MOUNT VERNON — With each passing
game, the Mount Vernon 12-year-old All-Stars continue to prove they are their
own team.
For the second day in a row, Mount Vernon run-ruled its opponent in the Little
League District 5 Tournament at Phillips Park. Facing Southwest Licking, Mount
Vernon scored eight first-inning runs and coasted to a 16-6 four-inning win.
Southwest Licking put up a fight, cutting the lead to 11-6 in the top of the
fourth, but a five-run bottom of the inning, capped with a two RBI single by
Alex Arck sealed the victory.
“This feels good,” said Arck. “I haven’t been hitting
that well; I’ve been struggling a lot. I just kept my eye on the ball and
hit it.”
“Getting the quick lead was a factor,” said Mount Vernon manager
Phil Arck. “The way the boys are hitting right now, it knocks a team down.
That was a resilient team right there, though. They kept coming after us. They
didn’t lose their composure at all. We kept pouring it on and, when we
really needed it, we came through. That was big for (Alex) because he’s
been struggling just a hair.”
Southwest Licking struck first, posting a single run in the top of the first.
Luke Loevegoth hit a one-out double to put a runner on. He then stole third before
coming home on a Mount Vernon error, which allowed Garrett Grover to reach. Doug
Conner then singled before Mount Vernon pitcher Tyler Hedrick ended the inning
with a strikeout.
Looking for an answer, Mount Vernon gave it. J.D. Orr doubled to lead off for
the second straight game. Arck hit a sacrifice bunt to move Orr to third and
Orr raced home on a passed ball during Griffin Menke’s at-bat. Mount Vernon
wasn’t done, however. Menke walked and Ryan Fitzgerald doubled to right
to keep the inning going. Southwest Licking starter Jake Chenault notched a strikeout
in the next at-bat and looked close to getting out of the inning, but control
problems came into play. Chenault walked three straight batters, forcing in Menke
and Fitzgerald. An error then allowed Tyler Galbraith and Nate Davis to come
home. Jarred Pryor, who had walked earlier, scored on a passed ball before Orr
hit a 1-1 pitch to deep center field. Hedrick and Orr crossed the plate to make
it an 8-1 lead.
The second inning was relatively uneventful with Southwest Licking going down
in order and Mount Vernon only registering one hit. That silence ended in the
top of the third, however. Back-to-back leadoff home runs by Chenault and Loevegoth
cut into the Mount Vernon lead, and a one-out single by Grover and fielding error
added more pressure on Hedrick. Grover moved to third on a passed ball, but Hedrick
settled in and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Mount Vernon added to its lead in the bottom of the third, thanks in part to
a little more wildness by Chenault. He walked Lucas Zambori and Hedrick with
one out before leaving the game in favor of Eric Spencer. Spencer came in and,
facing Orr, avoided damage on the first four pitches. The fifth pitch, however,
Orr blasted to deep center once again for his second home run of the game and
third in two days. Spencer got out of the inning, but the damage was done and
Mount Vernon led 11-3.
“It was really nice to see (everyone hitting),” said Orr. “We
need to keep it up the rest of the tournament.”
Southwest Licking didn’t give up, however. They continued battle back.
A lead-off walk turned into an RBI after a passed ball and a fielder’s
choice put Griffin Hall on third base. A.C. Gollett then hit an RBI single to
drive in Hall, and brought up Chenault.
Manager Arck had contemplated pulling Hedrick at the start of the inning in hopes
of saving him for another day, but the decision was made to stick with him. Chenault
made the most of it. Chenault stepped in and blasted the first pitch he saw over
the right-center field fence to make it an 11-6 game. Hedrick swapped places
with Fitzgerald at third, and Fitzgerald got out of the inning despite giving
up a triple to Zach Derugen.
“It was a tough decision,” said manager Arck. “Probably pulling
Tyler a little sooner would have helped him out, just because their first three
or four batters were timing him up pretty well. He kept everybody else fairly
off balance. Ryan Fitzgerald did a good job of coming in and picking Tyler up,
which was great for him. We probably should have just started Ryan that inning.
We are learning as we go.”
Now faced with a much tighter game, manager Arck was faced with a daunting task — play
the pitching game. Little League rules state that if a pitcher throws more than
20 pitches, he cannot pitch the next day and Fitzgerald was at 11 already. The
only way he wouldn’t have to is if his team ended it in the bottom of the
fourth, and with that, manager Arck told his team, “Let’s go get
this.”
Fitzgerald led off his half of the fourth with a double down the right-field
line. A groundout moved him to third, and a single by Galbraith drove him home.
Davis then singled to left, and Zambori followed with an RBI double down the
left-field line. A fielding error loaded the bases with Hedrick reaching, and
brought Orr back up to the plate. With the bases loaded and a 2-0 count, Orr
was looking for something he could drive. He got that, but a great play by Grover
at first ended Orr’s hit streak. A run still scored, however, and Orr finished
with six RBI on the day. That brought up Alex Arck, who was hitless. Arck ended
the game with an two-RBI single to right-center on the first pitch he saw.
“This wasn’t the strongest pitching we’ve saw, but it wasn’t
bad either,” said Orr. “I was just thinking base hit. It wasn’t
a hit, but it got the job done.”
With the win, Mount Vernon advances to a Wednesday date in the winner’s
bracket final against Cambridge. The game will be played at 8 p.m. at Phillips
Park, following a loser’s bracket semifinal at 6 p.m.
“We’ll have to work hard just to stay ready and focused,” said
Orr. “We want to come out on top.”
“We’re going to practice (today) and that is going to be real important,” said
manager Arck. “We’ve got to keep them down to earth and level-headed,
and get them ready to play. We’re going to go over our fielding and try
to get these guys really focused for the next game.”
