On Tuesday night, the McCracken County Lady Mustangs set out in search of their fifth straight First Region Championship appearance, facing off with Hickman County in the latter of two semi-final matchups at Graves County. In a five-inning rout, the Lady Mustang bats would stay hot, with an eight run second inning lifting them to a 14-0 victory, and a meeting with Marshall County on Wednesday night.
While Addley Leidecker would get the start for the Lady Mustangs, Addison Dudley would pitch the bulk of the innings, earning the decision across three shutout frames of work.
Following a quiet top half of the first, McCracken’s offense would be in business to open up the second, with Savannah McDowell taking a walk to start things off. McKenzie O’Brein would bring in the first run of the night shortly after with a single to center, and the Lady Stangs would not look back from there. Four more hits, including two-run knocks for McDowell, Macy Butler, and Ava Knight would aid in driving across seven further runs in the second, as McCracken would build an 8-0 lead before the inning was out.
While Dudley would cut the Lady Falcons down, striking out three while allowing only three hits through the middle innings, McCracken stayed consistent at the dish, adding two runs in each the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Along with McDowell (2-for-2, 2 RBI), Butler (2-for-3, 2 RBI), and O’Brien (2-for-2, 2 RBI), Olivia Lee would put together a multi-hit effort, going 2-for-3 out of the leadoff spot with one run driven in. All in all, nine Lady Mustangs would get in on the action with a hit, with 16 in total stepping to the plate.
With the lead up to 14 through four and a half, Hadley Kelley came in to shut things down for McCracken in the back half of the fifth. While Jenna Byassee would pick up one of Hickman’s four total hits on the night, the Lady Falcons would go down in short order, as the Mustangs moved on by a score of 14-0.
Next up for McCracken, they’ll look to head back to Lexington for the fifth straight season, with one final matchup against Marshall County standing in their way. In a split season series, the Lady Marshals would take the first game, 2-1, back in March, while the Lady Mustangs took the most recent meeting by a score of 11-1. The rubber match between the Lady Marshals and Lady Mustangs is set for this evening, with first pitch scheduled for 6 PM.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 14, HICKMAN COUNTY 0
MCHS 0 8 2 2 2 X X — 14 13 0
HCHS 0 0 0 0 0 X X — 0 4 3
WP: A. Dudley; LP: B. Byassee
2B: MCHS — Av. Knight; HCHS — K. Howell
TB: MCHS — Av. Knight 2, M. Butler 2, M. O’Brien 2, O. Lee 2, S. McDowell 2, Al. Knight 1, K. Dowdy 1, L. Owens 1, S. Christoff 1; HCHS — K. Howell 3, A. White 1, J. Byassee 1