District season starts Tueday for most Lexington baseball teams

Life comes at you like a fastball once district baseball season starts in Lexington.

Just ask Lafayette, which at No. 6 is the highest-rated city team in the latest Prep Baseball Report rankings. The Generals host No. 10 Lexington Catholic Tuesday night in the 43rd District opener for both teams. The 43rd District has opted to play its district series as back-to-backs this year, so the Knights will then return home and welcome Lafayette to their place on Wednesday.

Lafayette Coach Chris Langston said his team’s still working on its everyday lineup and developing its bullpen, but he was pleased with its 3-0 showing during a visit to Fort Walton Beach last week. The Generals (7-1) have won seven straight games since losing their opener to Bryan Station.

“The team is very excited to get the district games started after a good spring break trip where we were challenged by some good teams,” said Langston. “ ... It will be a good test this week.”

Lexington Christian (6-8) and Paul Laurence Dunbar (6-6) start their district series at LCA on Tuesday before a tilt at Dunbar Wednesday. Each will look to bounce back after losing their last four games in Florida.

In the 42nd District, Henry Clay visits Bryan Station on Tuesday before the Defenders (4-6) make a return trip Wednesday. The Blue Devils (8-4) have won three straight, a streak that started with a 14-13 decision over Dunbar in Florida, which came five days after the Bulldogs drilled them, 12-2, in a six-inning decision in Lexington. Bryan Station is 3-1 over its last four games and is 2-1 against Lexington competition this year.

Tates Creek, ranked 18th, was responsible for the Defenders’ first city loss but so far that’s the Commodores’ only city win. Creek dropped 3-2 and 4-3 games to Henry Clay and Sayre late last month and won’t get a shot to even up the ledger until their 43rd District opener against Lafayette at home on April 18 (followed by an April 19 trip at Lafayette). The Commodores (6-3) will host Madison Central, the top-ranked 11th Region team at No. 4, on Tuesday; they fell 2-1 at home against the Indians in their second game of the season back on March 16.

Sayre visits Clark County on Monday before starting its district season at Scott County, the fifth-ranked team in the state, on Tuesday. The Spartans (7-5) started the season in the top 25 and are considered one of PBR’s “next best five” outside of the rankings, but dropped four of their first six games. Sayre has gone 5-1 since that stretch.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 7:28 PM with the headline "District season starts Tueday for most Lexington baseball teams."