The smile on McKinney head coach Kyle Hope's face said it all. The Marshals had just completed a 6-0 dismantling of visiting Graham to pull back to within 2 1/2 games of division-leading Coppell and the skipper was feeling good.

"We played well," he said. "We would like to get on a roll with this. We've got the All-Star game on Monday and we would like to make up some games on Coppell. We've got two home games in a row coming up, so that would be a good time to string together some wins."

It was hard to tell that McKinney had lost three of its last four games by the way it played Wednesday night. The Marshals recorded six runs on eight hits, including a first-inning, two-run home run over the right field wall by first baseman Logan Parker.

Hunter Moody continues to shine on the hill for the Marshals. The UL Lafayette product allowed only two hits over seven innings and struck out six batters to pick up the win and run his season record to 3-0. He allowed no more than four batters per inning and showed the ability to battle back when behind in the count.

"Hunter did an awesome job," Hope said. "He was throwing the ball well and his pitch count wasn't too awfully high, so we left him in there a little longer."

As they have done so often in the past, the Marshals exploded in the first inning. Outfielder Trey Rachal walked to first but didn't stay there long. Batting cleanup, Parker sent Josh Forester's pitch over the wall to give McKinney a quick 2-0 lead.

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By RODNEY WILLIAMS McKinney Courier-Gazette