‘I’ve got this.’ Sophomore’s slam helps Lexington Catholic to rare region softball title.
Falling behind 2-1 after the first inning of the 11th Region high school softball tournament championship game at Western Hills High School, Lexington Catholic threatened a big rally in the second.
A pair of singles and an intentional walk set up Lucy Nash’s run-scoring grounder to second base to push across a tying run on the fielder’s choice. But it also put two LexCath outs on the board.
After Emily Lammers drew a walk to load the bases, Lafayette called timeout for a conference in the pitcher’s circle as Knights’ sophomore Ava Emmert was set to come to the plate.
Emmert approached her father and LexCath’s coach, Emery Emmert, down the third base line so they could hold their own huddle with on-deck hitter Maggie Coleman.
“I said, ‘Hey, here we go,’” Coach Emmert said. “And I was going to get with her and she said: ‘I’ve got this. I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.’”
Moments later, Ava Emmert launched a 2-2 pitch well over the left-field fence for a grand slam and a 6-2 lead over the defending 11th Region champion Generals. The runs proved to be the difference as Lexington Catholic held on for a 10-6 victory and the school’s first softball region title since 1997, its only other crown.
But did Ava Emmert really say “I’ve got this” before her big moment?
“She actually said that,” Coach Emmert said. “You can ask Maggie.”
Maggie Coleman: “I was like, ‘Yeah, she’s got it. This is her moment.”
Ava Emmert confirmed, as well. Indeed, it was her moment.
“And then it just happened, she said. “I was just looking to hit a ball angled down and I just caught it and it went.”
Lafayette narrowed the gap to 6-4 in the top of the third inning on Nora Mack’s two-run home run, but Lexington Catholic tagged on three more runs in the fourth and another in the sixth to keep the Generals at bay. LexCath’s Lydia Kennedy went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, while Kinley Willoughby and Coleman also knocked in a run each.
Lexington Catholic pitcher Abby Hammond earned the tournament’s most valuable player honors. Her three wins in three days were capped by a seven strikeout performance in the finals. She allowed nine hits, four earned runs and walked none.
As her team’s best hitter for average, Hammond drew an intentional walk in the big second inning and was on the bench after being forced out at second base on the Nash grounder. That gave her an excellent view of Emmert’s mammoth hit.
“She was pretty clutch today, wasn’t she?” Hammond said. “As soon as she hit it, I knew it was gone. I’m so proud of her. She’s worked so hard and she deserves that moment so much.”
Lafayette, which won the 43rd District championship last week over Lexington Catholic, continued to claw for runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t sustain a rally.
“We never laid down,” Lafayette Coach Dan Grantz said. “Lexington Catholic had a great hitting day. And we just kept trying to respond as much as we could. We’re not going to hang our heads. We’re going to start looking at next year and start working on what we need to shore up. A great team beat us today.”
This is the second year in a row the Generals and Knights have contested both the 43rd District and the 11th Region tournament championship games. The results were flipped last year. Both appear poised to contend for a while as Lafayette graduates only two players off this year’s roster and Lexington Catholic is expected to return seven of nine starters in 2023.
It’s been a meteoric rise for Emmert’s Knights since he took over the program in 2018. After two losing seasons and a COVID-19 year, Lexington Catholic has gone 28-4 with a district title and now 27-6 with a region title over the last two years.
“It puts us on the map as far as — we are a legitimate threat for softball,” Emmert said. “We’re going up against Scott County and Madison Central and Lafayette and Great Crossing and all these great teams. I think it solidifies us.”
Next up, Lexington Catholic faces 12th Region champion Boyle County in the 6 p.m. Friday game of the first round of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare. The Knights defeated the Rebels 15-3 on March 30 in the sectional round of the Kentucky 2A Championship tournament, an event that LexCath eventually won.
All-11th Region Tournament Team
Addie Watson, Western Hills; Cassidy Hack, Madison Central; Sydney Webster, Bryan Station; Anniston Bray, Model; Ada Little and Delaney Vaughn, Scott County; Ashtyn Holbrook and Brooke Miller, Great Crossing; Nora Mack, Trinity Bridges and Marissa Hurst, Lafayette; Maggie Coleman, Emily Lammers, Ava Emmert and most valuable player Abby Hammond, Lexington Catholic.
State tournament
At UK’s John Cropp Stadium in Lexington
Schedule listed in bracketed order
Friday
9 p.m.: Harrison Co. (30-11) vs. Lewis Co. (31-5)
6 p.m.: Lexington Catholic (27-6) vs. Boyle Co. (26-9)
2 p.m.: Elizabethtown (30-8) vs. McCracken Co. (32-2)
11 a.m.: Louisville Holy Cross (21-14) vs. Corbin (20-13)
Saturday
9 p.m.: Highlands (26-14) vs. South Warren (36-2)
6 p.m.: Oldham Co. (33-7) vs. Henderson Co. (32-2)
2 p.m.: Daviess Co. (30-5) vs. Estill Co. (22-11)
11 a.m.: Ballard (35-0) vs. Johnson Central (25-13)
June 10
Quarterfinal games at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
June 11
Semifinal games at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
June 12
3 p.m.: Championship game
