‘There’s no easy game.’ Lexington Catholic, Dunbar split top 10 baseball showdown.
Lexington Catholic and Paul Laurence Dunbar split their regular season series this week with each displaying the grit that has their baseball teams ranked among the best in the state.
No. 8 Dunbar trailed 1-0 at Lexington Catholic on Tuesday, but rallied to tie in the seventh inning and then exploded for seven runs in the ninth to claim an 8-2 win.
The No. 3 Knights looked like they might suffer a sweep after host Dunbar scored five runs in the first inning on Wednesday and led 6-0 after two. But LexCath responded with five runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to rally for an eventual 11-7 victory that put the Knights atop the 43rd District standings.
“We get down six and, you know, we found out what kind of team we have,” LexCath Coach Scott Downs said. “They battled, and we happened to sneak this one out and came out on top.”
LexCath and Dunbar are among eight 11th Region teams ranked in the Prep Baseball Report Kentucky/KHSBCA Power 25. Six of those are from Lexington with No. 14 Tates Creek also residing in the 43rd District. No. 5 Sayre, No. 15 Frederick Douglass and No. 22 Henry Clay are in the 42nd District along with No. 21 Scott County.
“It’s nice to see the rankings but, in the end, they don’t matter,” said LexCath center fielder Griffin Cameron, a Kentucky commit who had a hit, an RBI, a run scored and two walks in Wednesday’s win. “This district is the toughest in the state, so there’s no easy game. You’ve got to play as hard as you can every game.”
One tough district
As a testament to how tough the 43rd District is, last year bottom-seeded Lafayette upset both Dunbar and top-seeded Lexington Catholic in the district tournament to end their seasons.
“The way the season ended last year, they weren’t too happy with it,” Downs said. “So a lot of them busted their tails and came in and put in the hard work in the offseason. They’ve been coming in day in and day out ready to go.”
LexCath got a boost this spring from Lafayette transfer Owen Jenkins, a sophomore catcher who is already committed to Louisville. Jenkins leads the team with a .474 average, 27 hits and 25 RBI. His bases-loaded single in the fourth Wednesday scored three runs with the help of a Dunbar fielding error on the play.
He’s part of a potent lineup that has cranked out 148 runs, which is among the best in the state. The top of the order, Cameron, Max DeGraff, Jenkins and Zach Grigalis all hit over .300. Seven pitchers have recorded wins, led by Drew Bowles and Pierre Kaufman with three each.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Jenkins said. “Everybody wants to practice. Everybody wants to play and we like having fun. It’s baseball.”
The Bulldogs also remember being ousted by Lafayette a season ago and are looking to prove they’re a real contender.
“I think we’re playing with a little chip on our shoulder for sure,” said Dunbar senior right fielder Scott Kendrick, whose two-run double Tuesday night opened the floodgates for the Bulldogs. “We’ve been kind of underdogs in this district and region for a little while but it’s for sure going to change.”
Like every other team in the 43rd, Dunbar has a state title (two in fact, 2003, 2007), but the Bulldogs have not made the 11th Region tourney since 2012. Kendrick senses something different about this year’s lineup.
“The fight in this team is like no other,” Kendrick said. “I’ve been in this program since I was in seventh grade, and we’ve got some dogs. We’ve got some kids who can swing it and we’ve definitely got more arms.”
Five different Dunbar pitchers have recorded wins this season, led by William McCord with five. Kendrick (.384 average) and junior Harrison Simpson (.403) lead the Bulldogs in hitting.
“They’re gritty ballplayers. They have the will to win,” Dunbar Coach Steve Deaton said. “You have to stay the course. Baseball is a crazy game in the fact that anybody can win on any day. You have to stay the course and continue to compete.”
Looking ahead
Wednesday’s loss moves Dunbar’s record to 13-5 and 2-2 in the district with two-game sets against rivals Tates Creek and Lafayette still ahead on the schedule. Lexington Catholic (15-4, 5-1) has only Tates Creek remaining on its district schedule after having swept Lexington Christian and Lafayette and getting the split with Dunbar.
Both have quality wins against ranked opponents, but it was Lexington Catholic’s 6-4 win on March 23 over visiting No. 1 St. Xavier, the defending state champion, that signaled the Knights could hang with anyone in the state.
“I’ll put my guys up against anybody,” Downs said. “That’s the confidence they have and that’s the confidence as a coaching staff that we have. …
“As long as we don’t get too high or too low and just play our game of baseball then I’m excited for what we have coming.”
