FORTVILLE — It takes an entire team to get to where Mt. Vernon has placed itself in Hoosier Heritage Conference baseball supremacy, but the Hoosier Heritage Conference series sweep of Greenfield-Central — which clinched a share of the HHC baseball title for a third straight year — will go down as the Heitman-Scheidt series.
Junior Nick Heitman and senior Konnor Scheidt were the hitting heroes in Tuesday’s come-from-behind 5-3 win at Greenfield-Central’s Molinder Field. They combined for four doubles and four RBIs in the win.
On Wednesday, it was Heitman’s arm and Scheidt’s bat that led to a 5-1 triumph, Mt. Vernon’s 11th straight win and 18th straight conference victory, dating back to last season.
The Marauders are 17-2 overall and 12-0 in the HHC with two league games remaining. They have a two-game lead over Yorktown, their opponent in a two-game league series scheduled to begin next Tuesday in Yorktown. With a win on either Tuesday or next Wednesday, in Fortville, Mt. Vernon would be the first HHC baseball team to win three straight outright conference championships.
Wednesday’s game at Mt. Vernon was a battle of two dominant pitchers.
Mt. Vernon’s Heitman went the distance, striking out 17 and giving up just four hits.
The sixth inning, when the Cougars scored, was the only inning Greenfield-Central reached second base.
“I was locked in all day preparing for the game,” Heitman said. “I wasn’t doing any silly stuff. I was calm, collected. Some starts I’ve been too calm or too amped up. Today was a good mix, everything was working.
“I knew they had a good lineup and knew they were going to hit. I had to pitch smart.”
Greenfield-Central sophomore Parker Rhodes was matching it on the other side.
After three innings, only two balls were put in play. Greenfield-Central’s Brodie Mayberry had a second-inning single. His teammate, Connor Sims grounded out in the second. Heitman had eight strikeouts.
Mt. Vernon had nothing on Rhodes. Of the first 10 batters faced, Rhodes struck out nine and walked Scheidt.
“His fastball is really good. It has a lot of run, especially for a sophomore” Scheidt said of the G-C pitcher. “He has a lot of room to develop, too, which is crazy. He’s got really good stuff and throws hard.”
In the fourth, Greenfield-Central led off with a Landon Brooks single, but Heitman struck out the next three.
In the bottom half of the inning, DJ Scheumann broke up the no-hitter with a single to left field. After a walk to Heitman, Scheidt hit a no-doubter well over the right field fence for a three-run home run.
“DJ did a nice job on a two-strike pitch going the other way,” Mt. Vernon coach Brad King said. “It was a great piece of hitting by DJ. We get a walk and he just lays one across the plate and Konnor destroyed it.”
Scheidt commended Rhodes’ repertoire, but he certainly took advantage of a pitch that was left out over the plate for him to hit his team-best sixth home run of the season.
“My swing just feels good right now and I have a lot of confidence in myself right now,” Scheidt said. “I want go up with a good approach and I was hunting a fastball. I knew he threw a lot of fastballs.”
In the two games, Scheidt drove in six of the team’s 10 runs.
In the sixth, Greenfield-Central cut it to 3-1. Jaden Markus singled to right field and went to second on a Heitman balk. Grant Shepherd followed with an infield single, but an errant throw in attempt to get him out at first base went wild, and Markus scored. Heitman got out of the inning with a fly out and two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mt. Vernon scored two more. Heitman led off with a double. Scheidt was intentionally walked. After a Russell Weaver single loaded the bases, Cam Sullivan hit a two-run single.
Heitman had at least two strikeouts in every inning. He struck out the last two batters to end the game.
Rhodes threw four innings and had 11 strikeouts.
Greenfield-Central dropped to 12-7-1 and 7-5 in the HHC.
It was the Marauders eighth straight conference series sweep. During their run of conference titles, Mt. Vernon is 36-4.
The winning streaks and records are nice, but the big one the team is looking for is a third-straight outright championship, something that has not been done in the HHC.
“We do have bigger goals, and want to win it outright, but I’m very proud of these guys getting three in a row,” King said. “We’re humbled. It’s a big accomplishment for our program.”
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Mt. Vernon 5, Greenfield-Central 1
Greenfield-Central (12-7-1, 7-5);000;001;0; —;1;4;0
Mt. Vernon (17-2, 12-0);000;300;x; —;5;6;1
Parker Rhodes, Andrew Zellers (5) and Brodie Mayberry; Nick Heitman and DJ Scheumann. 2B: MV – Heitman. HR: MV – Konnor Scheidt (6). WP: Heitman (2-1). LP: Rhodes.
