Ballard shrugs off bus trouble and rolls over South Warren in state softball semis
Ballard softball’s Friday night state quarterfinal game didn’t finish until nearly 1 a.m. Saturday morning thanks to a two-hour rain delay for one of the other matchups.
Then, on the Bruins’ ride back to Lexington on Saturday afternoon, the team’s bus suddenly didn’t want to go more than 30 miles per hour on the interstate.
“It was kind of crazy,” Ballard pitcher Brooke Gray said. “Our assistant coach came up to us on the way. He was like, ‘Just want to let you guys know, we’re not going to get there until about 4:30. We’re just having trouble.’”
The Bruins didn’t actually step on the field until after 4:40 p.m. — just 20 minutes until the scheduled first pitch — leaving little time to warm up and less time to think about their contest against South Warren at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.
“As soon as the bus hit the brakes, we all sprinted out and, honestly, I feel like it helped some of the girls on the team,” Gray said. “I didn’t have time to be nervous with how quick everything was going. Yesterday, I could feel my nerves because we had two hours here.
“As soon as we got off the bus, we had something to do, so you couldn’t feel our nerves, and we kind of just came out on fire. It was great.”
Ballard jumped to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning and Gray pitched a shutout as the Bruins defeated South Warren 11-0 in the day’s second semifinal game of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare.
It was Ballard’s third consecutive shutout in the state tournament with Gray in the circle and third postseason game in which the Bruins have scored 10 runs or more.
“This whole tournament, we wanted to show everybody that we’re not just a pitching and defensive team. We’re a hitting team, too, and we’ve done it,” Ballard Coach Alan Jones said. “To get off of a bus and get told you have five minutes and you better be ready, and we score six runs on a great team like that says a lot about us.”
Ballards’ first four batters reached safely with a leadoff single by Emory Donaldson, a double by Mikayla Milby and two-run single by Macy McCoy getting the Bruins off to a raucous 2-0 start. Run-scoring singles by Lilly Koch and Rylee Carter sandwiched and error that let Eden Jessie reach base and another run score for a 6-0 lead.
“As soon as we got our first person on base I was like, ‘This is going to be a good day,’” Gray said. “Tournament play has really gotten our bats going crazy and it’s super exciting for the whole team.”
Ballard tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning and another three in the seventh. Donaldson, a junior UK commit, boasted the most impressive stat line with three hits, two RBI and three runs scored. McCoy knocked in three runs on a hit, Koch had a hit, a run and two RBI.
Gray got her 30th win of the season by scattering six hits, walking two and striking out 12.
“She’s trying to prove to the world that she’s a big time pitcher. And she is,” Jones said of his junior ace. “There’s nobody better.”
Ranked No. 1 in the coaches’ poll at the end of the regular season, undefeated Ballard is now 38-0 and seeking the school’s first softball state championship in six state tournament appearances.
The Bruins were runner-up to Owensboro Catholic in 2005 and runner-up to Allen County-Scottsville in 2011. This is their second straight appearance and deepest run since winning three games in the loser’s bracket in 2018 when the event had a double elimination format.
“We’ve been here twice, and we’ve been the runner up twice,” Jones said. “We’re gonna come and get this thing.”
Ballard faces Lexington Catholic at 3 p.m. Sunday for the title. The teams met each other way back on March 28 in Louisville, a 6-4 win for the Bruins. Only four other teams have scored four or more runs on Ballard this season.
“This team is tough. We know we’ve got a great team we’re playing tomorrow in Lexington Catholic,” Jones said. “It’s going to be a great game. I mean, it’s the two best teams left.”
This story was originally published June 11, 2022 at 10:43 PM.
