For the 11th straight season, the McCracken County Mustangs are First Region baseball champions. Their intense 6-3 victory over Graves County continues their streak of region titles since the school’s inaugural season in 2014. The road to this year’s accomplishments was harder than a majority of their runs, but in the end the Mustangs came out on top once again.
“They’re really hard to get,” Head coach Zach Hobbs said about the coveted title. “We graduated 15 players last year, and we heard a lot about that. There are some very good coaches in this region and some very good players in the programs in this region. They work very hard too and everybody is in a different race, but this is the standard in our program. Our goal is to get to Lexington.”
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McCracken’s Lexington dreams looked to be in jeopardy early on after Eagles’ senior Coby Mullins led off the game with a solo home run over the left field wall. This set the tone for Graves and delivered them a massive spark to start eh game.
The Mustangs quickly responded in their first opportunity to swing the bat with a two-out RBI double from Will Fox to score Lucas Gagnon and knot the game at one.
Graves struck again with a pair in the second, the first a single by Cody Baldwin followed by a another RBI from Mullins, this time a double in the left field gap.
After surrendering a quick three runs to start the game, McCracken starter Caden Kern settled in on the mound and shutout the Eagles for the rest of the game. After the rocky start, Kern allowed just two hits in his final five innings, delivering in the best way for his squad.
“I can’t even talk about the job he did,” Coach Hobbs said about Kern. “Giving up three runs in the first two inning, he hasn’t given up that many all year. And then to battle back and pitch like that is incredible. You could see the confidence growing in him, and you see the confidence with our team. It’s just a great group of young men. I’m so happy for them, and that we get to play in Lexington next week.”
“It sucks to get punched in the mouth early,” Kern said about his outing. “You just have to battle back. I think I’ve had a pretty good season, so that hasn’t happened often. It means a lot to be able to come back and fight through it. Getting down early I have to show that I have my team’s back the same way they have mine. There wasn’t a doubt in their mind that I wouldn’t go out and finish the job, so it means a lot.”
Down 3-1 in the fourth inning, the Mustangs took advantage of every opportunity given to them by the defense, and scored a pair of runs to tie the game. The first scored off an infield error the Eagle’s third baseman just couldn’t get a handle on. The game-tying run came on a sac fly on a drive out to centerfield by Kern.
Now in the fifth with a runner on first, Gage Dugan executed a perfect hit and run with a soft line drive into right field, and on the throw to third, the ball squirted away behind the defense to score Brady Thompson, who has been excellent on the base paths throughout the postseason.
After intentionally walking Dunning to put runners on first and second, Kern delivered yet again, this time offensively, with a double crushed to the right field wall to score both runners, and essentially seal the win for the Mustangs.
Now, McCracken sets their sights to the state tournament held in Lexington next weekend. There they will square off against the Region 2 winners in Lyon County, who defeated University Heights in their region championship Wednesday night as well. That game is scheduled for next Friday at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, KY.
“They’re a very good baseball team,” Coach Hobbs said about the Lyons. “It’s not often where we’re an underdog in a game like that. Lyon County is probably the better team right now. We have to go into it, and the pressure is on them. We are just going to go up there and play and have some fun.”
Graves County ends their historic season with a combined 18-12 record, and their first region title appearance in over a decade. The squad led by head coach Josh Byrd has a lot to be proud of with how they performed this season, and will look to repeat their success in the following year.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 6, GRAVES COUNTY 3
GCHS 1 2 0 0 0 0 0- 3 7 4
MCHS 1 0 0 2 3 0 X- 6 9 1
WP: Kern ; LP: Toon
2B: Mullins, Reed ; Kern, Fox
HR: Mullins
TB: Mullins 6, Reed 2, Toon 2, Baldwin 1, Thompson 1 ; Truitt 2, Kern 2, Dugan 2, Gagnon 2, Fox 2, Thompson 1
SB: Reed
E: Thomas 2, Hayden, Thompson ; Kern