How Mount Vernon softball turned the tables on Assumption and won the 3A state championship
Mount Vernon turned the tables on Davenport Assumption in the Class 3A championship game of the state softball tournament Friday at the Harlan and Hazel Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.
The Mustangs handed the Knights a 10-5 defeat to claim their first state championship. Last year Assumption beat Mount Vernon in the 3A championship game by the exact same 10-5 score.
"It was just going in there with the confidence knowing last year was in the past and this was our moment," Mount Vernon's Addison Gookin said. "Our best was right now. The whole time it was the most enjoyable thing."
Last year Mount Vernon gave up a 5-1 lead against Assumption. This time, the Mustangs saw a 4-0 lead disappear with a five-run Knight fifth, only to come back with three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to slam the door on the Knights and finish a tremendous 36-4 season.
"We were ready for them a little more this year," Mount Vernon head coach Robin Brand said. "I had something planned out for them for the year and they said 'No, we have unfinished business.'
"When they came back with those runs in the fourth inning, our girls were like it wasn't going to happen again. They stood their ground and continued their play. They knew if they did that they could beat anybody."
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Lilly See had the go-ahead hit for Mount Vernon in the fifth when she hit a two out single with the bases loaded and two outs to break a 5-5 tie. Gookin, the 3A all-tournament team captain, put the finishing touches on the victory with a two-run homer in the sixth.
"It really felt good, but I have full confidence we would've done it no matter what," Gookin said of the homer. "It felt the last few innings everybody hit through the lineup."
Gookin went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs and See also drove in three runs for the Mustangs, who finished with 13 hits. Jenna Sprague went the distance and gave up eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts as the winning pitcher.
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Assumption finished with a 36-9 record. Leah Maro took the loss in relief for the Knights after allowing six runs on five hits with one strikeout in one inning.
Sydney Roe homered and drove in three runs, Jessie Wardlow was 3-for-4 with a run and Abby Odean went 2-for-4 with two RBIs for the Knights.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mount Vernon claims 3A state championship with win over Assumption
