One victory away from an historic run through the consolation bracket of the state tournament and a second straight championship, the McCracken County High School softball team fell one game short.
Hannah Davis went 2 for 3 with a double and five RBIs and led a 13-hit attack as Scott County beat McCracken County 9-7 in Saturday’s championship game of the Worth/KHSAA State Tournament at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro, Ky.
No. 3-ranked Scott County finished 36-3 and beat McCracken County in the state final for the second time in three years.
No. 1 McCracken County (43-4) dropped into the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament after falling 3-1 to Male on Thursday and was trying to become the first team to win a state title after losing in the first round. The Mustangs won four games Friday and on Saturday beat No. 10 Daviess County 5-2 and No. 2 Madisonville-North Hopkins 10-7 in 10 innings to reach the championship round.
McCracken County needed to beat Scott County twice to take the title and won the first matchup 4-2 to set up a second and decisive game.
But Scott County took control early in the final, scoring four runs in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. Davis had a three-run double, and Kennedy Sullivan added an RBI single.
The Cardinals led 9-5 entering the seventh inning before the Mustangs rallied one final time, pulling with 9-7 on Tori Humphrey’s RBI triple. Representing the potential tying run, Lindsey Carroll popped out to second base to end the game.
Sullivan was the winning pitcher and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND GAME 2
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 102 200 2 – 7 9 4
SCOTT COUNTY 143 001 x – 9 13 4
WP – Kennedy Sullivan. LP – Hannah Ridolfi. 3B – Taylor Ricketts (SC), Tori Humphrey (MC). 2B – Hannah Davis (SC), Kennedy Sullivan (SC), Samantha Smith (SC), Bailey Vick (MC), K.K. Telfair (MC).
CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND GAME 1
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 102 001 0 – 4 6 2
SCOTT COUNTY 101 000 0 – 2 8 3
WP – Jenny Chapman. LP – Kennedy Sullivan. 2B – Kalli Harris (MC).
Most Outstanding Player – Kennedy Sullivan (Scott County).
All-Tournament Team – Kennedy Sullivan, Taylor Ricketts, Hannah Davis (Scott County); Bailey Vick, Hannah Ridolfi, Tori Humphrey (McCracken County); Morgan McElroy, Hailey Rodgers (Madisonville-North Hopkins); Lauren Johnson, Kaylee Ranburger (Daviess County); Bayleigh Masterson (Male); Montana Fouts (East Carter); Kaci Goedde (Central Hardin); Allison Shubert (East Jessamine).