MOUNT VERNON — Ezra Kurek and the Yellow Jackets walked it off Wednesday afternoon.
Kurek’s base hit and a fielding error with one out in the bottom of the seventh allowed two runs to score as fourth-seeded Mount Vernon stunned No. 8 Westerville Central 6-5 in a Division II district championship game at Mount Vernon.
It was Kurek’s lone hit of the afternoon, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Eastern Michigan recruit flew out to left in his previous at bat, but Mount Vernon coach Nate Hunt had a feeling his senior catcher would get a chance to redeem himself.
“I told Ezra after his last pop-up, I said, ‘at some point in this game you’re going to be called on again and how are you going to respond?’ ” Hunt said. “His mindset is he never remembers the previous at-bats. He’s the guy.”
Kurek’s game-winner capped a wild finish for the Yellow Jackets (17-9). Westerville Central scored five in the top of the fifth, but Mount Vernon responded with two runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
“I’m so proud of them and the coaching staff. You know, we didn’t do everything perfect today. I told the guys that a lot of times in these big games, it’s the first one to make a mistake and the other team to capitalize on it,” Hunt said.
“(Westerville Central) did that by scoring five in the in the top of the fifth, but I knew we had three chances with this hungry team. The rest is history.”
Caden Theibert had two of Mount Vernon’s six hits and drove in a run. Nolan Hershberger tripled and knocked in a run. Kayden Packard and Ethan Yost each had a single for Mount Vernon.
Packard, the third of Mount Vernon’s three pitchers, picked up the win. He worked two perfect innings, striking out two.
Zac Clow started and worked the first 4.1 innings. He allowed five runs on four hits. Cam Firebaugh came on in relief of Clow. He retired the only two batters he faced.
Mount Vernon will meet Big Walnut at 2 p.m. June 4 in the regional at Grove City. Big Walnut beat Westerville South 8-0 Wednesday.
(Photos by Cheryl Splain)
