— Rick Burres/Tribune-Courier || Marshall County team members celebrate by hoisting their newly acquired semi-state trophy after Friday's 8-1victory over Henderson County.

Bock's Boys crush Colonels in game three

First-rate pitching,
spot-on defense
and smokin-hot
bats send Marshals
to the state
tournament


By Rick Burres
Tribune-Courier Sports Reporter
Rburres@tribunecourier.com


MAYFIELD–Marshall County beat Henderson County in the best-of-three game semi-state series Friday after a convincing victory in the forced third game yielded an 8-1 win for the Marshals.

MCHS heads to Lexington this week where the Marshals will face Lexington Catholic in their quest for the KSHAA 2009 State Baseball Tournament championship title Thursday at 7 p.m. at Lexington’s Applebee’s Park.

This is the first appearance at the state tournament in the history of the 35 year-old program. It is also a fine way for MCHS coach Don Bock to cap-off an 18-year career as head coach of the Marshals.

Big Orange opened the semi-state series with a 4-3 nail-bitting victory over the Colonels.

The two teams swapped results Wednesday evening and the Colonels slipped past MCHS in game two with a 4-3 victory, forcing a third game.

Friday night’s game three was a different story.

Marshall County walked onto the field a charged team and controlled the game from beginning to end.

MCHS’ Cody Forsythe went the distance on the mound with an arm that’s seen more action in the last two weeks than Judge Mike Miller on County Fiscal Court day.

Forsythe tossed seven innings, giving up only one run, a homer to Henderson’s Gauge Thompson, in the fourth inning,
Marshall’s ace left-hander then went on to retire 12 of the last 13 hitters in the game.

Forsthye launched 100 pitches in seven innings of play.

He was awarded the Most Valuable Player trophy for the semi-state tournament.

Behind Forsythe’s fabulous pitching performance were the bats of a team who, at times this season, has had a combined batting average of more than .350 and yet have struggled throughout post season play to get the hits that lead to runs.

Marshals head coach Don Bock said the team needs to relax.
“If you can’t score you can’t win,” Bock said.

“I’m trying to get the boys to relax so they can hit to their potential.”

“If the bats hit to their potential and we pitch to our potential, I think we’ll be pretty good, even at state,” Bock said.

Whatever he did going into Friday night’s game worked.

Bock’s Boys brought hot bats and put points on the big board in the first, third and fourth innings while Forsythe’s pitching and the usual stingy defense crushed Henderson County’s offense.