Fayetteville’s Keller named West’s top player in softball twinbill
Posted on Thursday, June 26, 2008
Fayetteville's Morgan Keller doesn't like the idea of sliding in the dirt to beat out a throw on the softball diamond.
And it showed Wednesday afternoon in Game 1 of the All-Star softball doubleheader at Lady'Back Yard.
The first pitch in her first atbat produced an RBI single in the fifth inning. And her second plate appearance trumped her teammates' performances as she hit a tworun triple on two strikes in the top of the seventh.
The West All-Stars went on to shut out the East, 8-0. The win marked the first for the West since 2006 as Keller led her squad with 3 RBIs on a 2-of-2 performance at the plate.
The Fayetteville senior was named the West All-Stars'most outstanding player.
"Morgan is one of those that is not real vocal, but she gets the job done on offense and defense," West head coach Wiley Cunningham said.
On Keller's triple that plated Cassie Martin and Sheyanne Muse for the last runs of the first game, she sped around second base and was never in danger of being tagged out as the ball rolled nearly 200 feet in right field.
El Dorado's Cassie Martin, who won the All-Star doubleheader's MVP award, also hit a triple, plating the West's fourth run of the night in the fifth frame. Keller later plated Martin with a middle-ofthefield single to extend the lead to 5-0 before the Lady Bulldog's seventh-inning barrage.
"Normally that's a bunt situation, but we knew we had hitters and we had to turn them loose," Cunningham said.
"I haven't hit a lot of triples this year, so [my ] speed helped me out a lot," Keller said. "I'm pretty OK with not sliding."
Cunningham, who led Ashdown to a Class 4 A state championship over Highland last month at Lady'Back Yard, is pretty familiar with Keller. Ashdown has played Fayetteville in the Farmington-Fayetteville Invitational in recent years.
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