FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon will not fret long after Monday’s 12-5 loss to Noblesville.
They were disappointed in their performance, but with all due respect to the 2018 semistate qualifiers, the Marauders have some bigger priorities this week.
Mt. Vernon dropped to 11-2 with the loss, but it has two Hoosier Heritage Conference matchups on the horizon. The Marauders travel to Shelbyville tonight and play host to Pendleton Heights on Thursday.
“It was a very rough night," Mt. Vernon coach Veronica Kirby said. "Mentally, we were not here. We’re going to put it behind us and move forward to (tonight) and come out more focused and ready to play our softball.”
Even with the decisive loss, the Marauders came away with some good news.
Sophomore standout pitcher Karlee Franklin, who has a pair of HHC conference shutout victories over Delta and Greenfield-Central, was deemed fine after taking a line drive off her pitching hand in the first inning.
Kirby said with Monday’s contest being a non-conference affair and with two league games this week, Franklin left the game in the opening inning as a precaution. She is expected to be in the circle tonight in Shelbyville.
“She’s fine. It wasn’t worth (leaving her in) with a conference game (today)," Kirby said.
Franklin faced just six batters before handing the ball to relief pitcher Molly Buck.
Noblesville jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. A couple of Marauder miscues aided to the big first inning. The Millers also had a two-run home run from Ella White, who added another two-run home run in the fifth inning.
The Marauders were down 10-0 when Chloee Yocum got them on the board with a three-run homer in the fourth. Macey Cox, who singled ahead of Yocum’s blast, had a two-run home run in the sixth.
"We made adjustments offensively," Kirby said. "We did that and scored some runs. We’re not a team that is going to quit and give up. That’s not who we are. We just mentally ate ourselves tonight. That is what I am chalking it up to."
"I think they know I was very disappointed with how they played. This is our first time to actually fail like this. It’s a good learning moment for us. Hopefully it never happens again."
Cox had two of the Marauders five hits. Samantha Bennett added a double.
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Noblesville 12, Mt. Vernon 5
N (8-5);440;220;0;—;12;16;0
MV (11-2);000;302;0;—;5;5;3
WP: Maddie Taylor. LP: Karlee Franklin.
HR: Chloee Yocum, Macey Cox (MV): Ella White 2 (N). 2B:Samantha Bennett (MV); Chloe Tragesser 2, Ella White. RBI: Chloee Yocum 3, Macey Cox 2 (MV); Ella White 4, Abby Harvey 4, Emily Minett, Julia Furiak (N).
Notable: Macey Cox 2-for-3 HR 2 RBI, 2 R; Chloe Yocum 1-for-2 HR, 3 RBI, BB; Macy Griner 3 BB, R (MV)
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