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Prep Baseball: Down & Out

By MICHAEL DANN

mdann@dailyregister.com

MT. VERNON - History has a way of repeating itself.

For starters, Harrisburg found themselves back in a regional championship - albeit for the first time in Class 3A - for the seventh straight season.

Looking to win it's 14th in the last 15 years, the Bulldogs stumbled in a 3-0 loss to Mt. Vernon Monday at Brennan Klein Field to the host Rams.

The loss was the first Harrisburg in the postseason since 2009 when the Bulldogs were beat by a Jake Alley-led Anna-Jonesboro Wildcat team.

Harrisburg head coach Jay Thompson said the bump up in class wasn't really a concern for him, noting that running into a team like Mt. Vernon is bound to happen in the post season.

"We've played in a lot of regional championships and truthfully, (Mt. Vernon) is the kind of team you are going to run into in any tournament. It doesn't matter if it's 1A, 2A or 3A. You're going to see this kind of quality of team and they were just a little bit better than us."

Derrick Hayes pitched the complete game two-hitter for Mt. Vernon, giving up just a single to Bryce Emery in the first and a single to Presley Gouch in the fourth inning.

Hayes struck out nine on the day and walked one, while Harrisburg left three runners stranded.

"Give all the credit to their pitcher, he pitched great," Thompson said. "We had very few scoring opportunities and he got a lot of big outs. (Mt. Vernon) played well behind him and they played very well.

"We played very well. We had a couple of miscues, but for the most part, we made the plays we had to make and we stayed in it. We thought we would hit later in the game as Hayes wore down, but he didn't wear down very much. He was kind of tough on us."

Noah Vallette suffered the hard-luck loss for Harrisburg (20-12) who got to the championship game by beating Olney 9-3 Saturday.

Vallette scattered seven hits, while striking out four and walking just one. The Rams put up a run in the first inning, added one more in the third inning and scored in the fourth.

Thompson added that Vallette, a senior, did all that he could on the bump for the Bulldogs and added that his replacement will be a hard one to come by.

"What a champion he is," Thompson said of Vallette. Here's a kid that never really pitched until this year and he comes out and is a total stud for us. I give him all the credit in that regard. He made himself a tremendous pitcher and he's a tough one to lose."

Harrisburg never really threatened Mt. Vernon, but got some bad luck in the top of the fourth when Patrick Bittle appeared to touch home plate, only to repeat the process and get called out. The threat ended the inning and one of few scoring chances for the Bulldogs.

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.