MOUNT VERNON — The hugs Mount Vernon’s players and coaching staff shared late Wednesday were long.
Arms locked. Chins tucked. Feet still. A quiet, heavy embrace – the kind you only share with someone when you know, and trust, and care about. The kind you share with someone you’ve been through the wars with.
These were ‘goodbye’ hugs. Not because they wouldn’t see each other again – they would. But because this experience they’d shared together – the years of blood, sweat and tears; the exhilarating wins and devastating losses; the workouts, practices, team meals and bus rides – was coming to an end.
This would be the last time they’d share a diamond together. This group, this school, this season.
So, the hugs were long.
“That's the saddest part. … Sure, the games (are) important, but to come into the dugout and know that Caden Rowland isn't gonna be in there; Trevor Buttke isn't gonna be in there; Cash Finnell – those guys aren't gonna be in there,” Mount Vernon head coach Nate Hunt said, referencing three of his team’s seven seniors.
“That's the sad part. Because you build this bond and then it just kind of goes away.”
Mount Vernon fell to Marysville, 4-3, in a Division I sectional final matchup Wednesday, drawing to a close the Yellow Jackets’ winningest season since 2010. Mount Vernon finished 20-5 – including an 11-3 record in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, where the Jackets placed second to three-time defending champion Wooster.
Four of the Jackets' five losses came by one run, with two occurring in extra innings. Mount Vernon was ranked 13th in the state heading into the postseason.
Marysville, seeded 23rd in the Central District, will face fourth-seeded Hilliard Darby in the district semifinals Monday after knocking off 12th-seeded Mount Vernon on Wednesday. It will mark the program's first district tournament appearance since 2019.
The Monarchs beat 31-seed Dublin Coffman, 12-2, in the sectional semifinals May 15.
THE GAME: Rowland, who became Mount Vernon's all-time wins leader earlier this season, started on the hill Wednesday for the Jackets.
And he worked out of several jams early to keep Marysville off the scoreboard.
Facing a bases-loaded situation with one out in the top of the second inning, Rowland struck out the next batter and forced a groundout to end the frame. Then, with runners on the corners and one out in the top of the third, Rowland came through again, forcing an infield pop-up and recording another strikeout to hold Marysville at-bay.
Mount Vernon tacked on a couple insurance runs during this time as well.
A double from junior Konner Daughreity in the bottom of the first moved runners to second and third, and Finnell did the rest, sending a one-out grounder to short that scored sophomore Zac Clow and made it 1-0 Jackets.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, junior Jonny Askew got on-base with a check-swing dribbler down the third-base line, using his speed and hustle to beat the throw to first. After moving to second and third on passed balls to the backstop, Buttke brought the center-fielder home, singling to center field and giving Mount Vernon a 2-0 advantage.
The fifth inning is where things got tricky for the Yellow Jackets, however. After four innings of frustration, the Monarchs' bats broke through.
A hit batter, a walk and single up the gap loaded the bases with one out. Then, senior Aiden Kersten capitalized, sending a hard-hit grounder to second that was bobbled, allowing runners to score from second and third and tying the game.
Junior Tate Martino gave Marysville the lead moments later, sending a liner to left field that scored senior Braden Deere from second and made it 3-2 Monarchs.
"(We were) just trying to remain confident and continue to have good approaches," Marysville head coach Nick Blake said afterwards. "Don't carry one inning into the next. We felt like we could score some runs today, and thankfully, the last few innings, we were able to put a few on the board."
The visitors tacked on another run in the top of the seventh. After loading the bases with no outs, senior Chase Storr rocketed a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Deere from third, giving Marysville a 4-2 advantage.
The Monarchs would need that run in the bottom of the seventh. With their season on the line, the Yellow Jackets rallied, as Daughreity sent a two-out fly ball to deep right field that was dropped in the wind, scoring sophomore Kayden Packard from first and narrowing the margin to 4-3.
The Jackets had the tying run 90 feet from home, as Daughreity made it to third on the play. But that's as close as they would get. Storr was able to force a groundout to short moments later, ending the game and leaving Mount Vernon's players and fans in shock.
The Monarchs celebrated, having knocked off one of the state's top-ranked teams on its home turf.
"That's a really, really good baseball team that does a lot of things really well," Blake said of Mount Vernon. "And we didn't have our best stuff today. A lot of it had to do with them.
"But we've talked about being resilient and kind of tough and responding all year. And those first three innings, we left some people on-base when we shouldn't have. I'm not sure we respond the way we did tonight a couple months ago. But to our guys' credit, we stuck with it and hung around long enough to put a couple runs on the board."
Martino made just his second start of the season on the mound for Marysville on Wednesday. He appeared cool, calm and collected – surrendering two runs on five hits before letting the experienced Storr take over in the bottom of the fifth.
"We really liked (Martino to start the game). We really liked him against these guys, and he got us through the order a couple times," Blake said. "And then obviously, once we get Chase out there on the mound, we feel pretty confident."
Hunt said the little things made the difference Wednesday. Marysville simply did them better, he said, and that paid dividends late.
"We put it on our shirts. It's kind of been our motto: 'Everything matters or nothing matters.' And when you get into the tournament, you know, an error is magnified by 100. A strikeout is magnified by 100. Not getting the bunt down is magnified by 100," Hunt said.
"So all these mistakes, they just seem like they mean more. And Marysville made all the routines and clutch hitting. And when it comes down to it, in tournament time, that's when all of that matters.
"I don't wanna say that going 20-4 before this game (doesn't matter) – that matters – but it gets you ready for one game. And if you can't execute at that time, then the best team doesn't always win. The team that plays the best wins. And Marysville played the best tonight."
MOVING FORWARD: Marysville will face Hilliard Darby on Monday in the district semifinals.
Ohio Capital Conference (Cardinal Division) foes, Darby beat Marysville twice in April. But the Monarchs got the Panthers back in May, winning 10-4 on the road just two weeks ago.
"We're excited," Blake said of the matchup. "We get to see a team we've seen three times already and we're pretty familiar with. So we'll see."
Mount Vernon, meanwhile, will turn in jerseys and clean out lockers after seeing its season come to a close. Despite the way it ended, Hunt said Wednesday his team had plenty to be proud of.
"A high school coach's goal should be to win 20 ball games. And to accomplish that – and we haven't done that since 2010 – is huge," Hunt said. "To ask some sophomores to grow up quick and be in important positions is huge for what we're doing in the future. And I think probably more importantly, to have a coaching staff of guys like I have is what makes coaching here fun.
"This one hurts, but I hope it's part of the process of us getting better and becoming an OCC contender and getting this monkey off our back of winning a tournament game."
Hunt credited the team's six seniors for getting Mount Vernon this far.
"They've meant the world to the culture of what we're trying to do and (were able to) kind of get it in the right direction," Hunt said. "Those seniors are exactly what any coach would ever want."
What made these seniors special, Hunt said, was "their leadership and their willingness to go against the grain." He believes the group provided a positive example for the team's underclassmen to follow, and that the future is bright for Mount Vernon baseball as a result.
"This year, having six seniors, and next year, only having three – two of them have been playing since they were freshmen, and they've kind of grown up with them. They came in and played the same amount of varsity as those seniors have," said Hunt, referencing the fact that the 2020 season (which would have been these seniors' freshman campaign) was canceled due to the pandemic.
"So the culture, in terms of what we're trying to do, I think is going to be even more efficient and more successful next year, because those guys have all grown up together. They've all done it together.
"And you never know what that freshman group's gonna do moving forward. But at the end of the day ... I want them to be proud to say they played ball at Mount Vernon. And it's really cool when it's this time of year, kids are getting out of college, and you see all those guys come back. I think that, to me, is the sign of, 'OK, there is a culture here.' And we can flip the script (on postseason success) just as fast as we've built the culture."
