FORTVILLE — In a game that almost wasn’t, nothing seemed certain until the final out.
Limited to nine players on varsity — and only one pitcher — due to a wave of recent COVID-19 quarantines, the visiting Greenfield-Central Cougars nearly rallied back late to defeat Hoosier Heritage Conference rival Mt. Vernon on Friday night.
Fortunately, for the Class 4A No. 17 Marauders, senior ace Karlee Franklin controlled the final outcome.
The 4A Cougars put two runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh with one out, but Franklin ended the threat by revving back and striking out a pair to help the Marauders slip past Greenfield-Central, 5-4.
“It wasn’t our best victory, for sure, but the one thing I was most proud of was that we fought one through seven. We talk about that all the time. We have to fight until the end. If we fight to the end, then you’re giving yourself the opportunity to win,” Mt. Vernon head coach Veronica Kirby said.
The Marauders (12-2, 4-1 HHC) utilized both of their aces to fend off the shorthanded Cougars (10-4, 1-2 HHC), opening with senior Maddie Taylor in the circle as both pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts.
Taylor spun the ball for 4.0 innings with one hit allowed, one earned run charged, three walks and seven strikeouts.
She picked up the win after getting relieved in the top of the fifth with Mt. Vernon ahead 5-2.
The Marauders provided Taylor (5-1) with an early 2-0 lead following the bottom of the first inning, setup by back-to-back singles from Riley Hasseld and Macey Cox to open the frame.
A Molly Buck one-out fielder’s choice scored Hasseld before Taylor drove in the second runner with a deep sacrifice fly to center field.
The Marauders had eight hits total with six different players recording at least one each. However, it was the team’s lone extra-base knock that proved the difference.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, freshman Easton Wampler delivered the game changer, belting a three-run home run to increase Mt. Vernon’s lead, 5-1.
Wampler’s fourth homer of the season, soared over the right-field wall, bouncing off the stadium’s light post several feet beyond the fence line.
“She’s been struggling a little bit offensively, and we could tell she was getting down on herself and a little frustrated,” Kirby said. “As soon as she did that, she was able to smile and breathe. But like I told her, good hitters go through slumps. It’s just how do we adjust and how do we come back from it? And, she did that.”
The Cougars followed suit and applied the pressure despite not having a single bench player or solidified relief pitcher.
Senior Caroline Gibson led the Cougars both with her bat and her defense, finishing 3-for-3 at the plate with a single, a double and a solo home run in the top of the sixth that cut the deficit 5-3.
Gibson drove in her first of two RBI in the top of the fourth, lining a two-out double into right field.
“Caroline hit a ton tonight. She’s one of the leaders and the one that gets these girls going, and she leads by example. She had a helluva game,” Greenfield-Central head coach Jason Stewart said.
Gibson’s two-base knock drove in starting pitcher Camille Burelison, who has had to step up and pitch almost daily for the Cougars this past week.
Prior to the game, Greenfield-Central wasn’t sure if it could field a complete lineup for the conference contest against Mt. Vernon until the late afternoon.
“Games like this are fun as hell to play in, but you look around and you got nothing you can do. We played Shelbyville (Tuesday) night, and Monday night we scout out the whole thing that we wanted to do, using both pitchers, and then Tuesday we wake up and we have one pitcher,” Stewart said. “We’re literally auditioning kids to pitch at practice right now to try to get Cam some rest because it’s going to be like this for two weeks.”
The active Cougars refused to quit regardless of the circumstances.
An RBI ground out by Lilly Stewart in the top of the second brought home Ellie Ewald from third base to make it 2-1.
In the top of the seventh, down 5-3, Mallorie Fultz reached base with a lead-off error to center field and later scored from second on a one-out double by Olivia Roberts to make it 5-4.
Megan Wineinger worked Franklin for a walk before Roberts’ timely hit, and Greenfield-Central sat in position to take its first lead of the game with one out.
“I could go on and on about things we could have done better, but we didn’t give up. We didn’t hang our heads,” Kirby said. “How lucky am I? I have two phenomenal pitchers. They threw great, hands down, both of them. That was great pitching from those two tonight.”
The Cougars finished with five hits, including four against Franklin, but no more once the game was on the line.
“That was a tight moment. She changed. Something kicked in. She started going. Karlee can do that. She can get competitive really fast,” Kirby said. “They both handle themselves very well out there, and they don’t get too upset when they give up a home run, like (Karlee) did (in the sixth). They are both like, ‘Oh, well. I have to come back and get the next one.’”
Franklin used three pitches to get the second out in the seventh. She needed four more to nail down the Marauders’ third straight victory with her seventh strikeout in 3.0 innings pitched.
Haley Kissee went 2-for-2 for the Marauders, while Shelby Rakosky was 2-for-3.
Wampler was 1-for-3. She tried to work another hit against Burelison in the bottom of the sixth, but Gibson dove into foul territory to cut her last at-bat short with a diving catch just past the foul line behind first base.
“The effort and the grit of this team right now is hard to explain when you have nine and you have a kid pitching, you know is beat up, and you can’t do anything about it,” Stewart said. “They really grew up tonight.”
Depending on Sunday night’s IHSAA softball state tournament pairings draw, they might see each other again at sectional next month.
“You just look at them and say, ‘You got to go with it.’ That’s the grit they’re developing and they’re playing freaking hard. I couldn’t be more proud of them. It’s going to come,” Stewart said.
“(The Marauders) have the best pitching in the sectional, but I feel pretty good after tonight. I know when we get everyone back healthy and continue to mature, these young kids; we’re going to have a really good shot at the sectional. I really think.”
