A defensive battle and a grueling baseball game could be used to describe the Second District battle between McCracken County and St. Mary that was held last night. In a game that was knotted at one a majority of the way, the Mustangs pulled on top late to clinch the 4-1 win.
The star of the game for McCracken was starting pitcher Josh Penrod. In his complete game outing, the junior allowed just three hits and a run, all while walking zero batters and striking out seven.
“He pitched his guts out,” Mustangs’ head coach Zach Hobbs said. “If Josh pitches like that for us all year we have the chance to win a lot of baseball games. He kept us in that game today when we were struggling offensively. (Andrew) Puckett did a great job, and St. Mary played really well today. It was a great baseball game and we banged around and found a way to win.”
The Mustangs added a run in the top of the first after scoring on a wild pitch with runners on the corners. It was Kendrick Dunning that came around to score that run after leading off the game with a walk.
In the bottom of the second, St. Mary found their way on the scoreboard with a big two out RBI single from Jake Haas, scoring Jake Morris from second base and knotting the game at one.
From here those pitchers continued to go to work out on the mound. Andrew Puckett for St. Mary had a solid outing today, allowing just two runs on two hits, but struggled slightly with his command in the later innings by walking six.
McCracken finally broke the long deadlock when they scored their second unconventional run in the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Dunning’s vision at the plate came up big, drawing a walk to score ultimately the deciding run.
The Mustangs found the barrel on a few pitches in the seventh that led to another pair of runs. Back-to-back doubles from Justin English and Lane Grace opened up the game, and English coming around to touch home after an error made it 4-1.
“Going into that last inning with a three run lead as opposed to 2-1 definitely changes the way we approach it. So it changes things a lot, definitely some timely hitting. Makes it easier for us and makes me look a little better when we score a few more runs with some extra base hits.”
The Vikings could not produce a run in the seventh, ending the game with a score of 4-1 with McCracken on top. This win marks the fifth straight for them, and now have a 20-6 record headed into the final stretch of the season. St. Mary drops their second straight district game, but still sit at a 14-5 record this year.
Luckily fans won’t have to wait long to see these teams face off on the diamond again. The rematch is just a day away on Thursday, with this time the Mustangs hosting. First pitch for the Second District rematch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 4, ST. MARY 1
MCHS1 0 0 0 0 1 2- 4 5 2
SMHS0 1 0 0 0 0 0- 1 3 1
WP: Penrod ; LP: Puckett
2B: English, Grace
TB: English 3, Grace 2, Casebier 1, Kern 1 ; B Haas 1, J Haas 1, Morris 1
HBP: Truitt
SB: Casebier, Dunning, Gagnon ; B Haas, J Haas
E: Dunning, Grace ; B Haas
RECORDS: MCCRACKEN COUNTY (20-6) ; ST. MARY (14-5)