MOUNT VERNON — It was one of those games no one wanted to lose.
And in the end, no one did.
Mount Vernon and Buckeye Valley battled for 11 innings before the nonconference softball game was called because of darkness with the teams still tied at 7.
“The kids battled and answered every call. I’m pretty proud of their effort tonight,” said Mount Vernon coach Mike Marcum.
The game was full of rallies, big plays and even a few gaffes. By the time it was too dark to start the 12th inning, fans, players and coaches were drained of any more emotion.
Buckeye Valley jumped on the scoreboard first when they tossed up two runs with two outs in the top of the third inning. But, the Yellow Jackets came roaring right back, scoring two in the bottom half of the inning. That would become a recurring theme throughout the game.
Mount Vernon’s runs came on a single by Maggie Hale and a sacrifice fly by Jess Wellman. Kate Reynolds had led off the inning with a double and Keli Thompson followed with a walk. Hale then drove in Reynolds and Thompson scored on Wellman’s fly out to the second baseman.
The Barons got one more in the fourth, but Mount Vernon’s defense stepped up again to stop the bleeding. Reynolds, the centerfielder, threw out Tanisha Murphy at third base and starting pitcher Molly Chacey coaxed a groundout to end the frame.
Mount Vernon had shut down a possible big inning by the Barons in the second with nice plays by shortstop Alex Rutherford and Chacey.
