On Sunday afternoon, the McCracken County Mustangs were back in action at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, as they looked to take another step towards a state championship in quarterfinal action against the South Warren Spartans. Timely hitting would prove to be the key for the Mustangs, scoring eight runs in two-out situations as they held off the Spartans for a 9-4 win, and another trip back to the state semifinals.
"We've had expectations for ourselves all year, other people might not have, but it didn't change what we wanted to accomplish this year," McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs said. "This is where we want to be every season. This club believed in it, worked so hard over the fall and the winter, now we get to play it out and enjoy it."
Left-handed junior Caden Kern would be on the mound to start for the Mustangs, handling six of seven innings. Across the outing, Kern would punch out six, allowing two unearned on seven hits.
"We made a couple of mistakes today, but overall, I think we did our jobs and executed," Kern said. "We came out swinging today, which we knew that's what we had to do, and put up some runs...We got some timely hits and pulled through."
Despite being outhit early, with the Spartans having two men on in each of the first two innings, Kern would hold the line for the Mustangs on the mound, giving the bats the chance to take the lead in the second.
Lane Grace would get the wheels in motion for McCracken in the back half of the inning, reaching with a one-out single. With Braden Truitt working a walk behind him, a Brady Thompson would drop in his first hit of a 2-for-4 effort with two away, scoring both runs for the 2-0 advantage.
The Mustangs would continue to add in the innings to follow, first capitalizing on a dropped fly ball with two outs in the third, bringing two more runs in to score. While Kern stayed sharp to keep South Warren off the scoreboard, Lucas Gagnon picked up an RBI double as part of a 2-for-3 night in the back half of the fourth, extending the lead to 5-0.
"We're proud of the approach at the plate today, they had a guy with a bit of a funky arm pitching today, a bit of arm-side run, but I was happy with our approach," Hobbs continued, looking at the Mustang's offense. "They made a couple of mistakes, and we were able to capitalize on that...We had some timely hitting, and might've even left some runs on the board."
Kern would provide himself with even more cushion in the fifth, contributing to a three-run frame with a two-run double, as the lead grew to its widest margin at 8-0 through five. While South Warren would break up the shutout with a pair of runs to open the sixth, the unlikely comeback would not come to fruition for the Spartans. After Gage Dugan would cap off a 2-for-4 night with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, South Warren would leave the bases loaded after pushing across two more runs, as Noah Godwin closed the door on a 9-4 win, and another trip to the final four for the Mustangs.
"I'm really proud of this club, and I'm so excited that I get to coach this group for another week. They're a pleasure to coach, I love these guys, and now we get to play baseball for another week, and hopefully compete for a state championship," Hobbs concluded. "Nobody would've guessed that after graduating 15 guys last year that we'd be back in a final four. But these guys believed in themselves, and I believed in them."
Waiting for the Mustangs in the semifinal round next Friday evening will be the winner between Spencer County and defending state champions Pleasure Ridge Park.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 9, SOUTH WARREN 4
SWHS 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 — 4 9 3
MCHS 0 2 2 1 3 1 X — 9 11 3
WP: C. Kern; LP: J. Lobb
2B: MCHS — C. Kern, G. Duagn, L. Gagnon; SWHS — J. Decker 2
TB: MCHS — G. Dugan 3, L. Gagnon 3, B. Thompson 2, C. Kern 2, B. Truitt 1, J. English 1, L. Grace 1, W. Fox 1; SWHS — J. Decker 4, G. Pearson 2, T. Croghan 2, C. Page 1, E. Reynolds 1, J. Fentress 1
SF: SWHS — M. Mosley
HBP: MCHS — B Casebier
CS: MCHS — L. Gagnon
E: MCHS — B. Hall, B. Truitt, W. Fox; SWHS — C. Page, E. Reynolds, T. Croghan
RECORDS: McCracken County (31-8); South Warren (31-9)