FORTVILLE — Karlee Franklin came into Wednesday’s game against Connersville confident.
She knew they were a good hitting team, and knew they had been hitting home runs. She wanted to shut them down.
When her first pitch was smacked right back at her, a line drive that ricocheted off her leg, she’d had enough already.
“She was like, ‘There’s your one. You’re done. Here we go, now. It’s my turn,’” Mt. Vernon coach Veronica Kirby said. “I love her confidence like that.”
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Franklin dominated the Spartans from start to finish, and with the Marauders offense rolling right along with her, the hosts cruised to an 8-0 win.
“Offensively we had great at-bats. Defensively we made plays, we communicated, we did what we needed to. We pitched a great game,” Kirby said. “When you can do those three things, you’re going to be successful. We didn’t have one person stand out huge. We all played well and did what we needed to do.”
After the first-pitch liner that resulted in an out, Franklin settled right in and struck out the second batter of the game. Connersville followed with two hits before Franklin struck out the final batter of the inning. Those two hits were half of what the Spartans would total for the game.
There would be plenty more strikeouts to come.
Mt. Vernon’s sophomore pitcher, who entered the game with 24 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched, added another dozen strikeouts to her total. At one point she struck out five straight batters, and she fittingly finished the game with her 11th and 12th strikeouts of the night.
“I was trying to be as confident as I could be,” Franklin said. “I knew if I wasn’t confident, I would make a mistake, they would hit and they would score. I knew I had to stay focused and have my ‘A’ game.”
“We saw they had 13 home runs, so we’re going to challenge them, see what we can do,” Kirby said. “She was like, ‘It’s not happening tonight.’ She was in the mode. She had her game-face on, and she knew she was going to control this game from the time it started. When Karlee gets in that mode, it’s pretty awesome.”
The sophomore pitcher had the benefit of an offense that jumped on the Spartans early.
The Marauders loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning off singles from Riley Hasseld and Sydnee Perry, and a walk to Sam Bennett. Anelise Worden singled in two and a fielder’s choice scored a third when Macy Griner grounded to the pitcher but reached first when the pitcher threw to home. The runner scored.
With that 3-0 lead, Franklin had more than enough to work with. She finished with 12 strikeouts while allowing just four hits and walking two.
“That makes me feel like I have a cushion, so if I do make a mistake, and they do hit and they score, I still have some room to wiggle,” Franklin said. “If we score, I can relax and do what I do.”
Mt. Vernon kept scoring, pushing across five runs in the first three innings and three more in the sixth.
The Marauders finished with 10 hits and were the beneficiaries of six Connersville errors, including three in the third inning that led to a run.
Perry led the Marauders with three hits, including a second-inning triple and two singles. She had three RBIs and scored twice. Worden also had three RBIs, and Worden, Hasseld and Haley Kissee each had a pair of hits.
“Perry hit the ball well tonight. That always helps when she comes in, gets quality at-bats for us and gives us that confidence, leads this team like she can and each of them can,” Kirby said. “She did a great job stepping up and doing that tonight. It’s been someone different doing that every game. That’s what’s been great about this team.”
With the win, Mt. Vernon improved to 5-0 on the season. The Marauders were supposed to have two big tests this week — against Hamilton Southeastern and Class 3A No. 3 Yorktown — but both games had to be postponed to a later date.
Mt. Vernon will be back in action Saturday for a road doubleheader at Columbus East.
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Mt. Vernon 8, Connersville 0
C (3-4);000;000;0;—;0;4;6
MV (5-0);311;003;X;—;8;10;0
WP: Karlee Franklin. LP: Jeri Ellis.
3B: Sydnee Perry (MV). RBI: Perry 3, Anelise Worden 3, Macy Griner (MV)
Notable: Franklin 7 IP, 12 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 0 ER; Perry 3-for-4, 3B, 3 RBI; Worden 2-for-4, 3 RBI
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