After surviving the first weekend of the 2026 KHSAA State Baseball tournament, the First Region McCracken County Mustangs will face the furthest region in Kentucky, the 16th Region’s Boyd County, at Kentucky Proud Park on Friday, June 12.
To put it in perspective, there are 445 miles between McCracken County High School and Boyd County High School — the same mileage if one traveled from Boyd County High School to London, Ontario, Canada. Crazy, right?
Both programs reached the Final Four last season, but the Mustangs ultimately fell to Pleasure Ridge Park, and the Lions were no-hit by the eventual state-championship-winning Trinity. This time, the winner between McCracken and Boyd will punch a ticket to the state championship. A place that the Mustangs have visited in 2024, 2021, and 2019 as runner-up.
The two programs have met once since McCracken’s inaugural season with the Lions, with the Lions taking a 4-2 win over the Mustangs in 2024. Neither team shared opponents this season until last weekend, when Boyd County met a familiar University Heights. The Lions defeated UHA 9-3. On the other end, the Mustangs defeated UHA on May 15, with sophomore Ethan Atkison no-hitting the Blazers in a 10-0 McCracken County win.
So how did the two programs punch their ticket to the Final Four?
No. 3 McCracken County faced the No. 5 Bowling Green Purples and No. 6 Sayre Spartans, while No. 19 Boyd County met with Wolfe County and No. 7 University Heights. The Mustangs conquered Bowling Green 6-0 and Sayre 6-1. Boyd County moved on through the early rounds of the state tournament with a 5-1 win over South Oldham and the previously mentioned 9-3 over UHA.
It’s no coincidence that junior Lucas Gagnon is at the top of McCracken County’s individual offensive statistics. Alongside him are fellow junior Gage Reeves and seniors Caden Kern (John A. Logan) and Brady Thompson.
Gagnon and Reeves are tied with 41 hits for the Mustangs. Reeves leads the team in RBI with 39 and 11 doubles in 38 games and 122 at-bats this season. Gagnon leads the stampede with four triples in 39 games and 114 at-bats.
Kern, the First Region Player of the Year, leads the team with 32 runs scored and a spectacular 36 drawn walks in 39 games and 101 at-bats. The senior lefty has worked the mound as a force to be reckoned with in 67 innings. Kern, who shut out Bowling Green last weekend, has a 10-0 record and sits right at the top of the KHSAA pitching stat leaders. He’s tallied 78 strikeouts while allowing 40 hits, 13 runs, and eight earned. Kern walked 20 opponents in 13 games. He has a 0.84 ERA ahead of this weekend’s tournament.
Thompson, a sneaky nine-hole hitter, has 36 hits in 39 games and 106 at-bats, with two inside-the-park home runs, thanks to his speed on the bases. Seniors Lane Grace, Briar Hall, and Will Fox (Louisville) are also offensively sound. Grace has six doubles, one home run, and one triple. Hall sits behind Reeves with 10 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 home run. Fox has two home runs and five doubles.
Senior Kendrick Dunning (John A. Logan) leads McCracken with six home runs and sits in the program’s history books as the all-time home run leader.
On the mound, senior Joshua Penrod (John A. Logan) boasts a 1.52 ERA in 11 games. Penrod, another dominant lefty for the Mustangs, has worked 41 innings for a 6-2 record. He has 59 strikeouts while allowing 26 hits, 11 runs, and nine earned runs. Penrod has walked nine. Fox has also worked 30 innings, posting a 1.15 ERA and a 3-0-1 record. The Louisville commit has given up 15 hits and six runs (five earned), walked 13, struck out 43, and tossed in nine games for McCracken County.
Sophomore Ethan Atkison has a 1.67 in 42 innings with a 7-1-1 win-loss-save record. Atkison has struck out 36, allowed 30 hits, 12 runs (10 earned), and walked eight.
The Mustangs, as a team, have a collective batting average of .327, 18 home runs, and 351 hits in 41 games. On the bump, the McCracken squad holds a 1.70 earned run average with 304 strikeouts.
Like McCracken County, Boyd County shouldn’t be overlooked ahead of the matchup between the Stangs and Lions at Kentucky Proud Park. The Lions have a few names that stick out statistically, including junior Grant Slater (Alabama), junior Alex Maynard, senior Cole Adams, and junior Conner Davis.
Slater leads the team with 30 games played, 42 hits, 38 RBI, and 15 doubles. On the mound, he has worked only 26 innings for a 0.80 ERA. Slater has allowed 13 hits, 10 runs (3 earned), 17 walks, and 50 strikeouts, posting a 5-0-1 record.
Maynard has collected 36 hits in 34 games with 87 at-bats, including 12 doubles and one triple. Adams falls behind the top two with 35 hits, five doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Davis rounds out the top four offensive athletes for Boyd County with 33 hits, seven doubles, and two triples.
On the mound, aside from Slater, the Lions rely most on juniors Jace Manning and Brayden Nunley. Manning has tossed 10 games for a 1.56 ERA, allowing 22 hits, 18 runs (eight earned), 20 walks, and 62 strikeouts, with a 4-1-1 win-loss-save record. Nunley has worked 31 innings with 22 hits, 14 runs (11 earned), 12 walks, and 43 strikeouts. Nunley boasts a 2.48 ERA.
As a team, Boyd County enters Friday with a .361 batting average, six home runs, and 318 hits in 35 games. Pitching-wise, the Lions hold a 2.36 earned run average with 315 strikeouts.
The first pitch is set for 10 am EDT at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington on June 12. The winner of this contest will face No. 1 (in Kentucky and the nation per MaxPreps) Trinity or unranked but dark horse Apollo.
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