After a spring break trip to Alabama and Florida and a rainout Thursday night, the McCracken County Lady Mustangs returned to action in Marshall County Slugfest, dealing the Christian County Lady Colonels a 10-0 defeat.
A unique offensive strategy helped the Lady Mustangs get up early in the second inning with a series of well-placed bunts to get runners on base and runs on the board.
“Punting combined with the speed that we have just made more sense for us tonight,” McCracken County head coach Tony Hayden said. “It helped that we laid down some pretty nice bunts. We’ve got speed and we need to use it. They (Christian County) were a little slow on the corners, so that played into our favor as well. We are going to use what we’ve got and that’s how we’re going to win from right now, to the end of the year.”
Those bunts, paired with aggressive base running and some hits in the gaps, were able to push McCracken County to a 7-0 lead in the second inning. Add an impressive pitching performance from senior Addley Leidecker and the Lady Mustangs were quickly putting themselves on track for an early night.
Leidecker pitched a complete game, allowing just three hits, walked one and struck out two on an 88-50 pitch-strike count and 25 batters faced.
“Hopefully our pitching can continue doing what its been doing,” Hayden said. “We had two great pitching performances down in Florida and had another one tonight. Christian is a good ball club and they have some good hitters, but Addley had a great night tonight.”
McCracken County also used their extensive softball IQ to take advantage of five separate errors throughout the night, scoring on four of those five errors. They would double down with eight stolen bases throughout the contest, helping rack up with runs that much faster.
Offensively, the Lady Mustangs found success from top to bottom, with eight different girls connecting at the plate.
Olivia Lee went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead the offensive effort, while Macy Butler turned in a 3-for-4 performance with an RBI. Ava Knight also drove in a pair, finishing 2-for-4, and Alyssa Knight added two hits in a 2-for-4 outing. Kendall Walker contributed a 2-for-4 day with an RBI, while Macy Stricklin went 1-for-2 with a run driven in. Leidecker finished 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Lilly Hamilton added a hit, going 1-for-1.
Hayden said he and his coaching staff are still playing with their lineup and field positions to create the ultimate winning team and continue to improve on their 14-6 record. They will look to keep things rolling as they take on Mercy Academy and Livingston Central Saturday in Marshall County’s Slugfest, weather permitting.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 10, CHRISTIAN COUNTY
MCCR 0 7 0 2 0 0 1 — 10 12 0
CHRS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 5
2B: MC — K. Walker
TB: MC — K. Walker 3, A. Knight 2, A. Knight 2, M. Butler 2, A. Leidecker 1, L. Hamilton 1, M. Stricklin 1, O. Lee 1; CC — A. Rodriguez 1, C. Almy 1, T. Ezell 1
HBP: MC — E. Walker
SB: MC — K. Walker 2, E. Lawrence, K. Brewer, L. Hamilton, M. Butler, O. Lee, S. Christoff
CS: MC — L. Owens, O. Lee
E: CC — A. Epps, H. Petterson, J. Turner, J. Turner, K. Smith
RECORDS: MCCRACKEN COUNTY (14-6); CHRISTIAN COUNTY (11-6)