Sayre baseball reigns again in the 42nd District. Next up: 11th Region history?
Four years ago, Sayre had never won a district baseball title. Now it’s hard to keep the crown away.
The Spartans (27-6-1) defeated tournament host Frederick Douglass 7-4 to secure their fourth district title in the last five seasons. As the fifth-ranked team in the state, Sayre enters next week’s 11th Region Tournament as the perceived favorite to win it; fellow district champions Lexington Catholic (No. 11) and Madison Central (No. 12) are the only other teams from the region ranked in the latest Top 25 from Prep Baseball Report.
A decisive fourth inning swung momentum toward Sayre at The Farm on Wednesday night. After Douglass (18-19) took its first lead, 3-2, on a Jacarri Jackson single in the top half of the frame, the Spartans’ entire order got to bat, delivering four runs to retake the lead for good.
Senior shortstop Jaxson Herrera, named MVP of the tournament, plated the tying run early in the inning before scoring soon after on a double from Gibson Gary. He finished 2-for-3 with a walk in the finals.
“He was so big,” Sayre head coach Kevin Clary said. “His on-base percentage has been off the chart all year long. Great leadoff guy, great contact guy. Doesn’t strike out a lot, dominates the routine play at shortstop. He was the MVP of this tournament. He had six or seven hits in two games and scored a bunch of runs. He earned it.”
After winning the All “A” Classic state tournament in 2023 and making a run to the 11th Region semifinals, Sayre failed to make it to the 42nd District title bout last season. The small private school bounced back authoritatively this season, for the most part handling a beefy schedule with the poise expected of a veteran-heavy club with sizable expectations.
The Spartans are still seeking their first 11th Region title and berth to the KHSAA state tournament.
“They’re a very resilient group and they’ve been battle-tested,” Clary said. “… They have a really great team chemistry. They like each other, they get after each other. When you have something like that, it’s special. The sky’s the limit for them if they keep doing what they’re doing and take it one game at a time. Anybody can beat you from here on out.”
Sayre evaded an upset bid by Henry Clay in the semifinals Monday. Each of their leaders in innings pitched, Owen Murphy and Jaxson Howard, were deployed in that one. Sayre quickly got out to a 2-0 lead and were threatened with the bases loaded about midway through. Howard relieved Murphy and got the final out of the fourth inning before keeping Henry Clay hitless the rest of the way in a 2-1 decision.
Pierre Kauffman started against Douglass before getting relieved by Camden Stout, the team’s ERA leader among those with at least 20 innings pitched (1.02), with one out in the top of the sixth.
“It just shows that we’ve prepared for this,” Howard said. “You’ve got me, Owen, Pierre, Camden, so many good pitchers and we’ve put in so much work over the season and offseason. It shows now.”
Throwing errors led to each of the first three scores by Douglass, one of just six teams Sayre lost to in the regular season. A 3-2 nail-biter at home was the last of three straight losses heading into the first week of May, the Spartans’ only stretch of consecutive losses all season. They snuffed the slide with a 4-2 win over the Broncos the next day at their place.
Cleaning up avoidable mistakes will be a major point of emphasis leading up to Sayre’s 11th Region Tournament opener on Monday. Any mistake could be its last, now.
“Coach Clary always says the details matter,” Howard said. “As long as we focus on the details, we’re gonna keep getting the next game. I think the most important thing is flushing it, because if you focus on the play that just happened, you made an error, it can affect the next one and it hurts the team. We tell each other, ‘Get the next one.’
“And us pitchers, we make sure we lift our players up. Cause when you have a good relationship with a pitcher, your team makes plays for you, they hit for you and you win games.”
Lexington Catholic claims third straight district crown
Lexington Catholic senior right-hander Jack Reeves earned tournament MVP honors in the No. 11 Knights’ 2-1 win over Lexington Christian on Wednesday as his team claimed the 43rd District championship for the third season in a row.
“It was really just about trusting in my team and letting the field work for me. That’s about it,” Reeves said, matter-of-factly.
The Knights staked Reeves to a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning, sparked by back-to-back doubles from Bennie Lawrence and Cody Decker. Decker drove in Lawrence with his shot to center. One batter later, Baird Woodall singled to put runners at the corners for Josh Crandall, whose sacrifice fly to left brought home Decker to provide the narrow advantage.
LCA (20-14) threatened to undo that handiwork in the sixth inning as Blake Campbell led off with a double. Sam Pearson’s one-out single two batters later brought in the Eagles’ first run and brought LexCath coach Scott Downs out to visit Reeves.
“I just told him to get back to pitching, work some ground balls and get out of this,” Downs said.
Reeves responded by inducing a line out to left for the second out and a notching his third strikeout of the game to strand LCA’s potential tying run.
Reeves allowed one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. His LCA counterpart, Joseph Seigler, also went the distance allowing just two runs on five hits with a walk and two Ks.
“Timely defense, timely pitching and timely hitting — that’s the name of the game, right?” Downs said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve taken advantage of mistakes and come through with some clutch plays when we needed to.”
Both teams advance to next week’s 11th Region Tournament. As a district champion, LexCath (20-7) will get to be the home team for one of Monday’s four first-round games at Legends Field before the tournament moves to Kentucky Proud Park for the semifinals and finals.
This is the first time since 2011 that part of the 11th Region Tournament has been held at the home of Lexington’s minor league team and the first time since 2009 that it’s been scheduled for neutral fields entirely.
42nd District All-Tournament Team
Brody Doll and Sammy Wilkerson, Bryan Station; Junior Harris, Calvin Johnson and Clark Tackett, Frederick Douglass; J.T. Ritchie and Ian Rone, Henry Clay; Brody Beall, Jaxson Herrera, Sayre (MVP), Jaxson Howard and Charlie Slabaugh, Sayre; Will Rose and Jack Wilhite, Scott County.
All-43rd District Tournament Team
Owen Jenkins, Jack Sams, Baird Woodall and Jack Reeves (MVP), Lexington Catholic; Blake Campbell, Joseph Seigler and Brady Wahl, Lexington Christian; Carson Quenon and Nick Sawyers, Paul Laurence Dunbar; Garrett Biroschik and Cooper Jackson, Tates Creek; Tyler Washburn, Lafayette.
11th Region Tournament
District champions are paired against district runners-up via blind draw in the first round.
Monday’s first round games
At Legends Field
10:00 a.m.: Madison Southern vs. Lexington Catholic.
1:00 p.m.: Frederick Douglass vs. Western Hills.
4:30 p.m.: Lexington Christian vs. Madison Central.
7:30 p.m.: Franklin County vs. Sayre.
Tuesday’s semifinals
At Kentucky Proud Park
6 p.m.: Madison Southern-Lexington Catholic winner vs. Frederick Douglass vs. Western Hills winner.
8:30 p.m.: Lexington Christian-Madison Central winner vs. Franklin County-Sayre winner.
Wednesday’s finals
At Kentucky Proud Park
6:30 p.m.: Championship game.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 7:56 AM.
