LASKER – Ridgecroft School continued to move in the right direction here Thursday.

The Lady Rams used a one-hitter from Mary Kate Morris to roll over Tarheel Independent Conference rival Northeast Academy 12-1.

Ridgecroft jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first frame.

Emily Cooke led off with a double and scored on an RBI-single off the bat of Sara Hackney. Hackney came around on an RBI-groundout by Morris to give the Lady Rams a 2-0 lead.

Ridgecroft extended that lead with four marks in the top of the second.

Consecutive walks were issued to Lindsay Jacob, Erin Cooke, Taylor McKeel and Emily Cooke. Smith then had a two-run double. Cooke scored on an error as Ridgecroft surged ahead 6-0.

Northeast scored its only run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Jennifer Sykes walked and reached third on a throwing error. She scored on a Kelly Sykes RBI-groundout to cut the lead to 6-1.

Ridgecroft then exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Lauren Colson and Erin Cooke reached on walks. Colson then scored when McKeel reached on an error and Erin Cooke scored on a double by Emily Cooke.

McKeel came in when Hackney reached on an error and then Smith delivered a two-run scoring single. She scored on a double by Brice Harrison.

Morris tossed all five innings, striking out nine and walking just two.

The Lady Rams were led by Emily Cooke who was 2-for-3 with two doubles while Smith was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Hackney was 2-for-4 for Ridgecroft while McKeel was 1-for-2 and Harrison was 1-for-4.

Jennifer Sykes was 1-for-1 for Northeast.

The Lady Rams improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Tarheel Independent Conference.