For The Daily Reporter
PENDLETON — Hoosier Heritage Conference doubleheaders have been known to go late into the night. That was most definitely not the case Friday night as Pendleton Heights hosted Mt. Vernon for two games.
Mt. Vernon won Game 1, 1-0, behind a stellar pitching performance by Kennedy Parker, and Pendleton Heights won Game 2, 3-0, after a mirror-image performance from Arabian pitcher Chayce McDermott.
The split brings the Marauders record to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the HHC.
“We just saw five or six guys pitch really, really well,” Mt. Vernon coach Ryan Carr said afterward. “Every game we play with (Pendleton) is like this.”
To start the night, Kennedy Parker took the mound for Mt. Vernon and put on a show. Both teams got two hits in the first inning without scoring, and both pitchers settled down for nearly the rest of the game.
Parker won the duel as he went seven innings with four strikeouts. Parker used his curveball to force numerous ground outs instead of trying to overpower the hitters with his fastball.
“With the rain, we really hadn’t been able to practice, which was good because Kennedy wears himself out,” Carr said. “We’ve focused with him a lot on how much a first pitch strike will help his stats, and he really seemed to take that to heart tonight.”
Mt. Vernon got the only run it needed in the fifth inning in fitting fashion. Ryan Beck singled for the Marauders and promptly stole second base.
One batter later, Tyler Franklin singled to right to drive Beck home.
In Game 2, the Marauders suffered a near mirror-image loss as Arabians pitcher Chayce McDermott threw a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts while allowing only one hit.
Interestingly enough, the Arabians only managed one hit as well.
Casey Branham, who advanced to third base after reaching first on two wild pitches, scored Pendleton’s first two runs.
After reaching third, Branham was able to score on a sacrifice fly and a ground out.
Despite losing the second game, Carr seemed upbeat about his team’s outlook going forward.
“Errors happen. Wild pitches happen,” Carr said. “When you’re playing high quality teams like this, you need to tighten those things up, but this conference is a monster this year.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Scoreline” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Game 1
Mt. Vernon 1, Pendleton Heights 0
MVHS (8-3, 4-2 HHC);000;001;0;—;1;6;1
PHHS (7-5, 4-3 HHC);000;000;0;—;0;5;0
2B: Harris (PH), Vestal (MV) SB: Beck (MV)
WP: Kennedy Parker (3-1) LP: Tanner Holloway (2-3).
Notables: Kennedy Parker (MV) – 7 IP, 0 R, 4 K, 2 BB; Tyler Franklin (MV) – 1-3, RBI.
Game 1
Pendleton Heights 3, Mt. Vernon 0
PHHS (8-5, 5-3 HHC);010;101;0;—;3;1;2
MVHS (8-4, 4-3 HHC);000;000;0;—;0;1;3
WP: Chayce McDermott (2-0) LP: Ryan Beck (1-2).
[sc:pullout-text-end]
