Lexington Catholic knocks off Madison Central in 11th Region softball quarterfinals
Lexington Catholic took advantage of three walks in the first inning and got some clutch hitting in the sixth to knock off 44th District champion Madison Central 5-1 on Monday in Tomahawk Valley to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals of the 11th Region Softball Tournament.
The visiting Knights got a pair of singles in the first to go with the walks. Ava Emmert’s hit brought home Abby Hammond, LexCath pitcher and best hitter, who drew a leadoff walk. The second and third walks of the inning pushed across another run for a 2-0 lead.
“It was huge,” LexCath Coach Emery Emmert said of the early advantage. “When we get ahead, we relax. We hit better. We play good defense. We just know that it’s hard to score runs against our pitching. And so it really, really makes us relax and play our game.”
Hammond didn’t need any more runs. She gave up one in the fourth inning that let Madison Central cut the lead in half at 2-1, but she otherwise scattered four hits and two walks around seven strikeouts for her 25th win of the season.
Her teammates added some insurance in the sixth inning. Hits by Emmert, Maggie Coleman and Lydia Kennedy set up Sara Prisinzano’s RBI swinging bunt for a 3-1 lead. The ball hit in front of the plate and died before a fielder could do anything with it.
Then sophomore left fielder Caitlyn Kelley piled on with a two-run single up the middle to make it 5-1. Hitting out of the No. 9 spot in the order, Kelley came to the plate with one out.
“The plan was to — right as I see my pitch — just go and execute it, and hit it hard,” Kelley said. “It really made a difference in the game.”
Kelley is no stranger to big moments in big games, Coach Emmert said.
“She’s come up for us big all year long,” he noted. “In 2A state, she broke it open in the championship game against Warren East. She was the kid that did it. You know, we’ve got great bats all the way through the lineup. I think I told you earlier in the season any one of those kids could do something big at any time.”
Lexington Catholic (25-6), the 43rd District runner-up to Lafayette, ended the regular season as the No. 10 team in the state, according to the Kentucky Prep Softball coaches’ poll. Madison Central (22-5) ended the regular season ranked No. 12, making its home game against LexCath the toughest draw in the region tournament field. Cassidy Hack scored the Indians’ lone run on a two-out single by Brooklyn Guilbault.
The Knights moved on to play Scott County at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Western Hills High School in the region semis. The 42nd District champion Cardinals defeated LexCath 4-0 when they faced each other on May 11. Scott County pitcher Ada Little allowed only two hits and struck out 12.
“I feel like our bats were behind that game, but I know that we’re going to come out on top tomorrow,” Kelley said. “We’re going to do great.”
Monday’s other quarterfinals
Scott County 4, Western Hills 1: Consecutive hits by Kenley Ison, Ada Little and Delaney Vaughn in the fifth inning put the pressure on the visiting Wolverines, and the Cardinals (21-11) capitalized by scoring two runs on an error to pad a slim one-run lead and seal the victory.
A Western Hills error in the first inning set up Vaughn’s RBI single for a 1-0 lead. With two outs in the second inning, the Cardinals got back-to-back singles from Makiah Jackson and Kayleigh Bell to break a 1-1 tie. Western Hills had knotted it up in the top half of the second with an RBI double by Kinsley Redmon.
Little pitched all seven innings for her 19th victory. She allowed five hits, a run and a walk and struck out 15.
Lafayette 7, Bryan Station 1: Aniya White led the way by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored as the Generals pulled away from the Defenders in the late innings.
White’s two-run single in the fifth inning broke open a game that saw Bryan Station’s Sydney Webster homer to give the visiting 42nd District runners-up a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
The Generals tied it in the bottom of the second as Leah Holland’s RBI double brought in the first of White’s runs scored. Lafayette pitcher Trinity Bridges helped her own cause in the fourth inning with a two-run home run over the center-field fence that scored White again.
Bridges (12-4) completed the game allowing the one run on two hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
The No. 8 Generals (26-9) were set to face Great Crossing at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the region semifinals at Western Hills. Lafayette defeated the Warhawks twice in the regular season by scores of 9-0 and 6-3. In 2023, Bryan Station is set to return every starter from a team that finished 18-16 this season.
Great Crossing 16, Model 5 (5 innings): The Warhawks (19-13) jumped on the Patriots with seven runs in the first and six runs in the second on their way to a mercy-rule win over the 44th District runners-up.
Great Crossing’s Ashtyn Holbrook went 3-for-3, including an RBI double in the first, an RBI triple in the second and a two-run home run in the fourth. Camryn Lookadoo added had a pair of run-scoring triples and Delani Sullivan had a hit and three walks to help her get an RBI and three runs scored.
Anniston Bray finished the season with a KHSAA record setting .750 average for Model (11-13). The Western Kentucky signee went 2-for-2 against Great Crossing with a run scored and an RBI. For the season, she had 45 hits in 60 at-bats, according to the Richmond Register. The previous record was a .709 average by Knott County Central’s Heather Click in 2006.
11th Region Softball Tournament
At Western Hills High School, Frankfort
Tuesday’s semifinals
6 p.m.: Lexington Catholic vs. Scott County
8 p.m.: Lafayette vs. Great Crossing
Wednesday’s finals
6 p.m.: Championship
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 12:04 AM.
