Alexis Ortiz tossed a three-hit shutout as Battery Creek beat May River 1-0 on Monday in the opener of a three-game series between Region 8-3A softball powers.
Ortiz racked up 11 strikeouts and shut down the Sharks’ potential rallies in the sixth and seventh innings to help the Dolphins hold on.
May River’s Hayley Welsch matched Ortiz for most of the night, allowing one run and three hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
The night’s only run came in the fourth inning, when Kelsey Hill led off with an infield single, advanced on Ortiz’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on a May River error.
Olivia Turpin’s two-out single in the sixth started a rally that saw the Sharks load the bases before Ortiz ended the threat with a strikeout.
Giovana Rodriguez led off the seventh with a double to right-center and moved to third on Kayla Bradley’s sacrifice, but the Sharks couldn’t get her home on an attempted safety squeeze and Ortiz ended the game with her 11th strikeout.
Battery Creek (6-0, 4-0) hosts May River (4-3, 3-1) in the second game of the series at 7 p.m. Wednesday.