Mount Vernon continues bang-up, banged-up baseball season

WEST BRANCH – The Mount Vernon Mustangs went through their Class 2A district opener Tuesday night without incurring an injury to a pitcher.That's bigger news than you might think. The planned top three guys on the bump preseason have missed time, with one of the three not throwing at all this summer.Mount Vernon still was able to tie 2A top-ranked Dyersville Beckman for first place in the rugged Wamac Conference East Division and toppled West Branch here, 7-0.“We've just had a bunch of guys step up,” said Cal Kragenbrink, who combined with Spenser Drahos on a three-hitter. “Everyone that has come in has thrown strikes and let our defense work.”Mount Vernon (24-14) plays Iowa City Regina (24-12) in a 2A district final Saturday night at West Branch. The Regals beat West Liberty in the opener Tuesday, 11-5 and beat MV in a regular-season game.“You just have to keep getting better,” said Mount Vernon Coach Jeremy Elliott. “We've had two freshmen really come along midseason in Adam Kettlesen and Marquis Dew. They've really pitched well for us. Drahos has really pitched well his last three or four outings. It's cliché-ish, but the other guys have stepped up and done what it takes to at least keep us in ballgames.”Kragenbrink (4-0) didn't throw for a couple of weeks because of an arm issue. Fellow senior C.J. Eldred has played exclusively first base as he tries to get completely healthy in order to compete at Indiana this coming year.Eldred's freshman brother, Luke, has had a nice season but he broke his hip on a swing, of all things, recently. C.J. and Luke are the sons of former big-league pitcher Cal Eldred, who is an assistant coach for the Mustangs.West Branch (12-22) beat Mount Vernon last season to go to the state tournament, so this was a nice little way to exact some revenge. Kragenbrink had three hits and an RBI for MV, which scored three times in the first and ran to a seven-run lead after four.“We came out here Saturday to watch their first game against Alburnett,” Kragenbrink said. “We thought it'd be great to get a chance to play them again because we got beat by them last year.”Kragenbrink likely will be able to come back Saturday since he pitch count was light (65).“The breaking ball wasn't working quite as well as I wanted it to just because I was sweating so much, I couldn't get a grip on the thing,” he said. “But I was satisfied just to be able to throw heaters, throw 60 pitches and get out of the game with a low pitch count.”