LEWIS CENTER – A strong performance by Mount Vernon pitcher Emma Jones, who fanned eight batters, simply wasn’t enough.
Pickerington Central defeated the Yellow Jackets in their Division I regional softball showdown at Olentangy Orange High School on Wednesday, May 26, bringing Mount Vernon’s season to an end.
Jones, who yielded seven hits and four walks, is just one member of a stellar senior softball class that has played their final game for the Jackets.
“Their legacy ... they’re one of the best classes to ever walk the halls of (Mount Vernon) high school,” an emotional Mount Vernon coach Ryan Pentz said after the game. “They can hang their hats on that. They’ve accomplished more than most senior classes. They’ve won several district titles, and their legacy will always be in that hallway.”
The Jackets took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning when Mount Vernon’s Layne Cook, who went 1-for-3, singled to center field to drive in teammate Mac Schlosser.
Tigers pitcher Makenzie O’Neil scattered five hits and three walks over seven innings, and her defense didn’t commit an error.
The Tigers came back in the fourth inning when Jones got behind in the count to several batters, walking Central’s Ellie Tressler and Kendal Mangahas. Tressler finished with two walks and two runs.
Carmen Moore singled for the Tigers to tie the game at 2. Then Jones got things under control and struck out the next two batters, but she gave up an RBI single to Sarah Taliford that scored Mangahas and put the Tigers on top, 3-2, after four innings. Taliford led Central with two hits.
“I thought it was a tight strike zone,” Pentz said. “A tight strike zone isn’t always up (Emma’s) alley. But by the end of the day, she adjusted to it. We didn’t adjust to it at the plate ourselves.”
The Tigers were able to find a way to feed off the tight strike zone, coming up with insurance runs in the sixth on RBI singles by Kassidy Stanley and Colleen Bare, who also had two hits.
A pair of Mount Vernon errors also helped the Tigers score their final three runs.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Central coach Stephanie Peterson said. “Things are looking good. We realized that the strike zone was a little tight, so we decided to start taking some pitches and making them throw strikes. We are aggressive and I don’t like to put the brakes on too early; but once we noticed that was happening, we decided to make them throw some pitches, and then we would get ours.”
The Tigers will move on to face Watkins Memorial in the next round at noon on Saturday at Olentangy Berlin.
Only one team wins their last game of the season. For the rest, the final game is perhaps the toughest loss of all — especially for the seniors.
“There’s nothing I can say that will take that sting away,” Pentz said. “Nothing I can say to them as competitors and athletes, except to tell them that they’ll get better every day and the sting will go away. We’ve collected a lot of great memories this year.”
While losing a game isn’t easy, there is no doubt that the Jackets’ softball program is turning out winners year after year.
“This has been one of the best experiences of my life,” Mount Vernon senior Maddy Burdette said. “I love all the coaches. I love every girl that I’ve been blessed to play with. It’s one of the best programs in Ohio, and it has been awesome for the past four years.”
