AUBURN – Much of her athletic career has been about aches and pains, frustration and disappointment.

Kim Lawrence has been plagued by injuries while at Edward Little. Despite the numerous setbacks, she’s persevered.

So Thursday’s 8-0 win over Morse was a bit of a reward. The junior pitcher earned her first win of the season and blanked the Shipbuilders with a fine effort.

“She’s fought all season,” said EL coach Elaine Keene. “She hasn’t given up. She’s worked hard during practice during those times. She’s allowed her body to manage itself and allowed her body to heal. She’s fought through a long three years of injuries. She deserved that today.”

Lawrence dislocated her knee during softball season last year, and she’s been hampered by a chronic Achilles injury. It has forced her out of action for much of the last few seasons in multiple sports. So she’s relished her return to action this spring.

“It’s been awesome. It really has,” said Lawrence. “Injuries have been a big thing for the past couple of years. So it’s nice to get back playing.”

Lawrence allowed just two hits and struck out four. Morse threatened and left two runners on in four different innings, but Lawrence was unflappable.

“I just go out there and have fun and make sure everyone else is focused and enjoying themselves,” said Lawrence.

It was a cathartic victory for the Red Eddies. EL (5-10) was 13th in Eastern A and chasing 11th-seeded Morse (6-9) in the last playoff spot. After a Wednesday practice that rejuvenated its spirits, EL produced one of its best efforts.

“It was the team we saw in preseason,” said Keene, whose club finishes the season against top-ranked Brewer next week. “They were loose. They were excited for each other. They complimented each other, and they just gave everything they had.”

EL’s offense had 10 hits. Emily Grund, Lawrence and Kayla Cummings all had a pair. Grund, Jena Dubois, Alyssa Levesque, Becca Witten and Cummings all drove in runs.

“We knew we had faced her in the first game of the season,” said Cummings of Morse hurler Meagan Hennessey. “We knew we had all improved a lot. She wasn’t the fastest pitcher. So we knew we had to keep our weight back and time it up and it would fly.”

The Shipbuilders ran into trouble before the game began. While warming up on the sidelines, an errant Hennessey pitch hit Kelsey Cavanaugh in the head. She was taken to the hospital for examination. Losing their leadoff hitter and centerfielder had Morse revamping the lineup at the last minute.

Hennessey regrouped and pitched well early, but EL got hits and took advantage of Morse miscues in the field. In the third, Levesque’s single scored Michele Peaco and an error on the hit allowed Grund to make it 2-0. In the fourth, after a Lawrence hit, courtesy runner Emily Johnson scored from first on a Grund single and error in the outfield. Grund then scored from second on a Dubois bunt.

“It was absolutely everybody,” said Keene. “Freshman Emily Johnson, who right now is a role player, scores from first base. That’s huge for the team to see. She’s willing to take that chance. Everyone played their role and did it to the best of their abilities.”

EL added four more in the fifth. A Morse error on an Alice Read single plated Megan Hussar. Read scored on a Witten bunt hit. Cummings followed with an RBI single and scored on a Grund sacrifice fly.

“I think we just need one person to get it going for us and after that, we’re on a roll,” said Cummings.