FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon took advantage of the free passes they were issued by Columbus East on Friday night.
The Marauders drew six walks — and had six hits — against East starting pitcher Brooke Valles, making the most of the opportunities en route to a 9-5 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
The Olympians couldn’t figure out Marauders starting pitcher Karlee Franklin in Game 2, falling 11-0 in five innings. Franklin shut down the Olympians offense, posting a one-hitter and striking out four.
Mt. Vernon took the opener despite being outhit 13-7. Four East errors, several wild pitches and timely Marauders hits following walks pushed Mt. Vernon far enough ahead in the middle innings to hold off the Olympians. East scored two runs in the sixth and seventh innings of the opener in a comeback bid, but the Marauders defense prevented any big innings.
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The problems started for the Olympians in the third inning. Mt. Vernon scored twice to take a 3-1 lead.
Control problems then cost East big in the fourth. Already down 3-1 to start the inning, Valles started to have trouble finding the strike zone. After a groundout to start the inning, Mt. Vernon drew two straights walks, setting up Samantha Bennett’s RBI double. Another pair of walks, followed by two singles and a throwing error, allowed the Marauders to chase Valles and plate four runs in the inning.
The Olympians had their chances. But Nugent was able to get the Marauders out of innings consistently before too much damage was done.
Despite all of their hits, East was never able to put together a big enough inning. Nugent pitched a complete game to earn the win.
Valles led the Olympians offensively, going 3 for 3 with a home run, two singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Madyson Foster, Jordan Johnston, Jenna Robbins and Kamryn Cantu all had two hits for East.
The Olympians (4-5) fell behind early again in the second game of the night and couldn’t catch up against Franklin.
The Marauders scored twice in the first, then pulled away with a big third inning. Four singles and a double knocked in four runs, giving the hosts a 7-0 lead. They scored in every inning, wrapping things up with two walks and three hits in the fifth inning.
Kendra Pastrick had East’s lone hit of Game 2, a first-inning single.
