‘It’s a good feeling.’ State softball tournament begins with a perfect game.
Kaci Goedde struck out the first three batters she faced Friday. That turned out to be a good sign for both the pitcher and her Central Hardin teammates.
The Lady Bruins, behind a perfect game and eight strikeouts from their senior right-hander, coasted to a 12-0, six-inning mercy-rule victory over Pendleton County in the opening contest of the KHSAA State Softball Tournament.
The tournament finally got underway at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium under sunny skies Friday after a one-week postponement because of heavy rains in Lexington last weekend.
“It was just great,” Jamie Goodman, Central Hardin’s head coach said after the game. “(Goedde) hit her spots well today and did everything we asked her to do. She kept the ball down, kept them off balance and that’s what you want out of your senior pitcher.”
The Bruins (36-7) advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, where they are scheduled to take on Warren East (35-2).
Central Hardin immediately capitalized after Goedde’s fast start Friday, opening the scoring with a double by Peyton Beger that scored Angel Ashlock from third base, giving Central Hardin a 1-0 lead.
Following a second inning in which Pendleton County (26-15) again went down 1-2-3, Central Hardin took advantage of a fielding error to score one run, before an RBI single by Ashlock put the Bruins up 3-0.
Central Hardin expanded its lead to 5-0 in the third, with a solo homer from Beger and an RBI double by Emma Case.
“I thought we struggled a little bit early with some of our swings,” Goodman said. “But we did great getting our timing back so after that I thought we did great.”
Central Hardin added runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a 7-0 foothold as Goedde continued to dominate in the circle, then closed out the game with five runs in the sixth. Emily Bryant and Kylie Richardson homered in the sixth for two of the Bruins’ 14 base hits on the day.
“ I feel like without my team making the good plays and stuff, it wouldn’t have ever happened,” Goedde said of her perfect game, which was accomplished with just 79 pitches. “I just feel like, I don’t know, it’s a good feeling.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2019 at 1:34 PM.