Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Kira Morris
By Ray Hamill — Local fans know just how impressive Kira Morris has been on the softball diamond this season, and now she’s being recognized for it beyond the Redwood Curtain.
This week, the Eureka junior was named as a 2022 North Coast Section Player of the Year candidate by ScoreBookLive.com.
Morris was included as one of 20 players from throughout the entire section that SB Live believes “made the best cases in 2022 for Player of the Year/Most Valuable Player consideration.”
More impressively, Morris was one of just eight underclassmen on the list.
Two other H-DNL players — Eureka senior McKenna Beach and Del Norte sophomore McKenna Curtis — were included among 24 players also considered for top-20 inclusion.
According to the SB Live story, which can be accessed here, Morris was “one of the best two-way players in the section.”
The junior star did not lose a game in the pitcher’s circle until the final week of the season and finished tied for most wins in the NCS with 24 and with an ERA of 1.31.
She was equally impressive at the plate, leading the section with 54 RBIs and pacing her own team with seven home runs.
Three of those home runs remarkably came in the final game of the season, with Morris doing her utmost to keep her team’s season going in a 9-8 loss at Monterey in the NorCal Division-4 semifinals.
Beach was every bit as influential in the team’s big season, which saw the Loggers win 27 games and lose only once in the regular season.
McKenna Beach, left, and Kira Morris
McKenna Curtis
The outgoing senior, who will play at Cal Poly Humboldt next year, averaged .593 at the plate and was a rock defensively behind the plate, working very well with Morris.
She also had four home runs and 31 RBIs.
Curtis, who is only a sophomore, also is coming off an outstanding spring for Del Norte.
The Warriors pitcher led her team to the NCS semifinals and within two wins of the program’s second-ever section championship.
She had an ERA of 1.74 and batted .323.
