For the 10th consecutive season, the McCracken County Mustangs claimed the First Region, punching their ticket to the upcoming Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Baseball State Tournament in Lexington. With an 8-0 victory over Paducah Tilghman, the Mustangs celebrated on Edward Jones Field with 15 seniors in their last game on a field they’ve called home for over four seasons.
“We’re one of 16 teams and have a chance to go to the state tournament. Today was probably one of the gutsiest and most focused team performances I have seen from one of our baseball teams,” McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs said. “I know they heard the talk around town that we lost the district and the rumblings, but they came in locked in and were as focused as I’ve seen them.”
Miller Green earned the win for McCracken County. The senior tossed six innings, allowing three hits and four walks while striking out seven of 28 batters. Green did not allow a single run in his appearance. Caleb Ehling appeared in relief, facing one batter to close the game.
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For the 10th consecutive season, the McCracken County Mustangs claimed the First Region, punching their ticket to the upcoming Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Baseball State Tournament in Lexington. With an 8-0 victory over Paducah Tilghman, the Mustangs celebrated on Edward Jones Field with 15 seniors in their last game on a field they’ve called home for over four seasons.
“We’re one of 16 teams and have a chance to go to the state tournament. Today was probably one of the gutsiest and most focused team performances I have seen from one of our baseball teams,” McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs said. “I know they heard the talk around town that we lost the district and the rumblings, but they came in locked in and were as focused as I’ve seen them.”
Miller Green earned the win for McCracken County. The senior tossed six innings, allowing three hits and four walks while striking out seven of 28 batters. Green did not allow a single run in his appearance. Caleb Ehling appeared in relief, facing one batter to close the game.
Ehling went 3-for-4, and Eli James went 2-for-2. Weston Miller, Jude Farley, Caden Kern, and Green also collected a hit for McCracken County.
“At the end of the day, baseball is baseball. It’s all about how you get up,” James said. “I think we were ready to get up and go to work. We’ve had our ups, and we’ve had our downs; that’s what this team is. No matter how we’re playing, we will go to work.”
Gunner Massey took the loss for Paducah Tilghman. The senior tossed six innings in his final appearance for the Blue Tornado. He allowed nine hits, eight earned runs, and two walks while striking out two.
“Gunner Massey competed tonight and pitched his tail off,” Hobbs said. “I didn’t think he would be able to throw that much with his arm injuries, but I thought, man, what a gutsy performance by him. I wish him the best going forward.”
Despite a scoreless two innings, the Mustangs struck in the bottom of the third inning, plating three runs. Green singled to center field with two outs, scoring Ehling and Moffatt. The next batter, James, singled, allowing courtesy runner Josh Penrod to score and make it 3-0.
Tilghman threatened in the top of the fourth inning as Massey reached on an error and then back-to-back walks with two outs to Stone Crowe and Landon Hinz. However, the threat ended as Green induced a ground out of Elijah Hamilton to close the half-inning.
“We’ve had experiences [at state] with the number of seniors; we have this whole team with experience,” James said. “Baseball is baseball, but you gotta show up ready to play every day, and I think we’re ready to do that.”
McCracken County made it a 5-0 game in the bottom of the fourth inning with Ehling’s RBI single to right field, allowing Miller and Kern. The team added on in the bottom of the sixth as Casey Hawes grounded out, allowing Braden Casebier to score. With unfortunate luck for the Blue Tornado, Kern and Penrod scored on wild pitches to make it 8-0.
Although Hamilton drew a five-pitch walk and Michael Daniels singled, the Blue Tornado could not find momentum to rally in the late innings. With a pop-out, the McCracken County Mustangs closed the game and claimed the First Region again.
Tilghman’s three hits came courtesy of Brendan Mira, Massey, and Daniels.
ALL REGION TOURNAMENT TEAM
Eli James MVP (McCracken County), Miller Green (McCracken County), Caden Kern (McCracken County), Weston Miller (McCracken County), Gunner Massey (Paducah Tilghman), Brendan Mira (Paducah Tilghman), Michael Daniels (Paducah Tilghman), Kobe Yamauchi (Hickman County), Gabe Dowdy (Hickman County), Gavin Clark (Marshall County), Thomas Bagby (Marshall County), Jacob Irvin (Ballard Memorial), Nick Cantrell (Calloway County), Caysen Mitchell (Carlisle County), and Cole Katzman (Graves County)
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 8, PADUCAH TILGHMAN 0
PTHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —0-3-1
MCHS 0 0 3 2 0 3 X — 8-9-1
WP: M. Green; LP: G. Massey
TB: PTHS — B. Mira 1, G. Massey 1, M. Daniels 1; MCHS — C. Ehling 3, E. James 2, C. Kern 1, J. Farley 1, M. Green 1, W. Miller 1
SB: MCHS — B. Casebier, C. Ehling, C. Kern, E. James, K. Dunning
RECORDS: McCracken County (31-9); Paducah Tilghman (25-14)
