WEST MEMPHIS --- It was a tale of two wildly different contests on Tuesday afternoon at Tilden Rogers Park. Luckily for the Marion softball team, both results were the same. The Patriots were lights out in the opener of their 5A East doubleheader against host West Memphis, scoring 16 times to support senior left-hander Anna Murphy, who fired a no-hitter at the Blue Devils in a 16-0 victory in four innings. The nightcap proved more interesting as Marion (16-6 overall, 9-1 5A East) bolted out to a 5-0 lead before West Memphis (7-15, 1-9) tied the game with a four-run sixth inning. All the Blue Devil rally did was set the stage for Anna Hitchman's heroics. The junior all-conference performer of a season ago belted a mammoth three-run home run that pushed the Patriots back in front of the Blue Devils for good before she finished a complete game in a 10-5 Marion conquest. Marion's twin-bill sweep of West Memphis extended the Patriots' winning streak in the series to 25 consecutive games, dating to 2010. The Marion doubleheader sweep also clinched a spot in this season's Class 5A state tournament and pushed the Pats into second place all by their lonesome in the crowded 5A East standings. Marion closes out its conference schedule when it travels on Tuesday to Batesville (5-12, 2-8) before wrapping up its 5A East slate on Tuesday, May 2 at home for league-leading Greene County Tech (16-3, 10-0). Should the Pats win their last four conference games, they would earn the outright conference title and subsequent No. 1 playoff seed. GAME ONE MARION 16, WEST MEMPHIS 0 The high-powered Marion offense tallied its 16 runs on just four hits in the first game on Tuesday afternoon when a patient Patriot lineup accepted 12 walks and struck out just twice. After a scoreless first inning, Marion went to work in the top of the second when Murphy reached on an error before Ella McConnell reached on a hit-by-pitch and Claire Hall walked to load the bags with just one out. Senior centerfielder Mckenzie Shinabery plated the game's first run when she was hit by a pitch, and Morquecho walked for the second run. Senior Kelsey Baker cleared the bags with a double and a 5-0 Marion lead and Kelsey Eppes struck a sacrifice fly to give Marion a 6-0 lead entering the bottom of the second. A Hitchman walk delivered Supriya Chowdhury in the top of the third and a soft Jacey Holder line drive reached the outfield to deliver Morquecho and Eppes for a 9-0 Marion bulge. Hitchman scored on a wild pitch to cap the third-inning score at 10-0. Baker struck a fourth-inning triple to clear the bags again as Jordyn Stinson, Shinabery, and Morquecho came around for a 14-0 advantage. Holder completed the scoring when her single scored Baker and Eppes. Murphy worked a perfect second inning and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, but the lefty finished strong by striking out four of the final six Blue Devils she faced in the third and fourth frames. It was her second no-hitter of the spring, and the senior has won eight games in 2023 while fashioning a 2.49 ERA with 45 strikeouts with just 13 walks. GAME TWO MARION 10, W. MEMPHIS 5 Marion scored 10 runs on 10 hits and eight more walks in the nightcap, and the Pats' bats remained hot into the second contest, scoring three times in the home half of the first. The rally began when Shinabery walked, stole second, and scored on Morquecho's base hit for a 1-0 Marion lead. Hitchman helped her own cause with one out when she roped a double into the gap in left field, delivering Morquecho and Baker for a 3-0 lead after an inning. Shinabery delivered Chloe Miller on a groundout in the second, and Hitchman drove in freshman Alexis Jones with a groundout in the fourth as Marion cruised to a 5-0 advantage. But that's when West Memphis got the bats rattling as Jordyn Hightower roped a triple to right field and scored on a Presley Kuhn sacrifice fly to get the Blue Devils within 5-1. A sixth-inning West Memphis rally began in earnest with two outs and catcher Kayla Shaull and Williams accepting walks from Hitchman. That's when Hightower pounded a double to the fence to deliver Shaull and Williams as West Memphis worked within 5-3. Bella Hinze got the Blue Devils ever closer when her double delivered Hightower, and Kuhn's base hit tied the game at 5 in the top of the sixth before Hitchman stranded Kuhn at third when she struck out Kenzley Lowe. Morquecho walked and Jones singled leading off the bottom of the sixth and following an Eppes fly out, Hitchman cleared the left-center field fence with an 1-0 offering for a dramatic three-run home run that pushed the Pats back in front 8-5 with just one away. Holder continued the rally with a single before Murphy was hit by a pitch, and Marion loaded the bags when Miller walked. With two down, Shinabery pulled a ball down the left-field line that landed fair to deliver Maddie Cupples and Murphy for a 10-5 Marion lead. Hitchman worked around a one-out single by striking out the final two Blue Devils to deliver Marion a crucial conference victory. Morquecho (2-4 with two runs, an RBI, and a walk), Hitchman (2-4 with five RBI and a run), and Holder (2-3 with a walk) all accounted for two hits, while Shinabery drove in three runs. Miller finished 1-2 with a pair of walks and a run scored. Hitchman worked a complete game against West Memphis, striking out 13 Blue Devils and allowing just seven hits and three walks. The junior earned her seventh win of the spring and she leads the Marion staff with 51 strikeouts. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion hosts Class 4A power Brookland on Friday before continuing 5A East play on Tuesday, April 25 at Batesville. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM APRIL 18 Marion 16, W. Memphis 0 Marion 10, W. Memphis 5 Greene County Tech 7, Valley View 3 Greene County Tech 6, Valley View 2 Searcy 12, Batesville 2 Searcy 16, Batesville 2 Nettleton 6, Paragould 1 Nettleton 11, Paragould 7 5A EAST STANDINGS ON APRIL 19 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD (Top 4 teams advance to playoffs at Marion) Greene County Tech 10-0+ Marion 9-1+ Searcy 8-2+ Valley View 7-3+ Nettleton 2-8 Batesville 2-8 Paragould 1-9 W. Memphis 1-9 +clinched playoff berth