‘They believed today.’ Douglass upsets Scott Co. for its first district softball title
Frederick Douglass freshman Riley Baker smashed a three-run home run for the lead in the fifth inning and tacked on a two-run shot in her next at-bat to help power the No. 24 Broncos to an 8-2 win against No. 7 Scott County and claim the school’s first 42nd District Tournament softball championship at The Farm on Wednesday.
“This game, I was just thinking, ‘Go all out,’” said Baker, who doubled her home run total for the season. “I wanted to do it for Armani (Happy) — it’s her senior year and her first district championship — and for the team. As soon as I saw those pitches, I just said ‘Go yard.’”
Baker seemed an unlikely hero for Douglass, batting ninth in the order with a .196 average. But after singles by Kadynce Sanders and Kyleigh Curtis ahead of her in the fifth inning, Baker barreled up a low fastball from Scott County senior Georgia commit Ada Little and took it over the left-field fence to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
“Riley Baker is pretty special to me. I’ve coached her for a long time,” Douglass coach Jason McGuire said. “Riley’s really struggled this year, but I kept trying to build confidence with her … I put her in and this is what she does. She comes in at big times in a big game and she’s a big-game player.”
Douglass sophomore pitcher Haley McGuire allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after Scott County’s Hadley Swint led off with a single and Lauren Jones walked. Though McGuire got the next two Cardinals out, Katie Stevens’ single to left field brought home both base runners for a brief 2-0 lead.
McGuire, who was named tournament’s most valuable player, settled down from there, striking out three and keeping one of the state’s best hitting teams off balance most of the night.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to pitch the whole game, but my pitches were working and my defense was great, and we got the job done,” said Haley McGuire, the coach’s daughter who split time in the circle with eighth grader Savannah Wombles in Douglass’ semifinals win on Tuesday.
McGuire helped pad Douglass’ lead in the fifth after Jarynn Bowman walked and stole two bases in front of her. Scott County tried to tag Bowman out at third on a McGuire grounder, but the ball squirted away to the left-field fence and allowed the run in. McGuire then scored on Kavery Myrick’s single for a 5-2 lead.
Douglass tacked on three more runs via Baker’s second homer with Sanders aboard via walk in the sixth and an RBI single by Emma Dunn in the seventh after a leadoff double by Myrick.
Last year, the Broncos (22-9) ended Scott County’s 17-year reign as district champions in the tournament semifinals. But those Cardinals played without Little for the second half of the season. This year, Scott County (22-6) had Little back and swept the regular-season series against Douglass 8-0 and 2-0.
“Our motto in the spring was, ‘Want it. Work for it. And win it,” Coach McGuire said. “This team, they just needed to believe. And they believed today.”
Haley McGuire and fellow sophomore Emma Dunn both played for Henry Clay’s varsity in middle school but came to Douglass as freshmen when their fathers took the head and assistant coaching jobs, respectively, in 2024.
“Coming here has been one of the best decisions I’ve made,” Haley McGuire said. “This team has so much talent, and we finally got the chance to show it tonight.”
In 2023 with a roster that included eight of this year’s players, Douglass had its then-head coach abruptly resign just a few days into the season and got off to a 3-10 start.
The Broncos finished the year 11-12 under interim coach Omar Shalash, the former boys soccer coach. That team nearly ended Scott County’s district streak a year early, taking the Cardinals to three extra innings before falling 1-0 in the first round.
Shalash stood at the right-field fence Wednesday and recorded Baker’s three-run blast in the fifth.
“Oooh! Let’s go Riley Baker!” Shalash shouted on his video as Baker rounded first base.
Baker played every game for Shalash’s team as a seventh grader.
“I’m so proud of this team,” Baker said. “We’ve come so far. We’ve worked so hard. And truly, we earned it. We really earned this.”
All-42nd District Tournament Team
Riley Baker, Emma Dunn, Kavery Myrick and Haley McGuire (MVP), Frederick Douglass; Ada Little, Katie Stevens and Lauren Jones, Scott County; Karsyn Rockvoan and Aniyah Farris, Bryan Station; Abby Watts-Claunch and Kendall Brewster, Henry Clay.
43rd District Softball Tournament
At Tates Creek High School
Wednesday’s semifinals
Lexington Catholic 12, Tates Creek 2.
Lafayette 21, Lexington Christian 0 (3 innings).
Thursday’s finals
6 p.m.: Lexington Catholic vs. Lafayette.
11th Region Softball Tournament
At Eastern Kentucky University’s Gertrude Hood Field, Richmond. District champions are paired against district runners-up via blind draw in the first round.
Monday’s first round games
10 a.m.: Madison Southern vs. Great Crossing.
Noon: Lafayette vs. Frederick Douglass.
2 p.m.: Scott County vs. Lexington Catholic.
4 p.m.: Franklin County vs. Madison Central.
Tuesday’s semifinals
6 p.m.: Madison Southern-Great Crossing winner vs. Lafayette-Frederick Douglass winner.
8 p.m.: Scott County-Lexington Catholic winner vs. Franklin County-Madison Central winner.
Wednesday’s finals
7 p.m.: Championship game.
This story was originally published May 22, 2025 at 10:13 AM.
