Mt Vernon’s Drew Fithian (4) looks towards home from third base during the Class 4A Sectional 9 semifinals at Mt. Vernon High School on Tuesday, May 26, 2021.
Rob Baker/Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon softball team put it all together last season.
For the first time since 2002, the Class 4A Marauders reached the Indiana High School Athletic Association state tournament series’ final four. Coach Veronica Kirby’s team finished 23-6 overall, won its second sectional title in three years — technically a repeat with the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID-19 — and won the program’s first regional championship in 19 years.
The Marauders’ 2021 campaign ultimately ended in a 10-inning, tug-of-war at semistate against eventual state champion Roncalli, which escaped, 1-0, but Mt. Vernon’s biggest loss came with graduation.
Anchored by 10 seniors last season, the Marauders return a trio of standouts this spring, but beyond sophomore Easton Wampler, junior Drew Fithian and sophomore Shelby Rakosky, there is an abundance of inexperience.
“When you graduate 10 seniors, it’s one of those things where it’s a great thing because of the 10, seven of them went on to play in college. That’s really impressive. That’s really unheard of, so it’s a great thing for your program. But, once they’re gone, you feel that sense of, alright, so now what do you do?,” Kirby said.
You rebuild, Kirby emphasized, and the process centers around the 12-person team’s core returners.
Wampler led the Marauders with 45 RBI in 2021 and was second in home runs with 10, only one behind Molly Buck’s team-leading 11. She hit .409 in 28 games and had four triples, six doubles and two steals while starting at catcher.
Fithian, a third baseman, posted a .347 batting average in her first varsity season and provided 18 RBI, three home runs and three doubles.
Rakosky began the 2021 campaign as a reserve player, stuck behind the massive senior group, but she broke into the lineup in the second half and was a major contributor during Mt. Vernon’s state tournament run with a .364 batting average, 11 RBI, three doubles, a home run and 20 runs scored.
“She just kept working hard and put herself in the lineup,” Kirby said of Rakosky’s in-season development in 2021. “She ended up being a great player for us at the end of the year, and she ended up starting for us in sectional, semistate; she was there for all of it.”
The hope is this year’s crop of varsity newcomers follows in Rakosky’s footsteps, while learning from all three veterans’ examples over the next couple of months.
“I’m putting a lot on those three,” Kirby said. “What they experienced last year was huge, and not just the success. I can’t say enough about those 10 seniors and their maturity level as a group and what they did for the program as a whole. How they worked hard. How they pushed everybody to understand what level you had to work at every day to be successful. And, I wish some of the younger girls I have around could have experienced that because I’m relying on those three so much to convey that same message that they were taught and received last year to these other nine girls.”
So far, despite spring break slowing down the 2022 team’s preseason progression slightly, the trio has done just that for a team without a single senior on the roster.
“I said to Drew the other day, ‘Hey, look, you’re going to be a senior two years in a row.’ I’m looking to her as the leader, as the captain and she’s earned that. It wasn’t just handed to her. She has come in and worked so hard and she’s responded, is respectful and does the little things that she knows are important, which is being a teammate,” Kirby said.
“If you don’t have that, if you don’t have team chemistry, it doesn’t matter how much success you have, it’s not going to be any fun. Yes, winning is fun. Don’t get me wrong. It was so much fun, but there’s so much that goes along with being a teammate, and Drew has done that so far this year, and I look forward to seeing her continue to grow and learn. She’s still young, too.”
The Marauders will carry six juniors, five sophomores and one frosh on the team this season, and with the exception of third base and pitching, no positions are set in stone.
The team’s title of ace will go to right-handed frosh Graci Hines, who has competed with Indiana Gators and has been clocked at around 60 mph from the pitching circle. Along with Hines, junior Victoria Jenson will see time on the mound after working primarily with the junior varsity team a year ago.
“Graci is going to be pretty solid for us. She’s going to throw strikes and she’s going to throw hard. She’s going to do a good job. She’s athletic. She’s strong. I think, she can be really good,” Kirby said. “She’s a good kid and works hard. I really feel like she’s going to put us in a lot of games to compete. I’m excited to see her. Her and Easton have played some travel ball together, so Easton has caught her before. That’s helpful.”
Wampler is projected to resume her role as a starting backstop, but she could move to shortstop depending on how the defensive lineup plays out over the initial few weeks of the season.
“It’s going to be a year of people moving around a lot. Trying to figure out what’s going to fit for them,” Kirby said.
Rakosky has been working this offseason at shortstop after starting in right field last year, but she could potentially shift back and forth from the infield and outfield.
Juniors Mya Fields and Alexis Beeler, who were both on the 2021 varsity roster, are vying for outfield spots, while other former reserves such as Jenson and sophomore Ainsley Baer could see time at first and second base, respectively. Sophomore Maya McNeely could also rotate in at designated hitter and first base.
“There have been some growing pains for sure, but we’ve definitely answered that so far. We come into practice every day and know we have to work. We’re going to be young. We’re going to have a lot of girls that haven’t played varsity softball before,” Kirby said. “We’re going to have a lot of those first-time moments for people, and there will be the positives and the negatives also, but I think we’re going to take those in stride, and we’re going to learn and we’re going to be able to compete, for sure.”
The key word is learning. Much like Wampler, Fithian and Rakosky did while watching the likes of Madison Taylor, Karlee Franklin, Haley Kissee, Buck, Macey Cox, Mia Robbins, Riley Hasseld and the other graduated seniors.
“The girls all saw the success Easton had last year, and they just assume she’s going to be so good again. Then, they watch her and she’s had some rough days at BP. They’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ But, that’s where players like Easton shows them that’s why you have to work hard,” Kirby said.
“And Easton does that. She’s stayed after practice two or three times already to hit extra. She’s putting in that extra time on those extra things. She’s going to do that and that’s what those girls did last year. Those girls showed her that if you want to be good, you want to be successful, you’ve got to put in your own time, too.”
2022 Mt. Vernon Softball Schedule
Mar. 29: Mt. Vernon at Zionsville, 6 p.m.
Apr. 4: Pike at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 9: Mt. Vernon at Indianapolis Lutheran, 11 a.m.
Apr. 11: Hamilton Southeastern at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 12: Yorktown at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.*
Apr. 13: Mt. Vernon at Connersville, 6 p.m.
Apr. 16: Columbus East at Mt. Vernon, 10 a.m.
Apr. 18: New Castle at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.*
Apr. 19: Mt. Vernon at Frankton, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 21: New Palestine at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.*
Apr. 25: Delta at Mt. Vernon, 6 p.m.*
Apr. 26: Mt. Vernon at Lapel, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 28: Mt. Vernon at Fishers, 5:30 p.m.
Apr. 29: Mt. Vernon at Greenfield-Central, 7 p.m.*
May 2: Mt. Vernon at Noblesville, 6 p.m.
May 3: Shelbyville at Mt. Vernon, 6 p.m.*
May 5: Mt. Vernon at Pendleton Heights, 5:30 p.m.*
May 6: Westfield at Mt. Vernon, 6 p.m.
May 7: Mt. Vernon at Hamilton Heights, 10 a.m.
May 10: Mt. Vernon at Shenandoah, 5:30 p.m.
May 11: Lawrence North at Mt. Vernon, 6 p.m.
May 16: Anderson at Mt. Vernon, 5:30 p.m.
May 21: Mt. Vernon Tournament, 10 a.m.
* Hoosier Heritage Conference game
