Sumter High's Morris shows off power stroke against Manning, Crestwood

Peyton Morris has been a force of nature in the heart of the Sumter High softball team's lineup all season long. That was never more evident than in a pair of games against tri-county foes last week.

Morris smacked four extra base hits, including a home run, in a pair of Lady Gamecock victories, earning Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week honors in the process.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to win or not, but I was super excited to be nominated and to win," Morris said of winning the vote.

Sumter faced off against Manning and Crestwood last week, winning both games. Morris said the fact that they were non-region contests against familiar faces took a lot of pressure off the Lady Gamecocks.

"I was more relaxed knowing it wasn't against our playoff record," Morris said. "I had the mindset of wanting to improve my batting average. I feel like I had better focus at the plate."

She certainly did that.

Morris' average leapt to .500 after a stellar week. Against Manning, she was 3-4 against Lady Monarch pitcher Sadie Johnson, going deep for her second home run of the season. She drove in two runs as Sumter pulled out a 4-2 comeback win.

"I actually know the pitcher from Manning and I hit one off of her last year, so I was a little more confident when I came up to the plate," Morris said. "I could feel it when it came off the bat and I was praying it would go out and help our team."

Morris was particularly excited to provide some offense in that win, as she was supporting her sister, Lily, who pitched six innings for the Gamecocks to earn the victory.

"My sister was pitching in that game, and she walked a run in, so I knew I needed to come back up at the plate and get us hitting the ball because our team was kind of down," Morris said.

Morris came back on Wednesday and smacked three doubles, driving in four runs in a 10-0 win over Crestwood.

"I think I was just more confident," Morris said of facing Crestwood's Maliah Wright. "She wasn't giving me anything with a lot of movement. It was a lot of fastballs, so I felt like I could drive the ball better."

Sumter High head coach Mike Moss said Morris' performance was exactly what he expected out of his veteran first baseman.

"She's been hot all year," Moss said. "We've really worked on her pitch selection and patience at the plate. I've spent a lot of time with her on understanding the strike zone and what to look for in different pitch counts. I think this has helped tremendously.

"She's not just getting up there looking for something to hit early in the count. She understands what pitches and locations she handles well and waits until she gets what she wants. She's really worked hard at perfecting her craft.

The timing of the wins was great for Sumter. It provided two victories right before spring break and allowed the Lady Gamecocks to get a nice confidence boost before wrapping up regular season play next week with games against Socastee, Lakewood and Crestwood.

"It was just more about fun at this point," Morris said of the two wins.