The Marshall County Tigers took a big step towards claiming one of the top two seeds in the upcoming District 12-AA tournament by defeating the Page Patriots 7-3 at home on Thursday night.

With MCHS, Page, and Summit locked in a three-way tie for second place entering Thursday's contest, the Tigers (14-6, 10-3 District) got a strong pitching performance from starting hurler Matt Sharp and built a 6-1 lead through the first five innings of play before eventually claiming the four-run victory.

Coupled with Summit's 4-3 loss to Lewis County on the same night, Marshall County moved into sole possession of second place in the District standings thanks to Thursday's win.

11-hit effort

Aided by a four-run third inning, the Tigers pounded out 11 hits and drew four walks against Patriot starting pitcher Taylor Cathey and reliever Austin Bannister.

MCHS got contributions throughout their lineup, as Sharp, Ryan McDaniel, Ryan Richardson, and right fielder Grayson Wiles each tallied two hits and a RBI, while Dylan McKnight (1 RBI), Bubba Houghton (1 RBI), and Zack Kirby added one hit apiece.

"Right now we need someone to beat Spring Hill so we can get the number one seed, but this was still a big win," said Marshall County coach Steve Reese. "Over the last six or seven games we've swung the bats well so hopefully we're coming around at the right time."

Sharp scores win

Sharp also went the distance on the mound to pick up the win, and scattered eight hits and a walk over seven innings of work to go along with five strikeouts. The Tigers did commit two errors, but offset that by turning a double play and throwing out four Page runners on the base paths.

Cole Thiede, Gage Downey, and Patrick Hood each had two hits to pace the Patriots (14-6, 10-5 District) at the plate. Cathey suffered the loss on the mound after yielding six runs in five innings of work on nine hits and four walks.

After Both teams failed to advance a runner into scoring position in the first two innings of play Page put a man on second base with no outs in the top of the third thanks to a single by Hood and a MCHS error on the play. Following a strikeout by Taylor Wallace, Hood tried to score on a single by Thiede, but Wiles gunned down Hood at home plate, before Sharp retired Chipper Smith on a groundout to escape the inning unscathed.

"I think Grayson made the play of the game when he threw that guy out at home. That turned the momentum of the game," said Reese.

Four-run inning

The Tigers then got their bats going in the bottom of the third and pushed across four runs in the frame on the strength of singles from Kirby and Wiles, a RBI double by Sharp, a McKnight RBI single, a RBI groundout by Bailey, and a McDaniel RBI triple to take a 4-0 lead.

Page notched a run in the top of the fourth thanks to a leadoff triple by Downey and a Zak Mizell RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 4-1, but MCHS plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth behind a leadoff walk by Bailey, a McDaniel single, a wild pitch, a RBI single by Houghton, and a Wiles RBI groundout to open up a 6-1 advantage.

Page tallied two runs in the top of the sixth on two hits, a walk, and a wild pitch to narrow the gap to 6-3, but Marshall County tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with the help of a leadoff double by Sharp and a Richardson RBI single to stretch their lead to 7-3.

Sharp then retired the first two Patriot batters on groundouts in the top of the seventh before Hood was thrown out at second base to end the game when he tried to stretch a single into a double.