MT. VERNON, Mo. — New programs tend to go through some form of a learning curve, but there are exceptions.
Mount Vernon softball falls into that category.
Through four years, the Lady Mt’neers have made two state appearances, both during the spring season. This Friday, they'll face Malden for the right to advance to their first championship game. It’s an impressive feat for a group that has ingratiated a handful of first-time players.
A savvy group of seniors, soon-to-be the inaugural graduating class for the program, has been at the core of this success.
"I knew from the minute I stepped on the field my freshman year that we could do it and that we had the talent,” senior pitcher Maddi Brown said. "Our class has been playing together for so long, we have great team chemistry and it works very well together.”
Brown has benefited from a long playing career with fellow seniors Whitney Wiehe and Kaitlyn Foulk. They joined Matt Schubert’s squad knowing the tricks of the trade and have passed that knowledge to their teammates.
That includes dugout etiquette. Softball is a loud game regardless, but the Lady Mt’neers take pride in their volume.
"We give them as much advice as we can, just to stay up and stay positive,” Wiehe said. "We want to keep them driven towards our goal and that’s obviously state. It has been since the beginning.”
Schubert alluded to the second year being the takeoff point After winning nine games in their first season of fall ball. The team started focusing on situational play, rather than just getting the ball back to the mound. That led to Mount Vernon beating Osceola and Galena to make their first state appearance in 2014, ultimately placing fourth.
The following year, they racked up 19 wins before falling to Marionville in the district championship.
"That was pretty tough on our girls. We knew we had a lot of people coming back: seven starters and three or four other girls that contributed,” Schubert said. "This is something we’ve talked about from then on.”
The Lady Mt’neers haven’t shied away from a difficult road back to the final four this season. Brown’s first-inning home run at Strafford two weeks ago spurred a barrage against the unbeaten Lady Indians to claim their second district championship.
They went back on the road six days later and recaptured a lost lead over 25-win Purdy to earn a date with Stockton, who reached state in 2015. Mount Vernon proceed to shut out the Lady Tigers for the second time this year.
"The last couple weeks, I haven’t had to do anything. When you have good leadership like we do, I just say one or two things and they take care of it. It makes it easy and, man, it’s fun.”
Schubert is right. His seniors have been instrumental in Mount Vernon’s postseason march. Brown has amassed a 15-7 record, 95 strikeouts, and a 1.76 ERA as the No. 1 starter. She also leads the team with three home runs.
Foulk is tops with a .500 batting average with 30 RBIs. Wiehe is close behind, having driven in 23 runs with a .406 average.
"We have the talent to do whatever is possible,” Wiehe said. "The three of us have been playing together forever. Us having that advantage of being together for so long makes us ready for anything that comes at us.”
It’s plain to see how that’s affected the rest of the team. They stay loose and stay attacking, and it could carry them to something unprecedented this weekend.
