On Wednesday, the Marshall County Tigers climbed back into the race for the District 12-AA title when they defeated first place Spring Hill 5-3 on the road to complete the season sweep of the Raiders.

Having won the previous four meetings against Spring Hill, which included a 7-1 victory the previous evening, MCHS (11-5, 7-3 District) faced some early adversity and trailed 3-1 through the first three innings of play.

Right back ahead

The Tigers, though, punched the Raiders in the mouth once again and pushed across four runs in the top of the fourth to seize a 5-3 lead before Marshall County starting pitcher Dylan McKnight held Spring Hill (12-6, 8-2 District) scoreless over the final four frames.

With Wednesday's triumph, the Tigers moved within one game of the Raiders in the District standings while Spring Hill fell into second place behind Page, who currently holds a 10-2 record in league play.

"There are some teams that you really get up for and there are some teams that you don't. Over the past 10 or 12 years Spring Hill has become a good baseball program and this has become a really good rivalry," said MCHS coach Steve Reese. "Obviously we're back in the hunt for the District title. We have to win out though. If we win out, then we'll be District champs."

Seven-hit game

Aided by their fourth inning flurry, Marshall County finished with seven hits and four walks against Raider starting pitcher Cole Barksdale. McKnight and Hayden Bailey both tallied two hits to lead the Tigers offensively with McKnight driving in one run. Matt Sharp (1 RBI), Ryan McDaniel (1 RBI), and Bubba Houghton each doubled for MCHS as well.

Despite getting off to a rocky start, McKnight went the distance on the mound to earn his fourth victory of the year, and limited Spring Hill to five hits in the contest while notching six strikeouts.

Darian Prewett and Barksdale both notched two hits to pace the Raiders at the plate.

Quick start

The Tigers wasted little time getting on the board and pushed across a run in the top of the first inning to grab a 1-0 lead. After McKnight reached base on a two-out infield single, courtesy runner Conner Bush advanced to second on a single by Bailey before racing home on a McDaniel RBI double.

Spring Hill tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Prewett scored on a wild pitch after leading off the frame with a single, advancing to second on a Brandon Hardison sacrifice bunt, and stealing third.

The Raiders then grabbed a 3-1 lead by plating two runs in the second inning on a leadoff double by David Andrews, a Josh Frantz sacrifice bunt, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Helgren, a Prewett double, and a MCHS error.

Raiders blink

Barksdale held MCHS scoreless in the third inning, but Spring Hill blinked in the top of the fourth, as Marshall County tallied four runs in the frame to claim a 5-3 advantage. Following a one-out walk by Zack Kirby, courtesy runner Lane Whitesell advanced to third on a two-out ground rule double by Houghton. Whitesell and Houghton then both scored when Raider right fielder Cody Endicott misplayed a fly ball by Aaron Hobbs to tie the game at 3-3 before Sharp and McKnight delivered consecutive RBI doubles.

After leaving a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth, Spring Hill had another chance to cut into the deficit in the sixth inning when Endicott was hit by a pitch and advanced to second with one out on a sacrifice bunt by Andrews.

McKnight, however, snuffed out the threat by retiring the next two Raider batters on a groundout and a strikeout before sitting down Spring Hill in order in the bottom of the seventh to clinch the Tigers' fifth straight win over their archrival.