For the third straight season, the McCracken County Mustangs will make up a quarter of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament semifinals, as they advanced to the bracket’s second weekend after a 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Sayre this past Saturday.
“This group’s excited, they’re ready for the opportunity to go do big things this weekend,” said McCracken County head coach Zach Hobbs, looking ahead to the weekend. “When they came into practice today, I couldn’t tell if it was June 8th or February 15th by the way they carried themselves and were talking. They’re relaxed, and that’s a good thing, I feel like, because they’re just ready to get back out there. This can be a trying time of the year, but getting to play again on Friday is the fun part.”
Waiting for them back in Lexington will be another club that’s no stranger to the final four, as they’re set to face off against the champions of the 16th region in the Boyd County Lions. Semifinalists last year, the Lions played their way into this Friday’s matchup with a 5-1 opening round win, before hanging eight unanswered runs on University Heights in the quarterfinals to secure a 9-3 victory over the Blazers.
“Boyd’s a great, well coached team that’s used to being here,” Hobbs said, shifting focus towards the Lions. “There’s a scrappy group of guys, we have a lot of respect for them, and we’re expecting a good game. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing, and prepare for them guys this week.”
Taking a closer look at the Lions, they represent an intriguing challenge for the Mustangs, boasting plenty of talent and depth on either side of the ball.
Starting with the Lions’ pitching, coming off nearly a week of rest, a number of different arms could get the ball to start on Friday. Alabama commit Grant Slater, who started Saturday’s quarterfinal against University Heights, could be an option from the right side, boasting an 0.80 ERA over 26.1 innings, while last Friday’s starter in Jace Manning (36 IP, 1.56 ERA, 62 K) provides another right-handed option for the Lions. As for their lefties, either Cole Adams (20.1 IP, 2.07 ERA) or Brayden Nunley (31.0 IP, 2.48 ERA) could see their first innings of the state tournament against the Mustangs. As a staff, the Lions hold the 17th best ERA in the state at 2.46, while their 299 strikeouts rank as the ninth most.
“They’ve got a lot of great arms, a couple of very good lefties, but we’re still expecting to see a right-hander on Friday,” Hobbs said, weighing in on Boyd’s potential starters. “But at this point, everyone has good arms. We have good arms, too, it’s not like we’re in here bringing a knife to a gunfight.”
Turning towards bats, the Lions possess a strong offense, touting the fourth best team average in the state at 0.367, while scoring the 10th most runs with 309. Within their lineup, Slater leads the way with a .452 average and a team-high 38 RBI and 15 doubles, while Adams (.422, 24 RBI), Alex Maynard (.414, 31 RBI, 12 2B), and Conner Davis (.347, 36 RBI) are just a few bats to keep an eye on.
As for who draws the assignment for the Mustangs on Friday, a call has yet to be made as of Monday. However, with the Mustangs’ full staff able to go, the decision will come down strictly to matchups, with Hobbs holding full confidence in any of his potential starters.
“With this format, everything resets and everyone has their arms back [for the second weekend], so it should be a good matchup, and we’re only expecting to see plus-arms from here,” Hobbs said, on the Mustangs’ end of the pitching duel. “Our whole pitching staff’s ready, we have to take more of a look at matchups and see who’s best for us to start on Friday. The fortunate thing for us is that we’ve got three or four guys in our stable that’ll give us just as good of a chance to win as any of them. We’ll get with the guys again tomorrow, make sure everyone’s healthy, get some more work in and go from there.”
First pitch between the Mustangs and Lions is set for 10 a.m. EST on Friday morning from Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington. Friday’s victor will advance to meet the winner between Apollo and defending state champions Trinity on Saturday afternoon.
“This is exactly what the final four should be,” Hobbs concluded. “Four teams that are pretty evenly matched and all coming in prepared, it’s going to be some pretty good baseball this weekend.”