On a night when the Houn' Dawgs were playing for more than just a win or loss, the Mt. Vernon Mountaineer's used that as motivation and dominated Aurora, scoring nine first-inning runs and running away with a convincing 21-2 win to stay perfect in the Big 8 Conference.

Aurora was hosting the Mountaineer's on Zeros 4 Heroes night, as the team and community rallied together to raise nearly $3,000 for the military veterans of the Missouri Veteran's Home in Mt. Vernon.

"Obviously not a good game for us from any way you look at it," said Aurora coach James Hoffman after the loss. "But tonight was about more than the game of baseball. This was about giving back to the men who gave us the opportunity to play this game."

The game itself was over almost before it began, as the Mountaineer's used seven hits and four Aurora errors to plate nine first-inning runs. The inning was highlighted by two RBI each from the bottom three in the Mt. Vernon batting order, Teddy Rust, Payton Oehschlager and Kaden Shoff.

"We came out motivated and we hit the ball well," said Mt. Vernon head baseball coach Nick Swillum. "We hit the ball hard tonight."

Hitting the ball hard was an understatement, as Mt. Vernon pounded out 17 base hits, including seven extra-base hits.

Mt. Vernon added two more in the third inning on a double by Grayson Ketron and a single by catcher Dominic Swillum.

But it was the Oehschlager show that stood out in the Big 8 Conference win for the Mountaineers, as he racked up five RBIs and missed hitting for the cycle by just a home run.

Aurora put single runs on the board in the third and fourth innings. Billy Meredith turned a fielder's choice into a run by stealing a base, advancing another base on a balk and then scoring on a wild pitch. In the fourth, Patrick Wheeler led off with a double to the center field fence and then scored on an RBi fielder's choice by Tyler Moore.

Mt. Vernon plated five runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to complete the scoring.

Brayden Williams got the win for the green and white, throwing five innings and allowing just three base hits. Oehschlager led the way offensively for Mt. Vernon, but Swillum added four RBI on two hits, and Teddy Rust had a single and double and three RBI.

"Brayden is probably our number one starter," said Swillum. "He takes a few days to recover, but he has beaten some of the best teams the Big 8 has to offer."