‘A long time coming.’ Frederick Douglass gets first baseball playoff win since 2021
Despite being one of the best high school baseball teams in the state the last few years, according to statewide rankings and the naked eye, Frederick Douglass hit a roadblock in each of the last three 42nd District tournaments.
Scott County ended the Broncos’ last two seasons in the district semifinals, so it was fitting that Douglass returned the favor Monday with a nail-biting 1-0 victory as tournament hosts at The Farm.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Douglass coach Braden Johnson said. “Hats off to Scott County. They knocked us out the last two years. Jack Wilhite has had a fantastic career and, unfortunately, we’ve been on the wrong side of a few good games with him.”
Wilhite, a Cardinals senior left-hander committed to the University of Evansville, gave up seven hits in six innings and struck out nine, but back-to-back Broncos singles by Calvin Johnson and Junior Harris in the fifth inning accounted for the run.
Johnson stole second on Wilhite’s third pitch to Harris. Harris’ seeing-eye single past a diving third baseman with two outs scored Johnson from second.
From there, Douglass senior right-hander Clark Tackett made the lead stand up for the Broncos’ first postseason win since 2021. The score came as a big relief.
“It was an absolute joy,” Tackett said. “That was awesome because I thought it was just going to be a pitchers’ duel game.”
Tackett threw a six-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking none.
“It feels amazing. We haven’t been to a region in a really long time,” Tackett said. Monday’s victory advances Douglass to both Wednesday’s 42nd District finals and next week’s 11th Region Tournament.
Unlike the past several years, Douglass has not been ranked this season. The win brought the Broncos record to 18-18.
“We were flipping quarters,” Johnson said. “Heads, we’d beat a really good team. Tails, we lose to a bad one.”
Johnson, in his second year as head coach, was gratified to see his team pull out the victory.
“It was fantastic to see us be the ones to really execute down the stretch and get a couple good breaks. It means a lot to these boys,” he said. “We’ve put in a lot of work and cleaned up a lot of things, facility included. The way we play, the way we buy into the little things, the little details, it pays dividends in a one-run ball game.”
Tragically, the Broncos have had to deal with the loss of junior varsity player Matthew Perry, who died in a car accident on April 26. Perry’s No. 28 is painted behind home plate in tribute and his jersey hangs in left field next to that of Cameron Dunn, another Douglass player whose suicide following his graduation in 2023 remains deeply felt in the Broncos community.
Douglass honored Dunn’s memory with the banner at its alumni night last weekend and since his passing there have been various fundraisers for the “Long Live 3” campaign begun by his family to raise mental health awareness.
“It’s been a rough year, but I think we’re really persevering right now,” Tackett said. “We’re doing it for them. “
Rain threatens district finals
Both the 42nd and 43rd district baseball finals were scheduled to be played Tuesday evening at Douglass and Tates Creek high school, respectively, but forecasted rain could delay the games until Wednesday.
As of the time of this publication, the finals remained on schedule. If postponed, both would be played Wednesday.
Monday’s other district semifinals
Sayre 2, Henry Clay 1: The Spartans (26-6-1) got an RBI double by Charlie Slabaugh and an RBI triple by Brody Beall in the first inning and hung on to knock Henry Clay (18-17) out of the 42nd District Tournament semifinals Monday.
Owen Murphy pitched 3⅔ innings and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, allowing a lone Henry Clay run on a bases-loaded walk to Ian Rone.
Jaxson Howard shut the door the rest of the way by not allowing a hit and striking out five.
Lexington Catholic 4, Paul Laurence Dunbar 3: The Knights (19-7) got a lead-off homer in the bottom of the first by Kentucky commit Owen Jenkins and an RBI single by Chris Vittitow in the fourth and two runs on miscues by the Bulldogs (9-23) to escape with a win in the 43rd District semifinals at Tates Creek High School.
Dunbar tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the sixth on a two-run double by Nick Sawyers, but Knights pitcher Jack Sams held on for the complete-game win.
Lexington Christian 5, Tates Creek 4: The Eagles (20-13) built a 5-1 lead over the first four innings and held on to knock off the Commodores (11-17) in the 43rd District’s other semifinal. Blake Campbell, Joseph Seigler and Woods Frye each had RBIs for LCA. Cooper Jackson, Jose Ramos and D.J. Carter knocked in runs for Tates Creek.
