FORTVILLE — It’s been a month since the Mt. Vernon softball team’s Class 4A final four appearance at Center Grove High School, but Veronica Kirby hasn’t stopped reflecting.
The Marauders head coach’s thoughts often center around her 10 seniors and the team’s 10-inning, 1-0, tug-of-war semistate championship game loss against eventual state champion Roncalli.
Her mind also wanders back 21 years to her youth when she was a first baseman on Mt. Vernon’s last state championship softball team in 2000.
“When I still think back and reflect on it, I’m kind of still in shock at what was accomplished,” Kirby remarked on her team’s 23-6 season this spring. “What has really made me reflect more on it, which is kind of weird, is the run that I had when I was in school.”
As a junior at Mt. Vernon, Kirby, formerly Veronica Weaver, went 0-for-3 in the 2A state title game on June 17, 2000, but she scored a run as the Marauders (29-1) beat Evansville Memorial, 6-0, at North Central High School to win the program’s 27th consecutive game.
Funny how the present brings back the past.
“I don’t know if I actually understood what was accomplished at that young age, and I don’t know if the girls really do either at this point. One day they will, and I’m excited for them to have that moment of reflection,” Kirby said. “When you look back, it’s like, ‘Oh my, gosh.’ Just what it took to get there and what it took for them. What really had to occur for them to get to the final four in the state in 4A. That’s a huge accomplishment.”
Much like the 2000 team, it required a winning streak, except the modern-day Marauders strung together eight instead. Yet, among those wins, two served up some revenge.
After losing to Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Pendleton Heights, 13-3, at home on May 6, and to Lawrence North, 5-4 in eight innings, on the road May 12, the Marauders eliminated both in the state tournament en route to the program’s first regional title since 2002.
“When I look back now, the timing was just right. We had that downfall, but it was time for us to peak again and for things to start aligning again, and they just did. The girls knew. They had that moment of frustration, but they never quit,” said Kirby, the 2021 Daily Reporter Softball Coach of the Year.
“There was a lot going on for these girls, and it could have gone either way. They handled it very well and answered. This was one of the most mature groups of girls that I’ve ever coached. I think that definitely helped and having 10 seniors as well.”
Chemistry, persistence and talent helped the Marauders storm out to a 9-1 start to the 2021 season before Mt. Vernon lost three of its next six. Those loses proved damaging with setbacks against HHC foes New Palestine, Shelbyville and Pendleton Heights, which led to a fourth-place finish in the league.
“We talked about that in the middle of the season. I told them, every year this happens. Every year, teams peak and then they have a little bit of a downfall, but then they come back up again,” Kirby said. “And, I felt like we peaked real early, and I didn’t know how that was going to play out for us.”
While challenged by sporadic injuries late in the season, the Marauders collectively rallied to win 11 of their next 12 games and a place in history once the state tournament began.
Behind a dynamic duo of ace pitchers in senior Karlee Franklin and Madison Taylor, the Marauders won their second straight sectional title by avenging their loss to Pendleton Heights with a 13-1 victory.
Later they knocked off Lawrence North, 5-1, in the regional title game to snap a 19-year drought.
“I was so grateful to have 10 seniors,” Kirby said. “This group just worked. It was how it was supposed to be. Just a very athletic class overall.”
The Marauders relied on their seniors, including Molly Buck (Anderson University), Macey Cox (DePauw), Franklin (Huntington), Riley Hasseld (Davenport), Haley Kissee (Purdue-Northwest) and Taylor (Ball State).
The offense blasted 52 home runs in 29 games and hit .377 as a group with 31 stolen bases and 278 runs scored.
“This team as a whole, they were a lot of fun. If you go back and look at the stats, it felt like it was a different girl every game almost that really stepped up and answered that day to get done what needed to be done,” Kirby said. “It wasn’t always Karlee, Maddie or Easton (Wampler). I loved the fact that it was everyone.”
While she’s quick to deflect, Kirby played her part as well.
A 2001 Mt. Vernon graduate, she began coaching the junior varsity in 2006 before taking over the varsity job in 2015. In seven years, she now owns both of the program’s two 4A sectional titles and first 4A regional.
“It’s a different experience (as a coach) and it really helps you realize actually what was accomplished,” Kirby said. “My answer to everyone who asks is that it was a lot of fun.”
