On Wednesday night, the McCracken County Mustangs returned to Edward Jones Field to host the visiting Henderson County Colonels. With the trio of Daniel Higdon, Seth Harris, and Miller Green, the Mustangs no-hit the visiting Colonels in an 8-1 victory.
The rescheduled matchup between the First and Second Region teams kicked off with senior Higdon on the bump for McCracken County. Higdon earned the Mustang win, throwing three innings of work, allowing one run (earned), walking four, and striking out seven out of 13 batters.
Scoring for the Mustangs started in the second inning when Scout Moffatt drew a walk, and a pitch hit Higdon. Moffatt advanced to third base on a wild pitch while Higdon’s courtesy runner Andrew Farmer moved to second base on the same pitch. Both scored immediately after on an RBI single by Griffin Cantrell to make it 2-0.
Higdon continued to work in the top half of the third inning when Henderson County scored on a sacrifice fly by Bryce Hayden after McCracken County gave up back-to-back walks to Dru Meadows and Brennan Cates. The fly to right field allowed Meadows to score, despite the Colonels remaining hitless through three innings.
Harris appeared in relief of Higdon in the top of the fourth inning. The left-handed hurler worked three innings, shutting down Henderson County with five strikeouts, zero hits, zero runs, and zero walks.
In the bottom half of the fourth, Moffatt got the Mustangs on base with a ground ball single to short, beating out of the throw with one out. However, Harris and Cantrell hit back-to-back fielder’s choices to end the inning.
Henderson County continued to fight at the plate but could not match up against Harris on the mound. The junior shut down the Colonels in the top of the fifth inning with a ground out, fly out, and a strikeout.
McCracken County added six runs in the bottom of the innings, with Weston Miller and Nate Lang drawing consecutive walks with one out. During Lang’s time at the dish, Miller stole second base and scored on the same play with an error by Henderson County to make it 3-1. With Lang on base, Green singled before Eli James ripped a triple to the warning track in left field, allowing Lang and Green to cross home plate and give the Mustangs a four-run lead.
As the inning continued, Moffatt drew a walk before Harris hit a ground ball and reached first base on an error. James and Moffatt scored on the error at first base as Harris advanced to second base, making it 7-1. The next batter, Cantrell, ripped a single to center field, allowing Harris’s courtesy runner, Farmer, to make it 8-1.
Green appeared on the mound in relief of Harris for the top of the seventh inning. The junior righty completed the no-hitter with a three-batter inning, striking out two of the three faced.
Henderson County’s Paxton Gardner took the loss for the Colonels. The junior surrendered three runs on two hits over four innings of work while striking out seven and walking three.
Reed Rheinhardt and Evan DeKemper appeared in relief for the Colonels. Rheinhardt worked less than an inning, allowing two hits, four runs (earned), and two walks. DeKemper finished out of the contest with an inning of work, allowing one hit, one run, and one walk.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 8, HENDERSON COUNTY 1
HENDERSON 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 — 1-0-2
MCCRACKEN 0 2 0 0 6 0 X — 8-5-1
WP: D. Higdon; LP: P. Gardner
TB: MCHS — E. James 3, G. Cantrell 2, S. Moffatt 1, M. Green 1.
SB: HCHS — D. Meadows 2, B. Cates; MCHS — W. Miller 2