The Marshall County Tigers (18-6) reeled off their seventh straight win on Monday afternoon when they defeated District 12-A co-champ Summertown 2-1 on the road to earn a split of the season series with the Eagles.

Having lost the last two meetings against Summertown, which included a 9-7 setback on March 28, the Tigers held a 2-0 lead through the first six innings of play in Monday's contest before withstanding a late rally attempt by the Eagles (23-5-1) to hold on for the one-run victory.

Gutsy win

Marshall County starting pitcher Dylan McKnight turned in a gutsy performance and went the distance on the mound to earn his sixth victory of the season, as he scattered eight hits and three walks in seven innings of work while recording six strikeouts.

Summertown also went 1-for-10 at the plate with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base overall.

The Tigers, meanwhile, tallied seven hits and two walks against Eagle starting hurler Quentin Crowell and reliever Timmy Beard. Sophomore catcher Chandler Harmon went 2-for-2 with a run scored to lead MCHS offensively, while Aaron Hobbs (1 RBI), Matt Sharp (1 RBI), McKnight, Ryan McDaniel, and Bubba Houghton each had one hit.

Curt Ambrose and Nate Morrison both notched two hits to pace Summertown at the plate with Ambrose driving in the Eagles' lone run of the contest. Crowell suffered the loss on the mound after yielding two runs over three innings on four hits and two walks.

Tigers stopped

Summertown had a opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the first inning, as they put runners on first and second with no outs thanks to consecutive singles by Bryce Giles and Morrison. Following an infield popup by Konner Ambrose, Giles was thrown out at third on a stolen base attempt by Harmon. After Morrison advanced to third on a Austin Matthews double, Curt Ambrose drew a walk to load the bases with two outs, before McKnight struck out Bryson Lyons to escape the jam.

In the top of the third, the Tigers broke the scoreless tie by pushing across two runs in the frame on the strength of a leadoff single and a stolen base from Harmon, a RBI single by Hobbs, an Eagle error, and a Sharp RBI single to take a 2-0 lead.

McKnight then worked around a leadoff double by Curt Ambrose in the bottom of the fourth before Summertown left the bases loaded again in the fifth inning.

The Eagles plated a run in the bottom of the seventh with the help of a Morrison single, a MCHS error, and a two-out RBI single by Curt Ambrose to narrow the gap to 2-1, but McKnight ended the game by fanning Lyons to preserve Marshall County's victory.