The Lyon County baseball team shut out one of the state’s top teams in its opener on Saturday before dropping a tight decision to Kennett, MO in the second game of the Mustang Invitational at McCracken County.
St. Xavier, the state’s fourth-rated squad by RPI, beat hosts McCracken County 5-2 earlier in the day but found things much more difficult with Jackson Shoulders on the mound for the Lyons.
Shoulders held the Tigers scoreless over six frames, scattering six hits with a pair of walks and nine strikeouts to earn the win. As he did on Friday night at Marshall County, Corey Cissell came on in the 7th to nail down the victory, allowing an unearned run on two hits with a strikeout.
The Lyons broke through in the 3rd, with John Bingham and Aiden Waters putting runners on 1st and 2nd with a pair of singles. Brody Williams followed with a two-out single to bring in the opening run, and Shoulders drove in two runs with a double to help himself to the win.
In the second game, the Lyons led 2-0 in the bottom of the 3rd after Eli Baker doubled in a run, but Kennett got one back in the top of the 4th on an RBI double by Tanner Duncan.
Brody Williams restored the Lyons’ two-run edge with an RBI double in the bottom of the 4th, but the Indians shut the door from there.
Brooks Nigut doubled in a pair of runs off Lyon County starter Eli Baker to tie the game at 3-3 in the 5th, before the winning run came home on an error in the top of the 7th.
Baker took the loss, working an out short of a complete game while allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits with a pair of walks and four strikeouts.
Brody Williams had two hits and an RBI, and Shoulders finished 2/2 at the plate.
The Lyons move to 21-5 overall and will look to finish a perfect 5th-District slate when they travel to Trigg County on Monday.
