The McCracken County Mustangs are back in the First Region Tournament Championship game for the 11th straight year after holding off Marshall County on Tuesday night. A go-ahead RBI single by Braden Casebier in the seventh inning was the decider in the 2-1 victory.
“I knew it was going to be a dogfight,” McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs said. “That’s a really good baseball team. Coach O’Daniel and his staff did a great job this year. Bagby is one of the best pitchers in the region, and that kid pitched his butt off today.”
The pitcher’s duel to start this game featured two of the better arms in the area. Josh Penrod threw the first five innings for the Mustangs and surrendered just one run on five hits and struck out four. Thomas Bagby pitched nearly the entire game and a whopping 117 pitches for Marshall County. He allowed two runs, two hits, walked six, and struck out four in his impressive outing.
wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Marshals finally cracked the scoreboard. Back-to-back singles by Dunn and Henderson left runners on the corners for Kash Chiles. The senior delivered in a big spot with a perfectly executed hit over the first baseman’s head to give Marshall the early lead.
The next inning, with runners on the corners for the Mustangs, Bagby attempted a pickoff move to first base, and on the throw, Brady Thompson bolted from third base and slid into home safely to knot the game at one.
Fast forward to the top of the seventh still tied 1-1, Braden Truitt leadoff the inning with a walk, and was moved over to second base after a sac bunt. This is when Coach Hobbs made the decision to pinch hit senior Braden Casebier, giving him an opportunity to be the hero. Casebier delivered with a hit into shallow center field to bring home the go-ahead run, putting McCracken ahead 2-1.
“I just wanted to have a team at-bat and keep things going,” Casebier said following the game. “I wanted to help out my team as much as I could. It feels great that my coach had trust in me in that moment. To come in and do something like that in that moment is pretty incredible.”
“Casebier is usually in the lineup,” Hobbs said. “I went back and forth and decided we needed our fastest outfielders out there. I explained it to him when he got here and told him I don’t want you to be upset. I said there’s going to be a moment in this game where you get called on to do great things for us. I’m so proud of him for staying focused and not throwing a temper tantrum. He’s a gutsy kid and that was a great spot for him.”
The run ultimately was the decider, as Nate Godwin capped off his two innings of relief, retiring the side, sealing McCracken a spot in the region title match for the 11th straight season. With the win, they keep their streak alive of never missing a title bout since their inaugural season in 2014. The Mustangs have also won the region every year since then as well, and will look to keep their streak alive on Wednesday night.
“It’s fun to be here. We are seven innings away from going back to Lexington. We got Caden ready to go on the mound tomorrow. Hopefully we put up some more runs,” Hobbs said. “We’ll be the home team, which I think is huge in the championship draw. We’re excited to be playing baseball another day.”
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 3, MARSHALL COUNTY 2
MCCR 0 0 0 0 1 0 1- 2 2 2
MRSH 0 0 0 1 0 0 0- 1 6 1
WP: Godwin ; LP: Bagby
TB: Casebier 1, Truitt 1 ; Wyatt 2, Henderson 2, Chiles 1, Dunn 1
SB: Thompson, Dugan, Short ; Wyatt
CS: Mahan, Gagnon
E: Hall, Gagnon ; Doughty