A stellar performance from the bump Monday night led the McCracken County Mustangs to a 1-0 win over the Graves County Eagles. Junior Caden Kern threw a complete game allowing just two hits, walked one and struck out six on a 69-46 pitch strike count against 22 batters faced.
Monday marked the fourth start for the junior and second win from the mound as he carried a 0.88 ERA heading into the contest. The Mustangs complimented their hurlers pitching with four hits throughout the night courtesy of Lane Grace, Brady Thompson, Braden Casebier and Kern had a hit of his own.
Their lone run came in the bottom of the fifth with bases loaded. A ground ball single to left from Thompson got their first body on base and Casebier followed with a line drive to center with two outs on the board. Grace, who entered the night with 13 hits and nine runs was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Another walk, this time on a 4-1 count for Kern, brought Thompson home to take the lead. A pop out in the next at-bat would keep the Mustangs from running up the score any more and get their strong defense back to work.
Opposite the Mustangs, the two hits from Graves County came courtesy of Coby Mullins and Kory White. From the mound, Brady Futrell controlled 4.2 innings, allowing all four hits, one earned run and struck out one. Jack Paul came in for relief, going 1.1 innings and walking two.
The win marks the 11th of the season for an 11-3 record. All three of their losses have come against out-of-state opponents. Graves County falls to 6-5 on the season on the season and will both get right back to work Tuesday. McCracken will host Community Christian Academy, while Graves hosts Murray.
Game stats
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 1, GRAVES COUNTY 0
GRVS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 2 1
MCCR 0 0 0 0 1 0 X — 1 4 1
WP: GRVS — B. Futrell 2
TB: MCCR — B. Casebier 1, B. Thompson 1, C. Kern 1, L. Grace 1; GRVS — C. Mullins 1, K. White 1.
CS: MCCR — L. Grace
E: MCCR — C. Kern; GRVS — H. Thompson
RECORDS: MCCRACKEN COUNTY (11-3); GRAVES COUNTY (6-5)