Lady Marshals fall in district title game to Calloway County

Going for a third straight Fourth District title, the Lady Marshals fell short in Monday’s 7-5 loss to Calloway County but the reigning First Region championships will move on to the regional tournament.

Marshall County and Calloway County met in the Fourth District softball championship Monday afternoon in Murray. The Lady Lakers advancing to the title game after a 3-0 win over Murray in Saturday’s semi-final.

The Lady Marshals streak of seven straight wins over Calloway County ended with the Lady Lakers taking the district title 7-5. It was their first since the 2017 season and first win over the Lady Marshals since they met in that 2017 title game the Lady Lakers won 2-1.

Calloway scored three runs in the top of the third – the first two on a Kylie Stallings two-run homer  and the third on a triple by Adison Hicks. The Lady Marshals tied the game 3-3 with three runs in the top of the fourth. After lead-off singles by Cayson Conner and Kinley Edwards, Presley Jezik brought both to home plate with a triple and the third run scored on a sacrifice by Riley Piercefield.

The Lady Lakers took the lead back with a run in the top of the fifth on an Emerson Grogan single.

Marshall County loaded up the bases on a walk by Layne Pea and singles by Charley Pursley and Anna Vasseur in the bottom of the fifth. The base runners staying put through two outs before two runs scored on a single by Jezik and walk by McKenzie Elkins to take their first lead at 5-4.

That lead vanished in the top of the sixth when Calloway brought in three runs on a two-run double by Hicks and Paige Kramer sacrifice to lead 7-5 which held up for the win.

Jezik went 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple and three RBIs. Hicks was big for Calloway, the junior 2-for-3 with a double, triple and three RBIs. The win went to Katelyn Powers who pitched the final two innings for Calloway, striking out two while allowing five hits and four runs.

Both teams will advance to the First Region tournament.

Fourth District Tournament Team
Calloway – Kylie Stallings, Izzy Housden, Adison Hicks, Bailee Grogan, Reese Settle
Marshall – Cayson Conner, Charley Pursley, Kinley Edwards, Riley Piercefield
Murray – Kylie Chapman, Angela Gierhart, Makenzie Turley

Calloway   0  3  0  0  1  3  0    7  8  0
Marshall   0  0  0  3  2  0  0   5  8  0
Calloway: Hicks 2/3 (2B, 3B, 3 RBI), Kramer (RBI), E. Grogan 1/4 (RBI), Housden 1/2, Settle 1/3, Stallings 2/2 (HR, 2 RBI), B. Grogan 1/2
Marshall: Pursley 2/4, Vasseur 1/3, Conner 1/4, Edwards 1/4, Jezik 2/4 (3B, 3 RBI), Elkins (RBI), Piercefield (RBI), Tomassi 1/3
Calloway: Housden 5.0 (3 hits, 1 run), Powers 2.0 (5 hits, 4 runs, 2 SO)
Marshall: Lovett 5.1 (8 hits, 7 runs, 2 SO), Darnall 1.2 (0 hits, 0 runs)
Record: Calloway 24-10, Marshall 24-12

Lady Marshals selected to the 4th District Tournament Team (L-R) Cayson Conner, Charley Pursley, Kinley Edwards and Riley Piercefield.