A well-rounded team effort propelled Mt. Vernon (Fortville) to a 6-0 victory over Evansville Memorial and its IHSAA title in any sport at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

Already leading 2-0, Mt. Vernon broke open the game in the top of the fifth with three runs on two hits. The key hit came when junior Stacy Jordan roped a two-out single. Coupled with an error on the play, three runs scored.

Offensively the Marauders (29-1) gathered six runs on six hits, while ace pitcher Shelli Messer held Evansville Memorial (30-5-1) to two hits. Messer struck out six and walked only one Tiger while going the distance.

Messer finished a strong junior season record with a 19-1 record, a 0.15 earned run average and 238 strikeouts.

Crystal McDonald and Ashley Wannemuehler had the two hits for Evansville Memorial.

Mt. Vernon finished the season on a 27-game winning streak and outscored its opponents 41-3 in IHSAA tournament play.

Senior Crystal McDonald of Evansville Memorial was named the 2000 recipient of the Class 2A Mental Attitude Award by the IHSAA Executive Committee.

The four-year participant in softball and volleyball ranked fourth in a class of 217 students. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the school’s student council. McDonald plans to attend Indiana University and major in business.

Farm Bureau Insurance, corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a check for $1,000 to Evansville Memorial High School in McDonald’s name.

E -- Raney, Dunn, Brown, J. LOB -- Mt. Vernon 8, Evansville Memorial 4. 3B -- Messer. DP -- NONE. SAC -- Owens, Messer, Jordan. SB -- Owens. Umpires -- Al Guillen (home plate), Kenneth Knapp (first base), James Tom Mohler (third base). Time -- 1:45. Attendance -- N/A.

Mt. Vernon of Fortville and Evansville Memorial advanced to a softball state championship game for the first time. Third-ranked Mt. Vernon edged Blackford 2-1 in 10 innings while fourth-ranked Evansville Memorial blanked Griffith 3-0.

In the opening semifinals game, Mt. Vernon’s Veronica Weaver lined a two-out single in the bottom of the 10^th inning to score Jennifer Owens with the winning run.

Owens had reached first base on an error and moved to second on Shelli Messer’s sacrifice bunt.

Mt. Vernon scored in the first inning on a single by Turner that scored Kristin McLean. Blackford scored its only run in the third when Kari Roush tallied on a fielder’s choice.

Mt. Vernon catcher Kristen Turner closed the door on back-to-back two-out rallies in the fifth and sixth innings by picking off runners at first base.

Winning pitcher Shelli Messer (18-1) struck out 15 batters and yielded only two hits. Abby Hurst (18-5) suffered the tough loss.

Evansville Memorial’s Leslie Nichols kept Griffith hitters off balance with a steady diet of off-speed pitches in a one-hit, 10-strikeout performance. shutout.

Shortsop Kerri Werner scored Memorial’s first two runs and added an RBI single. Natalie Dunn plated Werner in the bottom of the first inning with a single up the middle. Dunn added another RBI in the fifth, scoring Werner.