11th Region softball tournament: However it ends, Lexington reigns supreme
Lexington softball made up for lost time at Madison Southern High School on Monday.
Lafayette and Lexington Catholic both advanced to Tuesday’s championship game of the 11th Region softball tournament, putting a team from the city in the final round for the first time since 2011. Both Lafayette and Henry Clay played in that title game; the Generals won 10-1.
If Lafayette (29-8, No. 5 RPI) is able to make its fifth KHSAA state tournament, it’s unlikely to do so by such a wide margin this go-around. Getting past the Knights regardless of the score would be a big achievement: Lexington Catholic (28-3, No. 6 RPI) has taken all three previous meetings between the two this season, including a thrilling 2-1 decision in last week’s 43rd District Tournament finals.
“I love playing them,” said Ella Emmert, Catholic’s senior catcher. “It’s really fun. Both of us have great defense, great pitching, great offense. It’s a real battle every time we play them. We obviously want it to go a certain way, but it’s awesome that two 43rd District teams are in the region final together. That’s pretty cool.”
The two could be seeing one another in the postseason for the next half-decade, at least: most of the rotation players for both are underclassmen, including their top arms. LexCath started eighth-grader Abby Hammond in the circle against Great Crossing in Monday’s second semifinal while the Generals stood behind Trinity Bridges, a sophomore, against Scott County, the only 11th Region school to win a state title (it has three about which to boast).
Hammond had eight strikeouts in just six innings thanks to a run-rule inducing barrage from the Knights late. Up 6-2 after clipping a Warhawks threat in the top of the sixth, Catholic loaded the bases for Ava Emmert, who emptied them with a single. Hannah Carlise doubled in Emmert for run No. 10 before a couple of wild pitches scored the game-enders. LexCath played with a lead for most of its 12-2 win after Ella Emmert scored two runs on a two-out double in the bottom of the second; Great Crossing got one back in the top of the third but that’s as close as it got for the remainder.
It took Lafayette a little longer to get a crooked number up in its 5-0 win, but Bridges’ effort — 15 strikeouts, three walks issued and two hits given up — helped ease the tension. Both teams were hitless before a Rylie Grantz single in the bottom of the third. Lafayette was unable to plate her, but led off the next inning with a pair of walks and a base-loading single by Kaileigh Brooks. Olivia Planck took the lid off with a sac fly before Jenna Wells, a freshman, plated another via a fielder’s choice.
The Generals added three insurance runs in the sixth, two of them coming in on a single by Wells, who scored the last run on a Grantz single after stealing a couple of bases. It was Lafayette’s first win over Scott County since that 2011 season.
“At first we got in our heads a little bit ‘cause we were like, ‘We have to beat this team,’ and then once we got out of our heads we felt like, ‘OK, we really can do this,’” Bridges said. “It clicked and we started hitting the ball.”
Lafayette’s four state-tournament trips are the most by any Lexington team. At stake for Lexington Catholic, in the finals for the first time since 2008, was its second state berth; its only previous one came in 1997.
The 11th Region championship game was scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Southern.
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 11:09 PM.
