The McCracken County Mustangs handed Marshall County their first loss of the season on the baseball diamond Tuesday night. The Marshals didn’t go down without fight however, scoring all five of their runs as a part of a sixth inning rally, but could not claw their way back as the game ended 9-5.
“We played everybody. We left them in the game and they fought through and found a way to win the game,” McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs. “We want to play these types of games to get us ready for the postseason. I wish we held it where it was, but I’m glad we didn’t fold up shop when it got tough, because this game gets tough at times.”
After a scoreless first, the Mustangs found their way. Three straight walks loaded the bases with one out. Lane Grace came up to the plate and delivered, roping a bases-clearing double win the gap to put his team up three. The next batter, Caden Kern, traded places with Grace after a RBI double of his own. Will Fox then singled to drive him in and increase the lead to five. The Mustangs had the bases loaded later in the inning, but couldn’t get another one to score, still with an impressive 5-0 lead after two.
McCracken continued to shutout Marshall through the first five innings, able to increase their lead to eight, before the Marshals started to mount a comeback.
Marshall County got their first five runners to reach base to start the sixth. Their first two runs came from Ayden Clevidence and Kannon Dunn, who both singled to start the inning, scoring on wild pitches. Matthew Henderson drove in another two off a single to right field with two runners in scoring position. They picked up their fifth and final run of the inning off an infield error, and had some life with just one more opportunity to hit.
McCracken added a run in the bottom of the inning, a feat Coach Hobbs said changed the outlook of the game. That came from a single from Nolan Short that made it 9-5.
“Nolan Short had a huge hit in the bottom of the sixth for us,” Hobbs said “He’s a senior, and that may have been his first varsity hit. What a time to get an RBI hit. It goes from 8-5 to 9-5 headed into that last inning, it changes everything.”
Lane Hagley came in to close the game out, and did just that. He allowed two shirt hits, but no runs came from it, sealing McCracken’s fourth straight win, 9-5 over the Marshals.
These teams take two days off before facing each other again on Friday, that time at Preston Cope field, which is a part of the Big Orange Classic, a tournament Marshall County hosts this weekend. That game will started at 5 PM.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 9, MARSHALL COUNTY 5
MAR0 0 0 0 0 5 0- 5 9 1
MCC0 5 2 0 1 1 x- 9 9 1
WP: Godwin ; LP: Turner
2B: Kern, Grace
TB: Kern 3, Grace 3, Thompson, Truitt, Godwin, Short, Fox ; Chiles 2, Henderson 2, Bagby 2, Clevidence, Wyatt, Dunn
HBP: Hall
SB: Hall 2, Thompson, Grace, Short
E: Hall, Clevidence
RECORDS: MCCRACKEN COUNTY (5-1) ; MARSHALL COUNTY (3-1)