In what looked to be a low-scoring defensive affair in the early stages, the McCracken County Lady Mustangs used an offensive explosion in the sixth inning to pull away from Marshall County, taking home the 10-2 victory. The high-scoring frame featured a three-run blast from Alyssa Knight, who finished the game with two hits and four RBI.
“The home run was big,” Lady Mustangs head coach Tony Hayden said. “I mean, that was huge. The dugout gets fired up. That’s a game changer, especially in a 3-2 game.”
Before the blast, McCracken scored the first run of the game with an RBI double from K Walker in the second inning. Marshall was able to fight and respond in the fourth, when Trinlee Anderson knotted the game with a single into right field. Later with two outs in the inning, Kadence Cavitt found a hole out in right field for a single to score Caroline Canella, giving Marshall the 2-1 lead.
In the difference-making sixth frame, McCracken started off the inning with their first five hitters reaching base. Ava Knight drove in a run to tie the game, and when the Lady Marshals tried to throw her out advancing to second, Macy Butler darted home to steal a run and take back the lead.
A batter later is when Alyssa Knight smacked her home run, making the score 6-2. With a another run scored later in the frame, all hope was lost for the home team after a huge swing in the game.
McCracken scored another three runs in the seventh off back-to-back doubles, and held Marshall scoreless the rest of the way to finalize the 10-2 win.
After the win, Coach Hayden admitted he was uncertain of the product that was going out on the field in this game, noting the girls were shaken up after the first loss to Tilghman in program history earlier this week.
“I didn’t know what we were going to see out there after the other night. You never know how they’re going to respond after something like that,” Coach Hayden said about the loss against Tilghman. “That was the first loss to them ever, and me personally ever. It’s actually a relief. It’s over with. Now we can go on and finish the season.”
McCracken improves to 17-7 on the year, and will take the weekend off before playing a loaded slate of quality opponents next week. In order, they will face Graves County on Monday, followed by Livingston Central, Tilghman, and Madisonville-North Hopkins.
“Next week we’re going to find out where we stand in this region for sure,” Coach Hayden said. “We got Graves on Monday, Livingston on Tuesday, Tilghman, back over at their place on Thursday, and Carterville coming in on Saturday. So there’s no rest for them. They’re going to have to do their thing.”
Marshall snaps their five-game win streak with the loss, and now hold a 12-9 record this season. They will also take the weekend off, and regroup on Monday with a matchup against Hickman County.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 10, MARSHALL COUNTY 2
MCC- 0 1 0 0 0 6 3- 10 14 0
MRC- 0 0 0 2 0 0 0- 2 7 1
WP: A Dudley ; LP: L Hayden
2B: MCC- K Walker 2, A Knight, K Brewer, L Owens
MRC- A Poole
HR: A Knight
TB: MCC- A Knight 6, K Walker 4, K Brewer 3, L Owens 3, E Walker 2, A Knight 1, M Butler 1, M Stricklin 1, O Lee 1