For the 12 consecutive season, the McCracken County Mustangs have captured the First Region Baseball Championship after defeating Tilghman 9-1 on Wednesday night. The Mustangs jumped out early with five runs in the first, a lead they used as fuel to finish on top as region champions.
In just the first inning of this game, the Mustangs put together six hits and five runs, the first pair coming from a hard single by Gage Reeves, and the other three from a bases-clearing double by Gage Dugan to set the tone early and give the Mustangs a comfortable lead.
“We really talked about it early. We wanted to put pressure on early and try to score some runs to get separation,” McCracken head coach Zach Hobbs said. “Those dudes just went to work. We put a five-spot up, especially after we went six innings scoreless against them last week. I’m just proud of their effort today. We started 1-4, and it was a rough start. There was a lot of talk from outside, and it motivated these dudes. They stayed composed. This is one of my favorite groups I’ve ever coached. I love these seniors and I love this team.”
“Setting the tone early is a huge key for us,” Tournament MVP Brady Thompson said. “We came out here and we started banging. Soon we had five runs on the board in the first. Ever since then it was game over. We knew this team couldn’t compete with us and we were ready to shut them down.”
Tilghman was able to add their lone run in the first off an RBI single by Brendan Mira, who finished with two hits on the day. The run was not enough to kill the momentum of the Mustangs, as they responded with a run right back in the second, and added another three in the third via RBI from Caden Kern and Lucas Gagnon.
From this point, defense prevailed on both sides, as the squads remained scoreless for the rest of the game.
For McCracken, Caden Kern started on the mound and threw four innings, allowing five hits and striking out three. Will Fox came in for the final three frames, allowing one lone baserunner on an error, all while striking out five. Wesley West started for the Blue Tornado, with Dutton and James coming on for relief as well.
Gage Reeves and Gage Dugan each finished with three RBI on one hit, and made up two of the eight Mustangs to get a hit in this game.
McCracken will now move on to the Baseball State Tournament next weekend, where they will face Bowling Green at Legends Field in Lexington. McCracken made it to the state semifinals last year and the championship the year before, so they will come into this tournament with a chip on their shoulder and an experienced group who knows what it takes to get the job done.
“We’re going to take tomorrow off, come back to work Friday and Saturday, take Sunday off, then work Monday and Tuesday,” Coach Hobbs said. “I have to get on the horn tonight and get hotel rooms. I’ve never booked hotel rooms until we’ve won it, so I have to get ahold of my friends over at the Embassy Suites and get those omelettes fired up.”
Following the conclusion of the game, the First Region All-Tournament Team was announced, recognizing those kids who made positive impacts to their team during the region tournament. The list by school is as followed:
McCracken County: Brady Thompson(Tournament MVP), Lane Grace, Caden Kern, Kendrick Dunning
Paducah Tilghman: Landon Hinz, Stone Crowe, Brendan Mira
Marshall County: Hudson Doughty
Carlisle County: Kase Kelly, Karmine Vela
Hickman County: Drew Cunningham, Korbin Kimbell
Graves County: Cole Woodward
Mayfield: Carson Price
Murray: Avery Starks
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 9, PADUCAH TILGHMAN 1
MC5 1 3 0 0 0 0- 9 11 1
PT1 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1 5 3
WP: C Kern ; LP: W West
2B: C Kern, G Dugan, K Dunning, L Grace
TB: MC- C Kern 3, L Grace 3, G Dugan 2, K Dunning 2, W Fox 2, B Thompson 1, G Reeves 1, L Gagnon 1
PT- B Mira 2, L Hinz 1, R Walker 1, S Crowe 1
SF: L Gagnon
SB: A Hunter, C Poat, G Dugan