– Ann Beckett/Tribune-Courier || (Above) Nick Forte was caught between bases in the game against Murray but managed to avoid the tag to get safely on third.

Marshals squeezed in district tournament

Tigers take title
in 9-7 decision


By Ann Beckett
Tribune-Courier Sports
sports@tribunecourier.com

MCCRACKEN COUNTY – Deja’vu seems to be the word that comes to mind in the Marshals Fourth District Championship game against Murray High last Wednesday afternoon. For two reasons, the Marshals and the Tigers have met in the championship the last two years.

The Marshals trounced Murray High last year 13-3 and beat them in the 2008 championship title game 3-2. Reason number two would be that the Marshals relinquished a 7-1 lead to the Tigers much the same way they did back on April 20th in their regular season matchup losing that game 8-7.

Garret Hunt was on the mound for the Marshals getting them out of the first inning with runners stranded at first and third for Murray High and stranding one in the second inning.

After a single by Logan Walker and an overthrown ball to first base put McKenty on base, Nick Forte stepped up and hit a double to score Walker and McKenty giving the Marshals a 2-0 lead. After Forte stole third, a squeeze play by Blake Turner scored Forte to add another run for the Marshals. With two outs, Garrett Hunt got a walk to first and Andrew Edwards got hit by the ball to take first putting two more on base for the Marshals. Edwards got caught between first and second base with Colby Wiseman at bat to end the inning with a 3-0 lead.

Murray got on the board in the top of the third inning still trailing 3-1.

Wiseman led off with a double in the fourth inning. Chase York’s sacrifice single sent Wiseman to third and he would score on a single by Logan Walker ending the inning up 4-1.

The Marshals added three more to their total in the fifth inning. Turner walked and Edwards got hit by a pitch for the second time in the game putting runners at first and second. Chase York hit a double that scored Turner and Walker’s single scored Edwards and York giving the Marshals a 7-1 lead.

Marshall County’s lead began to unravel in the fifth inning. Pitcher Reese Johnson was sent in to relieve Hunt. After a Murray runner took third from a mishandled pitch, Johnson is called for a balk which gave Murray the automatic score from third base. Austin Adams’ two run single closed the gap to end the fifth inning 7-4.

In the sixth inning with runners on first and second, Johnson was called for another balk that advanced the Murray base runners. Ian Heskett’s single scored two more for Murray who were now one short of tying the game at 7-6. Pitcher Blake Sullivan came in to relieve Johnson. Murray managed again to get runners on second and third when Tanner Richerson’s hit brought in two more to put Murray up over the Marshals 8-7. Another pitching change for the Marshals brought Dakota Woodruff to the mound, relieving Sullivan with a runner still on third. Murray wasn’t done yet as another single scored the base runner at third giving them a 9-7 lead at the end of the sixth inning after the Marshals gave up seven unearned runs to the Tigers.

Unable to get anything going in the final inning of play, the Marshals accepted the district runner-up trophy after the 9-7 loss.

The Marshals had six errors in the loss. “Errors both physical and mental really hurt us”, said coach Billy Thorpe. “We needed to man up and make a play and get a hit”.

The Marshals automatically qualified for the Region One tournament which will be played this week in Paducah at Brook’s Stadium.