by Jared Jensen
The Paducah Sun
April 22, 2026
Used with permission.
For the first time in school history, the Paducah Tilghman Lady Blue Tornado softball team defeated McCracken County 11-6 Tuesday night, ending a 35-game skid against the Lady Mustangs.
A hot start at the plate, paired with a commanding defensive front and a deep desire to finally get the win over their Second District foes, got the job done despite some timely hits from the Lady Mustangs.
“These kids are kinda resilient,” Paducah Tilghman head coach Mikey Myers said. “They just keep wanting to be there and they keep knocking on the door. We are trying to get healthy at the right time, so who knows.”
A player that stood out in the resilient category, is Lady Tornado hurler, Adrienne Romain. The sophomore pitched a complete game, fanning three batters, walked four, allowed 10 hits and six earned runs. However, with an 11-6 lead, the bases loaded and two outs, she delivered a 10-pitch final at-bat before they could seal the win.
“Adrienne is just the kind of kid that does that. She kept telling me all night ‘I got you Mikey,’’“ Myers said. “She’s very resilient. That was a great at-bat from Lilly Hamilton, but we just found a way to get the out.”
In that final at-bat, Romain dug deep and did what she does best.
“It was so scary, but pressure makes diamonds,” Romain said. “I trust my teammates. We’ve worked so hard for this. I was really so terrified in the moment, but I knew we were going to pull through. I’m just so excited right now.”
Bats were hot from the get-go with Tilghman at the plate. Sophie Key set the tone for the night with a line drive to center field. A double from Zoe Burch with two outs on the board brought home Kate Wade and a home from Camrynn McMinn put the exclamation point on the inning with a 3-0 start.
Tilghman’s defense would double down with just four batters faced in the bottom of the inning, making quick work of the inning.
Another run in the top of the second made it 4-0 courtesy of a grounder from Key to score Baylee McMinn.
After an inning and a half of scoreless action, it was McCracken’s turn to make some noise when Alyssa Knight hit a dinger over the left field fence for a two-run homer to make it a 4-2 game. A pair of singles and a walk followed, loading the bases as the Lady Mustangs threatened to take the lead, but the Tilghman defense got the job done with a fielder’s choice out at second to close the fourth inning.
McCracken would double down in similar fashion in the bottom of the sixth, down 5-2 when Layton Owens connected for a home run of her own, making it a 5-4 ballgame, bringing Kendall Walker along for the ride.
“McCracken is still what they are,” Myers said. “I’ve told my girls time and time again, you’re not going to beat them with three or four runs, you’re going to need to score. They are always going to score runs. The goal was to score in every inning. It didn’t happen that way, but we got plenty to back it up tonight.”
The Lady Tornado answered the call in the top of the seventh inning, stacking six more runs onto their five, for a healthy cushion. Sophomore Kyleigh Dykes had the honor of making it a 7-4 game with a pop fly single to score Wade and Romaine followed hot on her tail. Eighth grader Kailee Means followed with a deep line drive to center field to score two more as Tilghman started to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I believe in every single one of these girls and it showed tonight,” Myers said. “We played some girls tonight that had some big, big moments and had some big at-bats.”
Dykes, a McCracken County transfer, went 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run of her own against her former team, Means made her one at-bat count with the two RBI line drive in the seventh. Baylee McMinn went 2-for-4 with a run and Key went 3-for-5 with two RBI.
Maybe the most impressive at-bat for the Blue Tornado on the night came from the girls who hit the homer to kick things off — Camrynn McMinn went 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs.
“We are all just so resilient,” Romain said. “We can all trust in each other really well. We uplift each other, we hype each other up from the dugout, we just know if one of us falls down, we will be able to pick each other right back up.”
That level of teamwork is what coach Myers hopes to continue to see as the Lady Tornado face the back half of their season.
Tilghman’s next game is slated for Friday, April 24 where they are set to host Ballard Memorial in their inaugural game on their brand new field. As for McCracken, they will look to rebound Thursday when the when they travel to Marshall County.