‘So pumped.’ Highest-ranked teams all advance in 11th Region softball playoffs.
After taking a step back in its district tournament, Lafayette took a big step forward into the 11th Region semifinals with a 4-1 victory over Madison Southern on Saturday in Berea.
The Generals (28-8) scratched out four runs and got a complete game pitching performance from sophomore Trinity Bridges, who had 14 strikeouts, including two in the last nervy inning as the No. 5-rated 43rd District runners-up staved off an upset bid by the No. 28 Eagles, the 44th District champions.
“Everyone was like ‘Trin, you’ve got this!’ Bridges said of the adrenaline rush of starting a regional first-round game. “I’m so pumped. Last year we didn’t get to play. And I didn’t get to play my eighth-grade year, and then seventh-grade year I wasn’t on varsity, so this is the first time I’ve been here. It’s super exciting.”
After singles by Kaileigh Brooks and Rylie Grantz in the second inning scored Brooks with the opening run, Lafayette got two more scores after Grantz walked and Natalie Henry hit an RBI double to left field. Henry later scored on an error in the outfield. A walk to Leah Holland in the seventh also cost the Eagles as pinch-runner Kennedy Messer made it to second, then third, then home on successive passed balls.
Madison Southern (20-13) mounted a threat in the final inning as Samantha Cornelison hit a leadoff double followed by an error that put runners on first and second with no out.
Bridges struck out the next batter and got a controversial ground out two pitches later. The Madison Southern hitter appeared to beat the throw to first as the Eagles’ first run scored, but she was called out. Madison Southern Coach Abbey Stepp was thrown out of the game after arguing the call. Bridges then garnered her final strikeout to end the game.
“I was nervous at first and nervous in that last inning, but I had my coaches telling me I was doing good. I had my players telling me I was doing good, and it was all just very, ah (sigh of relief).”
The Generals will face Scott County in the first region semifinal at 5 p.m. Monday back at Madison Southern High School, this year’s host for the last two rounds.
Saturday’s other first-round games
Scott County 4, Franklin County 1: The Cardinals have made a habit of two-out rallies in big games and Saturday was no exception as Scott County scored three runs in the fourth inning after its first two hitters were sent back to the dugout.
A pair of walks and a single by Jenna McMillan loaded the bases for 42nd District tournament MVP Kaylie Wise, who delivered a two-run single to right field. Delaney Vaughn followed with an RBI single to put the Cards up 4-0. Kenley Ison knocked in the game’s first run in the third inning after Emma Price’s leadoff double.
Ada Little struck out 13 Flyers and got the win. The run was unearned.
Lexington Catholic 4, Frederick Douglass 1: The Knights (27-3) broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with three runs, including a two-run home run off the bat of Emily Lammers
It was Lammers’ first round-tripper of the season and it followed a double by Caitlyn Kelley and a single by Ella Emmert. Kelley scored on a passed ball before Lammers’ at-bat. LexCath pitcher Abby Hammond hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to give her some insurance against a Broncos rally.
Hammond (25-3) allowed only one hit and one earned run, striking out six. Kasia Parks, Douglass’s Western Kentucky commit, scored the run in trademark fashion for the Broncos (17-16) after getting hit by a pitch in the second at-bat of the seventh inning. Parks stole second, advanced to third on a ground out and came home on a double steal after Alyssa Wade walked.
Lexington Catholic, rated No. 6 by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s regular season RPI standings, will face No. 9 Great Crossing at 8 p.m. Monday in the semifinals.
Great Crossing 8, Madison Central 0: The Warhawks’ Nani Valencia went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI, Kendall Meade added a double and two RBI and Layne Ogle got the shutout win in Great Crossing’s first trip to the 11th Region Tournament as a program.
Valencia’s first home run came in the second inning, a two-run shot to left, scoring Delani Sullivan, who singled ahead of her. Then Great Crossing (23-7) broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning — all the runs scored with two outs.
11th Region Tournament
At Madison Southern
Saturday
Lafayette 4, Madison Southern 1
Scott Co. 4, Franklin Co. 1
Lexington Catholic 4, Frederick Douglass 1
Great Crossing 8, Madison Central 0
Monday
5 p.m.: Lafayette (28-8) vs. Scott Co. (16-17)
8 p.m.: Lexington Catholic (27-3) vs. Great Crossing (23-7)
Tuesday
6 p.m.: Championship game
