YSE File Photo
Some situational baseball by Murray High School backfired Thursday night and propelled Lyon County to its 17th win of the year: a 7-4 triumph over a scuffling Tigers squad that has now dropped four of its last five contests.
With the score tied 4-4, and moments after a two-out double by Travis Yancy, Murray opted to walk Jackson Shoulders and pitch to senior Aidan Rush. That plan quickly fell apart, as Rush lined the next pitch he saw into left field for an RBI single that plated Yancy and gave LCHS a one-run advantage.
Three pitches later, facing a new hurler, Christian O’Daniel continued the sixth-inning onslaught with a two-run single that gave the Lyons their final margin of victory. Corey Cissell, who earned the victory on the bump, then struck out the MHS side in order in the bottom of the sixth, and gave way to reliever Brady Darnall, who retired the Tigers in order to end the game in the seventh.
Cissell (1-0) hung tough all game long to pick up his first win of the season. He scattered six hits and struck out six, while walking just one. None of his four surrendered runs were earned. Kade Gibson (2-4) allowed 10 hits, seven runs, and two walks in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss.
It appeared that Lyon County was on its way to a blowout win the way the game started. The visitors opened the game with four hits and a sacrifice fly in the first five at-bats, quickly going ahead 3-0 on Rush’s one-out RBI single in the first. The Lyons even went up 4-0 in the fourth on one of four Murray errors. The Tigers found their stride in the fifth inning, though, coming alive to tie the game Gibson’s two-out single led to a three-run sequence, squaring the game at 4-all.
Rush and O’Daniel, who teamed up for the game-winning half-inning, combined to go 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Rush, Yancy, Gunnar Bingham (two doubles), and Brody Williams all had two hits apiece, helping the Lyons bang out 11 hits on the night. Bingham and Shoulders each accounted for two runs. Gibson (1-for-3, two RBIs) and Nickolas Holcomb (2-for-3) were the offensive leaders for the Tigers (11-13) in the losing effort.
The Lyons (17-4) will try for their fifth straight win overall when they host Owensboro Catholic (20-3) and Hopkinsville (14-5) in a stacked round-robin doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Aces captured the All “A” State Championship on Thursday night with a 12-2 victory over Walton-Verona.
