0, the Eagles continued to battle, and with two outs in the top of the fourth, Ava Forehand reached on an error, stole second base and then scored on a bloop single by Caroline Brashear to make it 7-1 Scott City.

In the home half of the fourth, the Rams began the inning by drawing three straight walks once again, loading the bases with nobody out.

Dirden picked up her third RBI of the game when she was hit by a pitch making it 8-1 Rams.

Oran starter Molly Spane loaded the bases with nobody out, but to her credit, she managed to allow just one run on the hit by pitch, to keep the Eagles in the contest.

Dirden tossed five innings before being pulled and during that span, she allowed one run on three hits while striking out four.

Taking over for Dirden was Mackenzie Lawless as she tossed the final two innings, allowing just one walk while striking out three.

“The two of them work great together,” Petersen said, “and I just wanted to get Mackenzie in there today too.”

In the bottom of the sixth, Scott City once again worked tough at-bats to have the bases loaded and managed to scratch a run across when Lily Elders grounded out, making it 9-1 Rams.

Offensively, the Rams were led by Dirden who went 1-for-1 with 3 RBIs and drew three walks in the win.

Karrenbrock walked three times and scored two runs as well for the Rams.

Oran ends the regular season with a record of 11-6 and the Eagles now set their sights on the Class 1 District 2 tournament as they open play at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, May 3, against Delta in Advance.

Scott City closes the regular season with a record of 20-5 as the Rams now prepare to open Class 2 District 2 play at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, when the Rams battle Woodland in Ste. Genevieve.

“We talk a lot about how anybody can get hot and anybody can fall off at this time of year,” Petersen said. “We can’t pay attention to anything except our game.”