With their regular season winding down, the McCracken County Mustangs would return home on Thursday night to add another First Region victory to their resume, striking early and often en route to a 12-2, five-inning win over the Marshall County Marshals.
While Marshall would start off the evening on the right foot, plating a first inning run off of an RBI single for Thomas Bagby, a loud back half of the first for the Mustangs would quickly have the hosts up and running. To start off their night at the dish, five straight runners would reach to establish a 2-1 lead, including an RBI double for Gage Reeves. Later on in the frame, Briar Hall would punch an RBI single back up the middle to start his 3-for-3, two RBI day, extending the deficit to 4-1.
On the hill for the Mustangs through most of the night, Grant Vinyard would keep the Marshal bats relatively under control, allowing six hits and two earned across four innings of work while fanning six.
“Marshall’s a great club, they came out and got on us early, but Grant really settled in and threw another very good game for us,” said McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs, on Vinyard’s outing. “He’s been nothing but steady for us on the mound lately. In that first inning, he was having a little trouble getting his breaking balls over, but he’s a competitor, he figured it out and really settled in nicely. When you can throw a couple different pitches for a strike in any count, you’re having a good night.”
The only other run of the night for Marshall County would come in the third and cut the lead to 4-2, as a ground ball off the bat of Luke Turner would score Kaden Merrick, who reached earlier in the inning with a single. Bagby would also add onto his night in the frame as the only Marshal with multiple hits, tacking on a one-out single as part of a 2-for-3 effort.
From that point on, however, it was all McCracken County, as they pulled away to the run rule victory. Having added three runs across the third and fourth, a clean fifth inning of relief for Will Fox would set the table for four runs to follow in the bottom of the inning, as an Ayden Hunter RBI single walked off the 12-2 win.
Through those final three innings, several Mustangs would round off solid nights at the plate. Lucas Gagnon would single in the fourth to complete a 2-for-2, one walk effort, while a fifth inning RBI double for Brady Thompson in the midst of five straight knocks for McCracken capped off the senior’s 2-for-3 night.
“I thought the approach at the plate was great again, especially when it got to two-strike counts,” Hobbs said. “You just hope to compete when you get to the plate, get good swings off where you can, and that’s what we did today…I’m proud of the guys, it was a great team effort.”
The Mustangs will head straight back to action Friday to end their season, hosting University Heights at 6 p.m.
“We’ve just got to get right back to work tomorrow and finish off the season strong,” Hobbs concluded. “UHA, they’re up there in the state rankings, so we’re expecting a good baseball game…With our schedule, we don’t want breaks, we just want to keep playing good teams. We’re 33 games deep, but this season’s felt like a day. These guys have been a lot of fun to coach, I’m proud of what we’ve done, and we’re excited to get into the postseason.”
Games stats
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 12, MARSHALL COUNTY 2 (5)
MRSH 1 0 1 0 0 X X — 2 6 3
MCCR 4 1 2 1 4 X X — 12 12 1
WP: G. Vinyard; LP: L. Turner
2B: MCCR — B. Thompson, G. Reeves
TB: MCCR — B. Hall 3, B. Thompson 3, G. Reeves 2, L. Gagnon 2, A. Hunter 1, C. Kern 1, G. Dugan 1, L. Grace1; MRHS — T. Bagby 2, H. Doughty 1, H. Gray 1, K. Merrick 1, L. Turner 1
SF: MCCR — G. Dugan, G. Reeves
SB: MCCR — B. Hall, L. Gagnon, W. Buckhalter; MRSH — H. Gray, K. Story
CS: MRHS — H. Doughty
E: MCCR — L. Gagnon; MRHS — H. Doughty, K. Merrick, M. Reid