Gookin sisters lead Mount Vernon to softball sweep of Marion

MARION — According to Addison Gookin, Monday’s quiet offensive night was “the kick in the butt that we needed.”

Two nights later, Mount Vernon — led by the Gookin sisters — kicked back.

Both sisters (Addison is a senior and a Winona State recruit; Hayden is a freshman) homered, and the duo combined for eight RBIs, leading the Class 3A fourth-ranked Mustangs to a Wamac Conference softball doubleheader sweep of Marion, 13-1 and 10-5, Wednesday night at the Les Hipple Athletic Complex.

The sweep ended a bizarre, and somewhat frightful, afternoon for the Mustangs (14-2 overall, 8-2 Wamac).

* On the journey from Mount Vernon to Marion, they witnessed a heated two-vehicle traffic incident. Nobody in the Mustangs’ traveling party was involved.

* The doubleheader was delayed 45 minutes while waiting for the arrival of an umpire.

* Much of Game 2 was played in a rain shower.

The Mustangs remained locked in through it all.

“We had a really good talk before the game,” Addison Gookin said. “Coach (Robin) Brand is a good motivator. Her talk got us back into the right mentality.”

Brand said, “I just wanted to keep them loose, get them refocused and pull them back in together.”

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Mount Vernon won three games at the Oskaloosa Classic last weekend — “It was a big breakthrough for some of our younger girls,” Gookin said — then split a pair of 2-0 decisions with Center Point-Urbana on Monday.

Brand shuffled the top of the batting lineup, moving Hayden from the 3 spot to the top of the order and Addison from the 1 slot to the 2.

It worked magnificently.

Hayden led off the first game by reaching on an error, Addison homered and the Mustangs led 2-0 in a hurry.

“I’d been looking at making that change, but I kept holding off,” Brand said. “Tonight, they started it off the way we wanted.”

Addison followed with a two-run single in the second inning, part of an eight-run outburst and a 10-0 advantage.

The first game lasted just four innings, with Hayden striking out 10 batters in a three-hitter. Rylee Rasmussen added a fourth-inning solo homer.

Game 2 was more of a steady offensive showcase. Mount Vernon held a 1-0 lead until the fourth, when Libby Dix’s two-run single — on the heels of back-to-back walks — generated some breathing room.

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Photos: Mount Vernon at Marion softball

The Mustangs added two runs in the fifth, one in the sixth, and four in the seventh aided by three consecutive errors and Hayden’s three-run homer (her fifth of the season) to make it 10-1.

Marion (8-5, 6-4) scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Wolves’ Michaela Goad, who will play both volleyball and softball at Truman State next year, reached base five times in six plate appearances.

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Mount Vernon 13-10, Marion 1-4

At Marion

Game 1

Mount Vernon 281 2 — 13 10 0

Marion 000 1 — 1 3 3

Hayden Gookin and Kenna Rollinger. Mya Chamberlin and Josephine Logan. W — Gookin (8-1). L — Chamberlin (4-2). HR — MV: Addison Gookin (1), Rylee Rasmussen (2).

Game 2

Mount Vernon 100 221 4 — 10 8 4

Marion 000 100 4 — 5 4 5

Olivia Haverback and Kenna Rollinger. Ella Cooper, Lucy Turner (6) and Josephine Logan. W — Haverback (5-0). L — Cooper (1-3). HR — MV: Hayden Gookin (5).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com