Another intense meeting between Second District foes McCracken County and Paducah Tilghman came to a head on Wednesday night when the squads battled for the district’s number one seed. Despite having a late opportunity to tie it, the Blue Tornado fell short of victory, meaning the Mustangs claimed that top seed once again in a 2-1 decision.
“Man it feels nice,” Mustangs head coach Zach Hobbs said following the win. “It’s big. We want to get back here for the regional tournament. We take on CCA on Monday and hope we take care of business there, and then face either St. Mary or Tilghman for that district title.”
It was once again a lengthy and stellar performance on the mound for the Mustangs that was a driving force in this win. Junior Caden Kern tossed nearly a complete game for McCracken. In his 6.2 innings pitched, Kern allowed just four hits and a run, all while just walking two and striking out five. His performance was another prime example of this McCracken rotation throwing deep into these games to give them great opportunities to win games.
“I thought Kern pitched his butt off. Our pitching staff does an outstanding job at instilling that,” Hobbs said. “We have those three guys at freshman, JV, and varsity and they all teach the same thing. The pitchers execute, that’s the main thing. We trust our pitchers and talk to them and let them make choices on pitches. It’s really fun to watch those guys develop through the years.”
The pair of runs for McCracken were scored on the same play in the top of the fourth inning. Lane Grace and Lucas Gagnon both reached base after a single and a hit by pitch, leaving Gage Dugan up to bat. He broke open the scoring with a single down the left field line to score both runners and give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead.
The Blue Tornado were able to finally eclipse the scoreboard an inning later, cutting the Mustang lead to just one in the fifth. This came from an RBI double by Landon Hinz that scored Stone Crowe all the way from first base to net the first run for Paducah Tilghman.
The score remained the same all the way through the bottom of the seventh. With their last chance to tie the game, Tilghman was able to get two runners into scoring position, but could not get them to cross the plate, thanks to Josh Penrod coming in for a single out of relief, striking out Elijah Hamilton to seal the 2-1 win for McCracken.
As of now, both teams have just one remaining regular season matchup before the start of the postseason. Tilghman caps off their season with a home game on Thursday against the Murray Tigers, while the Mustangs go on the road on Friday to square off against University Heights.
With the completion of this game, the seeding is now set for the Second District Tournament that is set to begin next week. The one seed McCracken County will face CCA, while two seed Tilghman takes on St. Mary for the third time in a span of two weeks. The tournament will be held at St. Mary High School starting Monday.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 2, PADUCAH TILGHMAN 1
MCHS0 0 0 2 0 0 0- 2 5 1
PTHS0 0 0 0 1 0 0- 1 4 2
WP: Kern ; LP: Mira
2B: Hinz
TB: Truitt 2, Dugan 1, Dunning 1, Grace 1 ; Hinz 3, Dutton 1, Crowe 1
HBP: Gagnon
SB: Hinz
CS: Dunning
E: Aldridge ; Hinz, Crowe
RECORDS: MCCRACKEN COUNTY (25-7) ; PADUCAH TILGHMAN (18-5)