MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon baseball coach Nate Hunt sensed his team was down after losing twice to Wooster in Ohio Cardinal Conference play last week following a tough non-league loss to Hilliard Darby the previous week.
So he decided the team needed to have some fun.
“At the end of the day, I was thinking that we have 17 baseball games left — a lot of baseball — not to mention the tournament,” Hunt said. “These are good kids, let’s get them together. So we go up to Big League Sports (on Friday, April 16). We hit on the cage a little bit and we did some putt-putt and they got some pizza … and they became a team again.”
It worked.
A day after the team-building excursion, Mount Vernon put up a pair of non-league wins over Licking Heights and Olentangy Berlin on Saturday, April 17.
“It’s fun to see kids bounce back after being down,” Hunt said. “The game of baseball is already hard. You make it even harder by just beating yourself up.”
In league play, the Jackets have to keep winning and hope that the Generals stumble along the way.
“We lost focus,” Hunt said of the three-game skid. “I don’t want to say it was me-ball, but it was ‘How do I get better?’ instead of ‘How does the team get better?’”
“Yesterday was just some time to calm down and realize who we are and realize what we want to do as a team,” outfielder Blake Meyer said. “We had a goal (of winning the OCC). We wanted to achieve something. We figured out what we wanted (for the rest of the year), and we figured how we’re going to get it done.”
Ty Adams had two hits, three runs and an RBI in Mount Vernon’s 4-3 win over Licking Heights in the opener.
Adams’ RBI groundout in the first inning turned out to be all the Jackets needed in a 6-0 victory in Game 2.
Matt Bradley drove in two runs on two hits, including the game-winner against the Hornets with a single in the fifth inning.
Meyer scored two runs against the Bears, including one on a Konner Daughriety triple in the first inning.
“Ty Adams saved us today,” Meyer said. “He’s absolutely killing the ball. Trenton Kane-Sapp gives us a chance to win every time he’s on the mound. It’s a team effort and that’s the most important thing.”
Kane-Sapp threw five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four to get the win over Berlin.
Caden Rowland got the win in the opener. He struck out six batters and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks.
Beau Bridges pitched in both games, allowing a hit in one inning to earn the save against Licking Heights. He walked two in two innings to close out the second game.
Gabe Shuman also tossed a 1-2-3 inning in Game 1.
“They executed well and did what they needed to do to get the job done,” catcher Logan Trace said.
Trace threw out five runners over the course of the day.
“I know it relieves some pressure off them,” Trace said of his ability to throw out would-be base-stealers. I know it helps them out a lot.”
