FORTVILLE — It was double figures all the way around for the Mt. Vernon softball team.
The Marauders had 15 hits and scored 11 runs to get their 10th win of the season on Tuesday.
Against Class 2A No. 14 Lapel, Mt. Vernon scored in all but one at-bat and won its second straight game, 11-5.
The numbers look good, but coach Veronica Kirby feels her club has the ability to play better.
“I don’t want them to be satisfied, I want them to stay hungry,” Kirby said.
The Class 4A Marauders are 10-1 overall, with their only loss to Hoosier Heritage Conference rival New Palestine, the two-time defending Class 3A state champions. Mt. Vernon played the Dragons tough before a 5-2 loss last Thursday.
They proved they could bounce back, too, defeating another conference foe, Delta, on the road Monday night.
Whether it was a let down after two big league games or the fact that the team returned late from its trip to Muncie on Monday, Kirby thought the team came out sluggish.
She was impressed, though, on how they fought through it.
“All in all, I’m not upset but I’m not pleased. I know we can play better than that," she said. "We proved that when we played New Pal the other night.
“We fought through it. Our pitching struggled a little bit today and both of them would tell you that, but they didn’t give up and didn’t quit. (Reliever) Molly (Buck) gave up a few hits and then ended up with a great pitch (to get a strikeout) to end the game.”
It was a rare rough start for sophomore pitcher Karlee Franklin, who walked three and hit a batter in two innings. She had only walked five in 49 innings prior to Tuesday’s game against the Bulldogs.
Franklin walked the first two hitters of the game but bounced back with a pair of strikeouts. Lapel left runners at second and third to end the first inning.
Buck relieved and threw the final five innings. She threw four shutout frames, but also had a rough stretch in the sixth, giving up five straight hits.
On offense, Haley Kissee, Sydney Perry and Anelise Worden all had three-hit games. Kissee had one of Mt. Vernon’s two extra-base hits, an RBI-double in the fourth. Perry scored three runs, while Worden had three RBI-singles.
“Once one person starts an inning, we all just follow. It gives us high energy and we continued to hit the ball,” Worden said.
Kissee opened the first with a single and scored on a double by Riley Hasseld. Perry and Worden also had first-inning hits to get the Marauders out to a 4-0 lead.
Lapel got back into it with two runs in the second.
Mt. Vernon started pulling away in the middle innings. A Worden single scored Perry to give Mt. Vernon a 5-2 lead after three.
Kissee and Hasseld had RBIs in the fourth to extend the margin to 7-2 and Chloee Yocum had a big two-run single in the fifth to give Mt. Vernon the biggest lead of the game, 9-2.
"It was a team effort today," Kirby said.
Buck helped her cause with two hits and an RBI. Lauryn Helderbrand added a pair of hits, too.
Samantha Bennett and Macey Cox each had first-inning RBIs.
The Marauders are back in action Thursday, hosting Fishers before facing another county and conference rival, Greenfield-Central, on Friday.
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Mt. Vernon 11, Lapel 5
L (7-3);020;003;0;—;5;8;1
MV (10-1);401;222;X;—;11;15;2
WP: Molly Buck. LP: Chloe Bousman.
2B: Riley Hasseld, Haley Kissee (MV); Ashlynn Allman (L). RBI: Anelise Worden 3, Riley Hasseld 2, Chloee Yocum 2, Molly Buck, Macey Cox, Samantha Bennett, Sydney Perry (MV); Ashlynn Allman 2, Kylie Rich 2, Addie Bailey (L).
Notable:Haley Kissee 3-for-4, 2B, SB, 2 R, RBI; Anelise Worden 3-for-4 3 RBI, R; Sydney Perry 3-for-4 3 R, SB, RBI (MV)
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