Mt. Vernon celebrates defeating rival New Palestine, 4-2, on Friday, May 6, 2022. (Tom Russo/Daily Reporter)
NEW PALESTINE — Veronica Kirby knew she missed an opportunity.
With one out and her Class 4A Mt. Vernon Marauders deadlocked with rival 4A No. 5 New Palestine, 2-2, in the bottom of the sixth Friday night, the head coach miscalculated a fly ball that was caught in deep left field, and she immediatley regretted it.
Coaching third base, Kirby didn’t send her starting catcher Easton Wampler, who was floating nearby on third base in scoring position.
Luckily, sophomore Hannah Matthews bailed her out two at-bats later.
Following a walk drawn by Marauders’ Tori Jenson, Matthews stepped into the hero’s role, and she catapulted the Marauders to an upset 4-2 victory with a clutch two-run single.
“That was me. That was 100 percent me. I totally read that ball wrong and I felt terrible. I even said that,” Kirby remarked on her decision not to advance Wampler. “I thought I just ruined that for these girls. I felt so bad, so Hannah saved me, too.”
Matthews had something to prove with two runners on base, and the Marauders playing a rare home game on an away diamond due to wet field conditions at Mt. Vernon.
Pinch-hit for in the bottom of the fourth, Matthews re-entered, and much like her path towards more varsity playing time, the sophomore showcased her potential.
“If I didn’t hit, I knew we would be in a tough position, so I wanted to have a good at-bat,” Matthews said. “I wanted to hit really well, especially after (getting pinch-hit for). I wanted to prove that I wanted my spot.”
Matthews turned on a 2-1 offering and lined the ball to right-center field, scoring both Wampler and Jenson and setting up the Marauders’ first win over Hoosier Heritage Conference rival New Palestine in nearly a decade.
“We actually brought Hannah up late in the season here to fill a role for us, and she’s done nothing but impress me. She worked hard and earned her spot,” Kirby said. “She’s done a real good job of continuing to work hard and to earn her role. I’m just real happy for her.”
The Marauders’ (6-6, 2-2 HHC) didn’t fully celebrate until the final out in the top of the seventh, as starter Graci Hines induced a game-ending double play to junior Drew Fithian, who recorded an unassisted putout at third base and fired the ball across the diamond to first to seal it.
“We’re learning to work together a lot better because this is a new team. We’re all younger, but we’re all learning how to have better at-bats, play better in the field, just everything,” Matthews said.
A team that graduated 10 seniors from a year ago and returned only three full-time varsity players, Mt. Vernon has been gaining experience through in-season trials and tribulations.
Their latest lesson was significant, marking the program’s first win over the Dragons (13-3-1, 2-2 HHC) since the Rachel Houck era and sank New Palestine’s hopes at a HHC title run.
New Palestine was in a four-team race for the HHC with only one conference loss. The setback drops them behind state-ranked 4A Shelbyville, 3A No. 3 Yorktown and 4A Greenfield-Central. Each of the three have one HHC loss to date.
“For me, it shows how hard these girls work. We talk about it all the time. You got to work hard. We’re young, so we have to put in the time. We have to make every rep at practice count,” Kirby said. “We have to make it count because when that moment happens in a game, it’s got to count. It’s got to be right. It’s moments like this and tonight where we can come out and execute because we continue to work hard and get better. It makes us successful in games.”
The Marauders took advantage of their chances, too, beginning in the bottom of the first when Wampler (2-for-3) connected for her first of two doubles. Shelby Rakosky reached base the at-bat prior on a throwing error that advanced her to third base.
Wampler’s lined double to left field scored the game’s first run before Hines (1-for-3), a freshman, drove in the second run for a 2-0 lead with a single.
Hines protected the lead through the first three innings, retiring nine of the first 12 batters she faced. She earned the pitching win with seven, seven-hit innings. Hines struck out five and walked two with two earned runs charged.
“I was really just trying to throw them off by changing speed and location. The first couple of innings I went outside then started throwing inside,” Hines said.
The Dragons plated one run in the top of the fourth behind an RBI double by Katie Hirschy and another RBI double by Aglaia Rudd in the fifth with two outs. New Palestine had four doubles, including one each from Alaina Miller and Paige Ernstes, but they left three runners in scoring position and six overall.
“The wind killed us. I knew it when I walked up,” New Palestine head coach Ed Marcum said. “Allie (Blum) hit two that probably would have been long gone, but they ended up being fly balls to the track. But, you know what, you have to make adjustments and we didn’t. We didn’t play well. We shouldn’t have given them the runs in the beginning of the game, but they battled.”
The wind blew in steadily from center field, and it played a factor as both Ernstes and Hirschy hit the outfield walls with high-towering doubles in the top of the fourth. Hirschy’s RBI hit bounced off the top of the right-field fence back into play.
Hines, however, struck out two to leave Hirschy (2-for-3) stranded.
She used a strikeout to end the top of the sixth, but she needed her defense in the seventh.
“That last inning, coming into it, their best hitters were coming up and it was probably the scariest inning I’ve had that whole game,” Hines said. “This is really big for us.”
The big hit came from Matthews with Wampler on third after reaching base with a double and moving to third on an accompanying throwing error. New Palestine had two errors in the game.
“In that situation, I’m sure there were nerves flying. I’m sure there were a lot things going on with Hannah, but she responds well,” Kirby said. “She took a great at-bat and she drove it right where she was suppose to. She did what she needed to in order to execute and gave us an opportunity to win that game. That’s awesome.”
New Palestine’s Katie Kottlowski absorbed the tough loss, pitching six frames with five hits allowed, seven strikeouts, three walks and one earned run.
“I thought Katie pitched a great game, but when you have a control pitcher and she’s trying to move the ball and hit corners, we need those calls, and we didn’t get them,” Marcum said. “We chased a couple of pitches that we shouldn’t have and with runners on first and second in the last inning, Allie hit it hard, again, but fly balls are going to be outs with this wind. This was not Dragons softball.”
Mt. Vernon 4, New Palestine 2
New Palestine (13-3-1, 2-2);000;110;0;—;2;7;2
Mt. Vernon (6-6, 2-2);200;002;x;—;4;5;2
2B: Paige Ernstes, Katie HirschyAlaina Miller 2 (NP); Easton Wampler 2 (MV).
WP: Graci Hines (7.0 IP, 7 H, 5 K, 2 BB, 2 R, 2 ER). LP: Katie Kottlowski (6.0 IP, 5 H, 7 K, 3 BB, 4 R, 1 ER).
