FORTVILLE — It was a combination of the big hit and the big pitch.
On offense, Mt. Vernon came through in the clutch, scoring all of its runs with two outs.
On the other side, it was the pitching of senior Maddie Taylor and the Marauder defense, getting the hosts of Thursday’s Class 4A Regional 5 matchup out of the few jams that arose.
In the end, Mt. Vernon’s softball team had its second championship in six days, defeating Lawrence North 5-1 to earn a spot in Saturday’s Center Grove Semi-State.
It was the program’s first regional title since 2002, won at the Class 2A level.
“I’m so proud of them,” Mt. Vernon head coach Veronica Kirby said. “We all fought together. It took every single one of us to do what we had to do. We played great defense. We got big hits. We made big pitches, got outs when we needed, and didn’t let any inning get big on us. That’s huge.”
The Marauders (22-5) will take on No. 8 Bedford North Lawrence (27-4) at 11 a.m., in the first of two semifinal games. No. 2 Roncalli (28-2) and No. 13 Columbus North (24-4) play in the second. The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday.
To cap off a celebratory night, it was career win No. 100 for Kirby.
“I’m so excited we got that for her and excited to keep (the season) going,” senior Molly Buck said.
“We didn’t put the pressure on ourselves,” Kirby added on her team’s play. “We talked about that before. We can’t press. We have to play our game, do us. Tonight, we absolutely did that. We waited for our pitches. We had a lot of two-strike hits. We did a lot of the little things, knowing it only takes one pitch.”
Mt. Vernon had one run in each of the first three innings.
Riley Hasseld led off with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, frosh Easton Wampler dropped a Taylor Burket pitch perfectly just inside the right field line for a single. Hasseld came around to score to give the Marauders a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Taylor drew a one-out walk. Courtesy runner Mya Fields was forced at second on a ground ball off the bat of freshman Shelby Rakosky. The frosh scored on a double to right field by sophomore Drew Fithian giving the home team a 2-0 advantage.
Mt. Vernon’s margin grew to 3-0 in the third. Macey Cox drew a one-out walk. She moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Wampler double. Wampler’s hit went to left field and was just out of the reach of diving left fielder Cameron Cummins. The ball went off her glove.
“I think (with two outs) we go up there with the same confidence,” Wampler said. “It takes a lot of effort from all of us. It’s not just one person, it’s the whole team. We stick together the whole time, stay loud and cheer each other on the entire game.”
While the Marauders were scoring one-by-one, Taylor was taking care of the Wildcats lineup.
In the third, Lawrence North had runners on first and second with two outs, when Taylor fanned the Wildcats No. 3 hitter Ravyn McClaren.
In the fourth, the Wildcats again had a runner in scoring position, second base, with two outs. This time it was a sharp defensive play by Marauder second baseman Allison Myers to bring the team back to the dugout.
Lawrence North, in the fifth, had a one-out double from Jadelyn Wims. Taylor struck out the next two hitters.
“I’m just looking for an out. A grounder or strikeout is perfect,” Taylor said. “We don’t want them to score. We don’t want them on third (base) or second. When we can hold them, it’s great for us.”
In the Marauders half of the fifth, they got the insurance needed with the help of some Lawrence North miscues. After two outs, Haley Kissee reached after a bad throw on her ground ball to second. Wampler hit a deep fly ball to center that was misplayed by the outfielder, scoring Kissee. Buck followed with an RBI-single to make the lead 5-0.
“I just know I need to get a hit somewhere and score that run,” Buck said.
LN’s first run of the game came in the sixth inning on a long home run to straightaway center field by McClaren. The Wildcats followed with a single from Kierra Warrix, but Taylor struck out the next three.
Taylor, who is playing her first season with Mt. Vernon after transferring from Noblesville, finished with 11 strikeouts. She gave up six hits.
“(Taylor’s) adrenaline was really kicking in,” Kirby said. “Sometimes she can let her emotions get a hold of her if she doesn’t get a call. She didn’t let that bother her (Tuesday). She totally showed her leadership tonight and controlled that.”
Kirby talked about how her pitcher bears down in those type of situations, specifically when the Wildcats got their first run on the board.
“She struck out the next three girls. That’s great leadership and shows her competitiveness,” Kirby said. “She fought, a great job tonight by Maddie Taylor.”
On Thursday of last week, Mt. Vernon won the sectional title game, also on its home field, against Pendleton Heights, a team it had lost to in the regular season.
That was the case on Tuesday, too. Lawrence North beat Mt. Vernon 5-4 in extra innings, at LN, on May 12.
The Wildcats end the season with a record of 19-11.
