Alexis Morton gave Collinsville almost nothing to work with Tuesday night.
When the Lady Cardinals did manage to put something together, Claremore made sure it went nowhere.
Morton scattered 3 hits across 6 2/3 scoreless innings, while the Lady Zebras broke the game open with a 4-run third inning en route to a 7-0 victory in their District 5A-4 opener.
Claremore improved to 6-7 overall and 1-0 in district play, while Collinsville dropped to 4-6 and 0-2.
Morton struck out 5, walked none and allowed only one Collinsville runner to reach third base through the first five innings.
The Lady Cardinals finally put two aboard in the sixth, but the Lady Zebras' defense again kept them from mounting a threat. Morton then retired the first two batters of the seventh before Claremore finished off the shutout.
The Lady Zebras did most of their damage in two bursts.
Claremore scored four times in the third, taking advantage of a pair of Collinsville errors, then Tilly Andrews provided the biggest hit of the night with a 2-run double in the fifth.
Andrews and Addison Reavis each drove in 2 runs, while Claire Pilkington and Riley Fay accounted for the Lady Zebras' other RBIs.
Andrews led off the second with a single, but pinch runner Alexa Reed was caught stealing. Fay then reached second on an error in center field, and Pilkington brought her home with a line-drive single to give Claremore a 1-0 advantage.
Collinsville catcher Ashtyn Gilkey threw out Pilkington attempting to steal second later in the inning, but the Lady Zebras' offense came roaring back one frame later.
Bella Michael opened the third with a double to left before Bella Weaver singled to put runners at the corners.
Then the Lady Cardinals' defense unraveled.
Presley Stimson reached on an error at first, allowing Michael to score, and Reavis followed with a grounder that resulted in another error. Stimson and Weaver both came around on the play, suddenly stretching Claremore's advantage to 4-0.
Reavis wound up at second, moved to third on Andrews' groundout and scored when Fay executed a sacrifice bunt to complete the 4-run outburst and make it 5-0.
That was far more support than Morton needed.
Collinsville had put a runner in scoring position in the second when Adde Davison singled and advanced to third following a wild pitch and groundout. Morton stranded her there, then retired the Lady Cardinals in order in each of the next three innings.
She was particularly sharp through the middle innings.
Morton struck out Parker Knight and Bailey Mayfield consecutively in the fourth before fielding Kennedi Hammer's grounder herself. She then struck out Davison and Gilkey around a lineout in the fifth for another perfect frame.
Claremore added its final cushion in the bottom half.
Stimson reached on Collinsville's third error of the game before Reavis singled to left. Andrews followed by driving a double to center, scoring both runners and pushing the lead to 7-0.
The Lady Cardinals mounted their best late threat in the sixth when Kaylee Bendidi beat out a bunt single before Jordan McKeen reached on the Lady Zebras' lone error, putting two aboard with one out.
Fay tracked down Knight's fly ball in center, however, and Morton induced a groundout from Mayfield to escape without damage.
Morton then returned for the seventh and retired Hammer on a fly ball and Davison on a groundout before exiting one out shy of the complete game. Claremore retired Mollie Cavanaugh on a fly ball to Fay in center to preserve the shutout.
Collinsville starter Kylee Hill allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, on 4 hits over 2 innings. Emma Helm later worked the final three innings, with Andrews' 2-run double accounting for the Lady Zebras' only scoring against her.
Knight, Davison and Bendidi accounted for the Lady Cardinals' 3 hits.
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