In the first leg of a midweek home-and-home set between Second District rivals, the McCracken County Mustangs would get the better of the Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado in a lopsided matchup, striking early and often on their way to a 12-0 win in five innings.
Over the course of the night, the Mustangs would combine for 12 hits, reaching base an additional six times through four walks and a pair of hit batters. With eight of nine starters recording a hit, multi-hit nights on the night belonged to Lane Grace (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) and Lucas Gagnon (2-for-3, 3 RBI), while Caden Kern would go 3-for-3 out of the leadoff spot.
“I thought we had a great approach at the plate today, did a good job taking advantages of some pitches, and when the count got to two strikes we were able to shorten up and compete,” said McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs, following the win. “That was up and down the lineup, everybody competed in their at-bats. That’s all we ask of them, and they all did that today, so I’m really proud of the effort and the way they came out.”
Kern would also take the mound for McCracken, handling all five innings. Allowing just one hit, a third inning triple to Gage Hinton, Kern would punch out four across his outing.
“Caden’s just a great competitor, he was pumped when I told him he was going to pitch this game, and he’s exactly the kind of guy you want pitching in a big game. He loves it,” said Hobbs, on Kern’s evening. “His off-speed stuff was as good tonight as it’s been all year, he located and executed on all of his pitches well, and he really got going on his second time through their order.”
When given an inch in the bottom of the first, the Mustangs would take a mile, capitalizing on early missteps from Tilghman to carve out a quick lead. Making the most of a walk, an error, and a hit batsman, two hits for the hosts would bring home a handful of runs, as an RBI double for Lane Grace made it 4-0 through one.
With the bats warmed up, the Mustangs kept the offense coming in the second, further widening the gap with an eight hit inning. The third of seven straight knocks, a three-run home run for Kendrick Dunning would blow the game wide open, helping extend the deficit to 9-0 by the end of the frame.
“Hitting can be contagious, that can go both ways, but I think our guys do a great job of communicating things to each other, how guys are trying to pitch them, what the ball’s looking like, and always encourage each other.” Hobbs continued, on the Mustangs’ fast start. “It’s always nice to get a cushion early on, you’re always more relaxed playing up and not having to worry about being ‘perfect’, but we do a good job of staying even-keeled and keeping that same approach, no matter the score…We’ve been in close games this season, so we’re used to every situation, and always try to take things pitch-by-pitch.”
From there, while Kern kept zeroes on the top half of the scoreboard, the Mustangs would add one run in the third and two in the fourth to push the deficit past ten, sealing up the 12-0 win with a clean top half of the fifth.
“It was just a good day for us, there’s no other way to put it,” Hobbs continued. “I wish we could take some of those runs with us into tomorrow instead, but we have to re-focus, because it’s right back to 0-0.”
The Mustangs and Tornado will be straight back at it again Wednesday, as they meet for the second half of their divisional home-and-home across town at Brooks Stadium.
“Tilghman’s a great ballclub, they’re going to come ready to play again tomorrow, so we have to come ready to go, too,” Hobbs concluded. “It’s a great win today, but we’ll go to sleep, get our defense and batting practice in tomorrow like we do every day, and just be ready to go play another baseball game.”
PTHS 0 0 0 0 0 X X — 0 1 2
MCHS 4 5 1 2 X X X — 12 12 0
WP: C. Kern; LP: B. Dutton
2B: MCHS — G. Reeves, L. Grace
3B: PTHS — G. Hinton
HR: MCHS — K. Dunning
TB: MCHS — K. Dunning 4, C. Kern 3, L. Grace 3, G. Reeves 2, L. Gagnon 2, B. Hall 1, L. Whiteside 1, W. Fox 1; PTHS — G. Hinton 3
HBP: MCHS — K. Dunning, L. Whiteside
E: PTHS — B. Mira, B. Sains
RECORDS: McCracken County (14-5); Paducah Tilghman (11-8)