The Dusters (12-5) completed an undefeated run through the Crethan Hansert Memorial Tournament by whipping the Grundy County Yellow Jackets 10-0 in five innings on Sunday night in the championship game at Coffee County High School.

Having defeated Grundy County 11-0 earlier in the tournament, the Dusters once again feasted on Yellow Jacket pitching and pounded out 11 hits against starting hurler Hogan Holland and reliever Ben Brewer to go along with three walks and a hit batsman.

Offensive leader

Hayden Bailey spearheaded Marshall County's offensive attack by going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI and a run scored, while Connor Bush and Matt Sharp both tallied two hits, 2 RBI, and two runs scored. Lane Whitesell (1 RBI), Dylan McKnight, starting pitcher Ryan McDaniel, and Bubba Houghton notched one hit apiece for the Dusters as well.

McDaniel also turned in a strong performance on the mound and limited Grundy County to just one hit and one walk in five innings of work en route to recording Marshall County's third shutout of the tournament.

"We had a heck of a tournament. I was really proud of the way that we played," said Duster coach Mike Reese. "We swung the bat real well and scored a bunch of runs. We were able to experiment with some pitchers too and they threw well. I think we had some younger players gain some confidence this weekend."

Cameron Caldwell singled to account for the Yellow Jackets lone hit of the contest. Holland suffered the loss on the mound after yielding nine runs over four and two-third innings on eight hits and three walks.

Dusters take charge

The Dusters took the drama out of the game early, as they crossed home plate seven times in the bottom of the first inning to take a 7-0 lead.

Bush singled and advanced to second on a balk before advancing to third on a bloop single by McKnight. After Knight stole second, Sharp drove in Bush with a RBI infield single prior to stealing second. Following a two-run single by Bailey, Houghton and Bubba Harmon both drew walks to load the bases with one out. Bailey then scored when Jay Murphy was hit by a pitch to give the Dusters a 4-0 advantage before Whitesell plated Houghton with a RBI single. Bush capped the scoring in the inning by belting a two-run double down the left field line to bring home courtesy runner Zack Kirby and Murphy.

Final runs

Holland managed to hold Marshall County scoreless the next two innings, but the Dusters brought the mercy rule into effect in the bottom of the fourth when they pushed across three runs in the frame to forge a 10-0 lead.

After drawing a one-out walk and stealing second, Bush raced home on a RBI single by Sharp to make it 8-0. McDaniel then smacked a double down the left field line to put men on second and third before Bailey drove in Sharp and courtesy runner Ryan Richardson with a two-run single.

In the top of the fifth, McDaniel worked around an error to wrap up Marshall County's eighth straight victory.