Mt’neer baseball defeats fifth ranked Seneca, Lady Mt’neers softball knocks off two state ranked teams

The Mt. Vernon High School baseball team traveled to Springfield on Friday, April 17 to take on Hillcrest but fell to the Hornets 3-2.
 
Hillcrest led 1-0 after the first inning and 2-0 after the fourth inning before the Mt’neers mounted any offense. In the top of the fifth inning Cash Garner drove in Matthew Hodgson on an infield single, a few minutes later Jackson singled to left field to drive in Keagan Botts and tied the game 2-2. That’s the way it stood until the bottom of the seventh inning when Hillcrest’s Jackson Miller stole home plate to win the game for the Hornets.
 
Garner and Hood both ended the game 1-4 with an RBI in the loss.
 
The Mt’neers hosted Class 4, fifth ranked Seneca on Thursday, April 16 and walked off the Indians for a 2-1 win in the eighth inning.
 
Seneca took an early 1-0 lead but Mt. Vernon answered back when Hood singled to drive in Botts in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth inning Hodgson singled to center field to drive in Jaden Sexton with the game winner.
 
Hood was 2-4 with an RBI and Hodgson finished the game 1-3 with an RBI.
 
Mt. Vernon opened the week by traveling to Class 4, eighth ranked Nevada on Monday, April 13, but fell to the Tigers 2-0.
 
Nevada scored both of their runs in the sixth inning and then held on for the win. Brody Wilmoth pitched a great game, allowing just two runs, one earned, on one hit with one walk and nine strikeouts. Hood was 1-2 in the game and Zerrick Pham finished 1-3.
 
The Mt’neers are 6-9 on the season and were scheduled to play against West Plains last night before traveling to McDonald County tomorrow night and then coming back home to host Ash grove on Friday night and Mountain Grove on Saturday.
 

Softball
 
The Class 2, third ranked Lady Mt’neers softball team traveled to Class 2, sixth ranked Fair Grove on Friday and came home with a 9-3 win.
 
After neither team scored in the first two innings, Mt. Vernon put up three runs in the top of the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Lady Mt’neers added two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to extend that lead to 5-0. The Lady Eagles answered with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 5-1. Mt. Vernon piled on four more runs in the top of the seventh inning to make it a 9-1 lead. Fair Grove scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to conclude the scoring.
 
Jocelyn Liss was 4-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and five RBIs, Emily Schubert went 2-3 with an RBI and Mary Fields was 1-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Schubert was also the winning pitcher, going seven innings, allowing three runs, one earned on three hits with three walks and 16 strikeouts.
 
 On Tuesday, April 14, the Lady Mt’neers traveled to Class 2, second ranked East Newton and came back with a 7-1 win over the Patriots.
 
It was scoreless until the third inning, when Mt. Vernon took a 1-0 lead. The Lady Mt’neers would go on to add a single run in the fourth inning, four runs in the fifth inning and another run in the sixth inning to lead 7-0. East Newton scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Hailey Stewart was 3-4 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI and Liss finished the game 2-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.
 
Mt. Vernon started the week by hosting Pierce City on Monday and easily defeated the Lady Eagles 16-2.
 
Pierce City took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning and that was as close as the Lady Eagles would get. The Lady Mt’neers scored 13 times in the second inning to take a 13-2 lead. Mt. Vernon would add another un in the third inning and two more runs in the fourth inning to complete the 14-run victory.
 
Schubert went 2-2 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs, Adi Williams was 2-3 with a triple, a double, three runs scored and two RBIs, Lilly Burk went 2-2 with two doubles, three runs scored and an RBI, Liss was 4-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs and Fields finished the game 2-3 with a run scored and three RBIs.
 
The Lady Mt’neers are 17-4 on the season and were scheduled to play at Sarcoxie on Monday, Riverton, Kan. last night and at the Adrian Softball Tournament in Adrian starting tomorrow.