FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon and Pendleton Heights didn’t show all of their cards Wednesday.
In a matchup of two of the top teams in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and two favorites that could possibly meet in the upcoming Class 4A Sectional 9, hosted by the Marauders, neither coach elected to throw their No. 1 pitcher.
Pendleton Heights, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, was able to come up with two big innings to defeat Mt. Vernon, ranked No. 17, 12-0, in five innings on Wednesday.
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The Arabians scored three in the second inning and added nine more in the fourth.
Pendleton Heights improved to 16-3 overall and 3-1 in the HHC. Mt. Vernon is 14-3 and 3-2 in the conference.
Mt. Vernon had at least one hit in every inning against Pendleton Heights pitcher Brinkley Epperson, who got the start over Arabians ace Jordan Benefiel, but were unable to score.
The Marauders left seven runners on base.
“We’re kind of in a hitting funk,” Mt. Vernon coach Veronica Kirby said. “We’ve not been stringing hits together like we need to. We’re spacing them out here and there and haven’t been able to have the big inning. That’s what’s hurting us right now.
“We’ve got to start stringing them together, like they did tonight.”
Seven of Pendleton Heights’ 13 hits came in a nine-run fourth inning. Both Grace Scott and Kieli Ryan had home runs in the inning. Scott had a three-run shot. Ryan hit a grand slam. Both had home runs in the Arabians three-run second.
“We came out and attacked the ball,” Pendleton Heights coach Rob Davis said. “We were going after first-pitch strikes. That’s something we’ve talked about all year, being ready.”
The Marauders did not use sophomore pitcher Karlee Franklin, who came into the game with a 12-2 record and 2.04 earned run average. Benefiel, a junior, is 11-3 with a 0.94 earned run average.
Kirby wasn’t disappointed in the performance of Wednesday’s pitcher, Molly Buck, who was coming off a strong four-inning performance in a 7-0 win over Shenandoah on Tuesday.
Buck had three shutout innings against the hot-hitting Arabians and in the fourth, only three runs were earned runs.
“Molly threw great (Tuesday) for us,” Kirby said. “She didn’t throw badly tonight. They hit some good pitches. She might have got one up here and there, but we didn’t help her defensively a few times, not making plays we should have made. They’re just good hitters.”
The teams met twice last season. In the regular season, again shortly before the sectional, at Pendleton Heights, Mt. Vernon run-ruled the Arabians, 13-3.
In the sectional, Pendleton Heights eliminated Mt. Vernon, 3-1, on its way to a sectional championship.
Franklin pitched well in both outings for the Marauders. Benefiel only threw the tournament game.
The two teams could potentially meet in the sectional championship game later this month. Pendleton Heights drew a bye and plays Anderson in the semifinals. Mt. Vernon would have to beat a one-win Muncie Central team to get to the semifinals to play either Greenfield-Central or Richmond. The Cougars are 14-7 and beat Richmond earlier this season. The Marauders beat the Cougars 5-0 in April.
“We’ve got to play Anderson and their pitcher, Shelby Wright, has over 100 strikeouts.” Davis said. “They’ve got to beat a Greenfield team that can be very dangerous. We could see each other again, but you never know, it could go either way. That’s the thing about tournament time.
“We weren’t playing for anything tonight,” Davis added. “(New Palestine) has the conference wrapped up. There wasn’t really any reason to get stats out for them or us. We did what we had to do and it worked out for us (Wednesday).”
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Class 4A No. 6 Pendleton Heights 12, Class 4A No. 17 Mt. Vernon 0
PH (16-3, 3-1);030;90;—;12;13;0
MV (14-3, 3-2);000;00;—;0;6;1
WP: Brinkley Epperson. LP: Molly Buck.
HR: Kieli Ryan 2, Grace Scott 2 (PH). 2B: Sydnee Perry, Macy Griner (MV); Ally Hall, Grace Scott (PH). RBI: Grace Scott 6, Kieli Ryan 5, Ally Hall.
Notable: Sydnee Perry 2-for-3, 2B, SB; Macy Griner 1-for-2, 2B, SB (MV); Grace Scott 3-for-3, 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI; Kieli Ryan 3-for-3, 2 HR, 5 RBI (PH).
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