AUGUSTA — This time around, the Cony softball team didn’t need a late-inning rally to beat Oxford Hills.
The Rams took care of the rematch much, much earlier.
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Nicole Rugan belted a mammoth two-run home run in the third inning to match a team single-season record, and Sonja Morse took a no-hitter into the seventh inning to lead the Rams past Oxford Hills 9-2 in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A game Wednesday afternoon.
“It was a big game for us,” said Rugan, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. “Who doesn’t want to beat an undefeated team?”
Morse struck out 15 and allowed one hit — a seventh inning double by Breanna Martin — for the Rams (12-0).
“It gives us a chance to get home field in the playoffs,” Cony coach Rocky Gaslin said. “It’s what we’re shooting for.”
Rugan hit her fifth home run of the season, which tied the single-season record of five set by Devon Gaslin — Rocky’s daughter — in 2004.
“I think (Rugan) is going to get it,” Rocky Gaslin said. “I hope she does. I hope she hits 20 more.”
Maggie Russell and Molly Russell each went 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Rams. Morse and Alyssah Dennett drove in a pair of runs as well.
Abby Bernier had an RBI groundout to spoil the shutout in the seventh inning for the Vikings (8-3), whose six-game winning streak came to an end.
In the first meeting between the two teams on April 27, Cony scored six runs in the top of the seventh inning to snap a 5-5 tie and win 11-6.
There would be no drama Wednesday.
Morse supported her own cause with an RBI triple in the bottom of the first inning to put Cony ahead 1-0.
“We came out ready to play because they gave us a run for our money last time we played them,” Morse said.
It stayed that way until Rugan’s home run in the third. Arika Brochu got things started in the inning with a one-out bunt single down the first baseline. Dennett then lined out to left before Rugan stepped in. The senior catcher then lined a 3-2 fastball over the fence to deep left-center for a two-run homer and a 3-0 lead.
The ball easily cleared the fence and a grassy banking before striking a tree in front of a blue mini van.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” Rugan said of the at-bat. “I’ve been really working on staying relaxed and I just had to calm myself down. It felt good when I hit it. I wish I could’ve watched it.”
Cony padded the lead with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth to go up 6-0. Molly Russell had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning before Maggie Russell hit an RBI single in the fifth.
“I like the way we are hitting,” Gaslin said. “Everybody in our lineup hits.”
Morse was dominant from the start. She struck out the side in the second and third innings, relying primarily on a good fastball.
“I felt comfortable out there,” she said.
Added Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard: “Cony has the whole package. They hit the ball hard. Sonja did a great job on the mound They have the pitching and the defense. They really have it all. It was nice to come back in the seventh, though, and break up the no-hitter and score some runs.”
Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com
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