After days of poor weather brought the baseball and softball seasons to a temporary standstill, the skies cleared just enough on Thursday night to let play resume on the diamonds, as the Graves County Lady Eagles played host to the McCracken County Mustangs. Despite showing signs of rust and falling behind early, the Lady Mustangs found their footing through the middle innings, working off the back of a shutdown effort out of the bullpen to pick up an 8-3 victory on the road.
The Lady Mustangs had some cobwebs to shake off, returning to action for the first time since April 3, looking to find their way back into the win column following a loss to cap off their road trip to Alabama. On the other side of things, Graves entered the night off of a shorter layoff of only five days, while looking to keep things rolling in the right direction and pick up their third straight win.
Earning the win for the Lady Mustangs was sophomore Addley Leidecker, who entered in relief to throw four innings of one-hit ball, striking out three as she retired nine in a row to end the ballgame. Alongside her stellar relief appearance, Leidecker went 1-for-3 at the plate with a two-run double.
Hawes got the ball to start for the Lady Mustangs, tossing three innings of work against two earned runs, five hits, and a pair of strikeouts. Senior Raygan Rodgers strung together an excellent night at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple, while driving in a pair of runs. Ellie Shoulders, Cami Cox, Karleigh Grace Walker, and Macy Butler each registered a hit on the night for 1-for-4 evenings, with Cox collecting an RBI.
Starting opposite Hawes for the Lady Eagles was senior Anna Rogers. Across a four inning no-decision outing, Rogers allowed two earned runs on three hits, while amassing five strikeouts.
Junior Roxie Fisher often found herself at the forefront of the Lady Eagle offense on the night, turning in a 2-for-3, one RBI performance. Freshman Payton Hayden and sophomore Anna Taylor each posted a 1-for-3, one RBI night, while Ginger Martin and Anna Davis each went 1-for-3 with a double.
The first inning came and went with little noise, as solid innings from both Rogers and Hawes kept the scoreboard empty. Rogers continued her clean outing, closing the Lady Mustangs out again in the top of the second, before the Lady Eagles became the first team to threaten in the back half of the inning.
Bailey Wimsatt jumped on the first pitch she saw from Hawes, lifting a fly ball into right field, which was misplayed allowing Wimsatt to reach third. Wimsatt wasn’t left on the basepaths for long, as a pop-up from Fisher fell just out of the range of Aubrey West, dropping into very shallow left field to bring home the game’s first run. Hawes regained control of the inning following the run, retiring the next three to leave Fisher stranded on first as the Lady Eagles took a 1-0 lead into the third.
After another scoreless inning of work from Rogers, Graves got straight back to work in the bottom of the third, as Martin ripped a one-out double into center field to give the Lady Eagles a runner in scoring position. In the next at-bat, Taylor worked a full count before dropping a fly ball into right field, doubling the Graves lead with an RBI single, as they took a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning.
To start off the fourth, the Lady Mustangs put themselves in prime position to flip the game on it’s head, with a single, hit batsman, and fielding error quickly loading up the bases with no outs. A miscue in the field for the Lady Eagles gave the visitors their first run of the night, slashing the lead in half while keeping the bases jammed. However, Rogers rallied in the inning, working her way out of the jam first by inducing an infield fly, before punching out two straight batters to end the inning, leaving three runners stranded while preserving the 2-1 lead.
Looking to reward Rogers’ efforts in the top half of the inning, Graves came out swinging in the bottom of the fourth, as Fisher and Davis both reached to lead off, putting runners in scoring position for the Lady Eagles with three outs to work with. Following the introduction of Leidecker in relief, the Lady Mustangs looked poised to escape the inning after recording back-to-back outs through a strikeout and a pop out. However, with two away, Payton Hayden punched a fly ball into left field to bring home Fisher, restoring the two-run lead as the game headed to the fifth.
McCracken wasted no time bringing the margin back down to a lone run, as Shoulders launched a hard-hit line drive deep into center field, reaching on a lead-off double before cashing herself out off of a passed ball. The run spelled the end of the night for Rogers, who was lifted in favor of Brooklyn Cole. After a walk to Cox and a pop out brought Leidecker to the plate, the sophomore knotted the game up for the Lady Mustangs by taking the first pitch to right-center field for an RBI double.
With the McCracken bats finally warmed up, Raygan Rodgers gave the Lady Mustangs their first lead of the night, hammering a line drive out of the reach of Fisher in center field, driving in the go-ahed run with a triple. Rodgers found her way home on a wild pitch, before Cole fielded a sharply hit grounder cleanly, ending the half inning with the Lady Mustangs now ahead 5-3.
After the Lady Eagles came and went in order to cap off the fifth, McCracken got busy quickly to start the sixth, as Butler reached with a leadoff single. After advancing to second on a ground ball, Butler was brought home by an RBI single from Cox, before the Mustangs added another run over the course of the inning, extending their lead to 7-3.
Leidecker continued to dominate the Lady Eagle order through the sixth, retiring the side for the second straight inning as the visitors looked to pad their lead in the top of the seventh. Rodgers reached base once again with a leadoff single, advancing to second on a wild pitch. Two outs passed before Rodgers was moved past second, as an error on a grounder allowed Butler to reach second base, sending Rodgers home to extend the lead to 8-3, the only run to come across in the half inning.
With the Lady Eagles’ backs to the wall, Leidecker took the mound for her fourth inning of work, looking to close the door on a win. Continuing her dominance, Leidecker sat the Lady Eagles down in order once again, closing out an 8-3 victory for the visitors.
“Being down 3-0 wasn’t nice, but we hadn’t played, and that was a big factor early,” Hayden said. “We had a good little run, scored two or three, tied it up, and had some big hits later in the game. This team is a team that doesn’t quit; they’ll play however many innings it takes to win, and they’ll keep coming at you.”
Looking ahead for either side, they both return to action this Saturday at Marshall County’s annual Slugfest. The Lady Eagles look to get back in the win column in the earlier of the two games, as they’re slated to face Webster County at 11 a.m. As for the Lady Mustangs, they aim to keep rolling as they’re scheduled to take on Livingston Central at 5 p.m.
McCracken 0 0 0 1 4 2 1 — 8-9-1
Graves 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 — 3-6-2
2B: MC — A. Leidecker; GC — A. Davis, G. Martin
3B: MC — E. Shoulders, R. Rodgers
TB: MC — R. Rodgers 5, E. Shoulders 3, A. Leidecker 2, M. Butler 2, C. Cox 1. K. Walker 1; GC — A. Davis 2, G. Martin 2, R. Fisher 2, A. Taylor 1, P. Hayden 1.
Records: McCracken (12-3); Graves (9-9)