YSE FIle Photo
Gracie Harned’s sizzling senior campaign continued in a big way Monday and helped the Christian County High School softball team halt a three-game slide, as the Colonels dominated host Marshall County for a 10-1 victory in Draffenville.
Harned smacked a pair of doubles, drove in four runs, and struck out 11 during a complete-game win in the circle to lead CCHS to its first win in a week. Harned now ranks in the top 25 in the state for doubles (eight) and top 40 for earned run average (1.69) in 2024.
During Monday’s tilt between the longtime rivals, the visiting Colonels took the lead for good when Missouri commit Avery Adcock delivered a lead-off single and later scored on a wild pitch in the opening frame. After striking out the side in the bottom of the first, Harned helped her own cause in the second with a two-run double to make it 3-0.
Jordan Turner kept things going for Christian County in the third, as the freshman singled and scored on Chloe Almy’s RBI base hit, staking the Cols to a 4-0 advantage. Following walks by Adcock and Jada Miller to start the fourth inning, CCHS used Harned’s RBI groundout and Haley Petterson’s sacrifice to put the Marshals in a six-run hole.
MCHS scored its lone run of the contest on Allicen Harris’ solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, pulling the Marshals within 6-1 of the visitors. The lead-off blast, which gives Harris four this season, was followed by two more strikeouts for Harned, though, to quiet the threat of a potential Marshall County rally. Adcock (2-for-4, two runs, walk) made it 10-1 with an RBI single in the seventh to round out the double-digit effort by the Colonels.
Harned (3-2) walked just one in the six-hit gem. She threw 134 pitches in the seven-inning affair and stranded a pair of Marshals to end the night by getting MCHS leading hitter Chloe Coursey to pop out to Adcock at shortstop. At the dish, Harned went 3-for-4, increasing her team-leading batting average to .594.
Coursey and Madyson Morton each had two hits for Marshall County in defeat. Harris went 1-for-3 with the aforementioned homer. She also took the loss after striking out seven, walking six, and allowing four hits and six runs in four innings, dropping her record to 7-5 this season.
Turner (2-for-3, double, run) and Alison Grant (1-for-3, two runs) were also instrumental for Christian County, which topped Marshall County for the first time since May 2022. MCHS had won four of the past six meetings with the Cols prior to Monday’s matchup. These teams are set to play again May 7.
The Colonels (7-4) now have a couple days off before taking on 8th District foe Hopkinsville (0-8) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at CCHS. Christian County currently owns a 31-game winning streak against Hoptown, dating back to 2005.
