Marshall County and McCracken County faced off in the Region 1 semifinals on Tuesday at Brooks Stadium. The Marshals out hit McCracken 7-2 but a seventh inning run on a steal of home gave the Mustangs a 2-1 victory which punched their ticket to the championship game.
McCracken, a 10-time Region 1 champion, will face Graves County in Wednesday’s title game. The Eagles advanced with a 4-3 win over Paducah Tilghman.
At the plate, Matthew Henderson, Kash Chiles, and Clayton Wyatt each went 2-for-3, while Kannon Dunn added a single to round out the Marshals’ offense. On the mound, Thomas Bagby delivered a strong performance, allowing just two hits and two runs while striking out four and walking six.
After three scoreless innings, the Marshals broke through in the fourth. Dunn led off with a single, followed by a hit from Henderson. Chiles then drove in Dunn to give the Marshals a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth, walks to Brady Thompson and Kendrick Dunning put runners on for the Mustangs. With two outs, Thompson stole home just before a groundout ended the inning, tying the game at 1-1. Marshall left two runners stranded in the bottom half of the inning.
In the seventh, Braden Truitt drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Thompson, and was driven in by Braden Casebier for the go-ahead run. That proved to be the difference as the Mustangs held on for the 2-1 win.
Marshall County’s season ends with a 22-9 record — their highest win total since 2019.
McCracken 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 | 2 2 2
Marshall 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 | 1 7 1
Marshall: Dunn 1/3, Henderson 2/3, Chiles 2/3 (RBI), Wyatt 2/3
Marshall: Bagby 6.2 (2 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 4 SO), Gray 0.1 (0 H, 0 R)
McCracken: Truitt 1/2, Casebier 1/1 (RBI)
McCracken: Penrod 5.0 (5 H, 1 R, 4 SO), Godwin 2.0 (2 H, 0 R, 2 SO)
