Only one high school baseball team in Kentucky can win the KHSAA state tournament. Only one team in the state can start the next season with a winning streak. Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort while chasing history, the McCracken County Mustangs fell short in the title matchup, with a 4-1 loss to Pleasure Ridge Park at Kentucky Proud Park.
"We have 15 seniors that I'm going to miss more than anything in the world," McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs said. "These guys came with my daughter and will have a special place in my heart. I'm proud of these guys. They're outstanding. They're unbelievable in the classroom and going to go on and be great husbands and fathers and in whatever they choose as a career, which is way more than baseball."
The 2024 KHSAA State Runner-Up team consisted of 15 seniors—some playing their last baseball game on Saturday afternoon with teammates they've shared the diamond with since t-ball, while others will move to the collegiate level—all with lasting legacies in the McCracken County baseball program. The Mustangs have made it to the state championship three times, each bringing home the runner-up title while pushing to break through and bring home the championship trophy—which would be the first for the First Region since 1960.
"I've played with some of these guys since I was three or four. It's been the biggest journey of my life," Scout Moffatt said. "I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else. I'm blessed to be a part of this team and glad to be here."
Moffatt scored the lone run for the Mustangs in the loss and collected one of McCracken County's four hits. Weston Miller, Kendrick Dunning, and Eli James each tallied a hit in the contest. Miller Green finished the day with a sacrifice fly and RBI to score Moffatt.
"I told the group that it hurts extra because this group especially bought in and worked as hard as any group we've had," Hobbs said. "We put them through fall and winter workouts. I love them more than I could ever tell them because of how they work. The way they bought in, the way they accepted roles. With 15 seniors, they all weren't going to play, and they all accepted their roles like men. They didn't have to like the roles, but they were adults about it, showed character, and bought in. It hurts, it stings, but congratulations to PRP."
As Hobbs mentioned, the 15 seniors have left their mark on the program. With the number of student-athletes in one class, each accepted roles and worked together as brothers from the start of the season until the final out—young men who gave Hobbs' daughter her middle name. Some of the senior class appeared in every state tournament for the Mustangs dating back to 2021 as underclassmen—two state runner-up titles and one state final-four appearance in 2022.
Caleb Ehling started for McCracken County and took the loss. The left-handed pitcher worked five innings, allowing six hits and four runs (two earned) while walking one and fanning four batters. Ross Aldridge appeared in relief, tossing an inning and walking one.
"It's baseball, it's a tough game. Sometimes, it's unfair; sometimes, it's fair," Moffatt said. "We didn't have it tonight, but PRP had it. We couldn't put together the hits. It's tough, for sure. It's really tough. We came in here and gave it our all; that's all we can do."
The Panthers struck first in the bottom of the first inning, with Kobie Howard scoring on an infield error by the Mustangs, resulting in the ball leaving a mark across Moffatt's face. McCracken County ended the threat of PRP with the next two batters going down with a ground out and fly out.
McCracken County threatened in the top of the second inning with a lead-off single by James. With one out, Miller singled to left field, allowing James to move into scoring position. After Jude Farley popped out to first base in foul territory, James advanced to third base after tagging up from second. Casey Hawes drew a walk to load the bases for McCracken, but the Mustangs did not monopolize despite a 10-pitch at-bat by Caden Kern.
The score remained 1-0 until the bottom of the third inning when Brayden Bruner singled to right field, allowing Howard to make it 2-0. Once again, McCracken County ended the Panther threat with a double play to end the inning. PRP added two more in the bottom of the fifth inning after Howard's lead-off double, which he scored on the RBI single by Bruner. One more run came with an RBI single by Cooper Burkhardt.
With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Moffatt singled on a line drive to center field, later advancing to third on an error by PRP on a pickoff attempt. Moffatt plated a run for McCracken County as Green knocked a sacrifice fly to center field with enough room to score.
Despite a lead-off single by Dunning in the top of the seventh inning, the following three Mustangs went down in order as Miller flew out, Farley lined out, and Hawes popped out to end the contest.
The McCracken County Mustangs end the 2024 season with a 34-10 record, the program's third state runner-up title, 10th regional title, and ninth district title since the school's inception in the fall of 2013.
STATE BASEBALL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
Caden Kern, Miller Green, Kendrick Dunning
PLEASURE RIDGE PARK 4, MCCRACKEN COUNTY 1
MCHS 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1-4-2
PRP 1 0 1 0 2 0 X — 4-6-1
WP: G. Roll; LP: C. Ehling
2B: PRP — K. Howard
TB: MCHS — E. James 1, K. Dunning 1, S. Moffatt 1, W. Miller 1; PRP — K. Howard 4, B. Bruner 2, C. Burkhart 1
SF: MCHS — M. Green
HBP: PRP — K. Howard, K. Settle
SB: MCHS — W. Miller; PRP — B. Bruner
E: MCHS — S. Moffatt 2, PRP — G. Roll
RECORDS: PRP (40-3); MCCRACKEN COUNTY (34-10)