Down 8-0 and looking like it might fall victim to the mercy rule, the Lyon County softball team rallied to give fourth-ranked McCracken County a ballgame, but fell short of an upset in a 10-7 setback Thursday night in Eddyville.
The Lady Lyons, now 3-6 against a stiff early-season slate, broke up McCracken’s shutout bid with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
A five-run sixth inning then made things interesting late before the Lady Mustangs (6-0) were able to hang on.
Sydney Melton lined a home run to right-center to get Lyon on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Calista Collins then singled with two outs and scored on a double by Kaelyn Conger to cut McCracken’s lead to 8-2.
The Lady Mustangs went up 9-2 in the top of the sixth before a long, two-out rally helped Lyon get back in it.
Melton and Tori Schenk had RBI singles to make it 9-4. An error on Schenk’s ball to the right helped another runner come around to cut the gap to 9-5.
Collins extended the inning with a single to left. Conger followed with a double to center to make it a 9-7 game and get the potential tying run to the plate.
But a flyout to left ended the inning.
McCracken tacked on an important insurance run in the top of the seventh.
That proved big in the bottom of the frame when Nelli Walker doubled with one out. Lyon could not get the tying run to the plate. A strikeout and a groundout ended the game with Melton’s big bat in the on-deck circle.
Melton finished the night 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in. Collins and Walker were also 3-for-4 while Conger went 2-for-4 and knocked in three.
McCracken was led by Ariel Fox, who was 3-for-4 with three doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Emma Ballard was 2-for-3 and knocked in two while Loren Shelton was 2-for-4.
Lyon outhit McCracken 12-11.
Ashby Murt picked up the win in the circle for McCracken, allowing seven earned runs while striking out eight and walking two.
Allye Culp took the loss for Lyon, allowing eight earned runs while fanning two and walking one.
Lyon next plays three games on Saturday at the Trigg County Lady Cat Invitational.
