Rollin' Lady Mt'neers extend softball win streak to 13

As dominant as the Lady Mt’neers have been on the softball diamond the last three years, they are on a whole different level right now. Their sweep of the Big 8 festival makes 13-straight wins for the Lady Mt’neers, who haven’t lost since an 8-2 defeat to current No. 3 team in the state, Diamond back on March 22.
The extremely busy week for Mt. Vernon began Monday in Pierce City. It was an offensive struggle as a two-RBI single from senior Harley Daniels in the first inning was all the scoring for the Lady Mt’neers until the fifth inning. In that time, the usually potent offense of Mt. Vernon was limited to just three hits.
Ally Burks led off the fifth inning with a double, but would be sat down on a fielder’s choice. Fast forward a couple batters, junior Payge Evans would score on a sac fly to give Mt. Vernon a 3-1 lead. Pierce City was squaring up Daniels at the plate; a two-run lead didn’t feel safe. One swing of the bat in the bottom of the sixth inning cut the MV lead in half thanks to a home run over the center field wall. That would be all Pierce City was able to muster as the Lady Mt’neers held on to a 3-2 win.
Mt. Vernon would breeze to defeat two more out of conference opponents in run rule fashion on Tuesday and Thursday, against Fair Grove, 12-2, and Buffalo, 11-0, highlighted by a 6-8 stretch from Evans and sophomore Rae Downing’s second home run of the year against Fair Grove.
Spirit of ’76 Park was the host of this year's Big 8 Festival on Friday and Saturday, where the members of the Big 8 conference were named champions for the regular season. Mt. Vernon’s first showdown was against East Newton in a game that started late due to the Lady Patriots competing in a marathon of a game against Lamar that resulted in a 28-23 win, but lasted well over two and a half hours.
Mt. Vernon took advantage of the exhausted Lady Patriots as six of the first seven batters singled and the next two sacrificed to take a 5-0 lead in the opening inning. Mt. Vernon kept the pressure on East Newton as they would score every inning to put up 13 runs. Daniels was once again masterful allowing no earned runs, striking out 11 batters in 13-2 run rule victory for Mt. Vernon after a walk off in-the-park home run by Molly Daniels.
You would think that a double header could spell trouble for a young team such as the Lady Mt’neers, but they need not worry against Hollister. Evans and Molly Daniels, Harley's sister, each singled to open the first inning, then the damage came. Allie Schubert doubled in both runners on a line shot just over the shortstop’s glove. Harley Daniels followed that up with a triple to center to extend the lead to 3-0. Then sensational sophomores Rae Downing and Cheyenne Bieber each doubled in runs to extend the lead to 5-0, all before recording an out. The next two batters got outs, but as the lineup turned over, they began again. Evans walked before a triple from Molly Daniels, single from Schubert and double from Harley Daniels put a 10 on the score board.
Hali Stokes added to her team leading home run total with an inside-the-park home run in the second inning. The runs would keep coming as a double from Ally Burk, a triple from Evans and a single from Audrey Bittle extended the lead to 13-0. The Lady Mt’neers would put up three more runs as they cruised to a 16-3 win.
Saturday morning, Mt. Vernon had a dominant 17-1 win over Springfield Catholic that saw the Lady Mt’neers club nine extra base hits that included doubles from Evans, Bieber, Downing, Molly Daniels, and three from Harley Daniels. Downing also got a triple and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Hali Stokes also got her second home run of the weekend to go over the center field fence for her fourth of the year.
The week concluded with the Lady Mt’neers having to battle the elements with severe weather coming through Mt. Vernon, that actually postponed the conclusion of their game against Lamar after the Lady Mt’neers scored five in the bottom of the first inning. The game will conclude on Wednesday night at 4:30 p.m.
The Lady Mt’neers moved to 21-1 on the season after a perfect 6-0 week. Things will slow down a bit for Mt. Vernon this week as they celebrated Senior Night on Monday against Sarcoxie, before traveling to the Adrian tournament Friday. They will play in Butler at 10:30 a.m. against the Lady Bears. They will then take on Cole Camp before bracket play begins.