Big innings help Henderson County top Scott County in state softball semifinals
This is not the Henderson County team that pounded out 62 home runs and 370 RBIs on the way to the school’s first state softball championship a year ago.
But make no mistake, these Colonels know how to win.
And they proved it Friday by jumping all over Scott County early and then hanging on late for an 11-8 victory in the semifinals of this year’s Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.
The game began and ended with a five-run half inning for each team, respectively. Unfortunately for No. 7 Scott County (27-7), its bookend five-spot came too late because of what the Colonels did in the interim.
“We thought it was going to be a close game, but our offense just came out really great. We had a good eye and took what she was giving us,” said Henderson County senior Anna Kemp, who pitched the first five innings and came on to get the last two outs in the seventh. “We took walks, hit by pitches, and just created havoc for them. We stole some bases, got some big hits, timely hits, and I think we did a great job executing today.”
No. 5 Henderson County (34-6) took advantage of a rough start by Scott County pitcher Ada Little, who hit two batters, walked two and threw three wild pitches in the first inning. Henderson County batted around and got an RBI single from Maggie Grogan and a two-run single by Lilly Bennett for a 5-0 lead before the Colonels donned their gloves.
“We wanted to use our speed. I’ve got a lot of speed,” said Henderson County coach Shannon Troutman, whose team has 40 fewer home runs than his champions of last year but almost as many doubles and triples as that squad and 26 more stolen bases. “We want to put balls in play, use our speed, steal bases — play small ball. And we did it. And it all worked.”
Henderson County added three more runs in the top of the third inning thanks to a Braylin Risley walk and steal followed by a sacrifice bunt by Lilly Bennett to get her to third for Jersey Gardner’s run-scoring sacrifice fly. A walk and an error set up Saniya Sheilds’ two-run single moments later for an 8-0 Colonels lead.
Shields got another run-scoring hit to start a three-run Henderson rally in the fifth inning that included two more hit batsmen and a two-run single by Mackenzie Burczyk.
“My approach? Don’t strike out,” Shields, a sophomore right fielder, said with a laugh. “But, no, in all seriousness, just hit the ball, get on base, use your speed and let your teammates rally you in.”
Scott County did not go quietly, however. The Cardinals plated two runs in the third inning that broke up Kemp’s hitless shutout. Maddie Skibo’s leadoff single and Gracie Strong’s walk set the table for eighth grader Mackenzie Liedecker’s two-run double to left-center.
And while Little had her struggles, the Georgia commit helped keep Scott County from going down by a 10-run mercy rule margin in the top of the fifth inning despite facing a bases-loaded, no-out situation in which one more Henderson run might have made the bottom of the fifth their last at-bat. Little got a flyout to center, a strikeout and a groundout to third to snuff Henderson’s rally and keep the deficit at 11-2. Little’s single in the sixth led to a run thanks to a couple of Henderson errors to cut the gap to 11-3.
With Burczyk on in relief of Kemp for Henderson in the seventh, Scott County notched back-to-back one-out hits by Aubrey Wiggington and Hadley Swint. Wiggington scored on an error. After a walk to Lauren Jones, Henderson’s shortstop couldn’t field Little’s hard grounder up the middle, allowing Swint to score. Makiah Jackson followed with a two-run single up the middle to cut Henderson’s lead to 11-7 with one out.
Kemp returned to the circle and immediately got the second out before giving up an RBI double to Skibo for the final margin. The Southern Indiana signee struck out the final Cardinal to end the game.
“I knew at some point we were going to break it loose and start scoring some. I didn’t know we’d wait till the seventh inning to make a comeback there and make it as close as we did,” Scott County coach Mike Wagoner said. “Yeah, the first inning obviously hurt us. I wish we would have a couple things there that didn’t go our way … But that’s just one of those things.”
The Cardinals ended a five-year state tournament drought with the 11th Region title this season. To the end, Wagoner knew his team had fight in them. They’d shown it all year.
“It would have been so easy down eight to nothing, to just lay down and just give up,” Wagoner said. “And I’m just so proud of this group.”
Next, Henderson County will face No. 3 Assumption, who handed the Colonels a 7-2 loss at a neutral site on April 26. The Rockets will be making their first state finals appearance. This year marks the Colonels’ third straight.
“A lot of people didn’t think that we could do this, but we knew we could,” Kemp said. “We knew it was going to be a different kind of look than it has been in the past. We felt excited to come out here and just show some new faces, new names, and show that we’re still Henderson County, and we’re an elite program.”
Assumption outlasts rain and Lawrence County
Assumption’s Lauren Satterly proved a terror at the plate and in the circle as the No. 3 Rockets (34-6) defeated Lawrence County 7-2 in the second state softball semifinal game Friday at John Cropp Stadium that was twice delayed by afternoon storms.
Satterly had two hits, two RBIs, three runs scored and five stolen bases while also allowing just two Bulldogs runs on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Sattery cashed in Grace Sanders’ one-out triple in the first inning with an RBI single and followed it up by stealing second, third and home before two more pitches were thrown for a 2-0 Rockets lead.
In the third inning, following the first rain delay, Satterly had another RBI, stolen base and a run scored, this time on a hit by Jaelyn Oaks that put Assumption up 4-0.
Lawrence County (26-8) responded in the fourth inning, but had its rally stymied by a play at the plate.
A Gracie Preece walk, a single by Brinley Baisden and a sacrifice bunt by Aleaha Gillispie set up Ella Smith’s RBI single. Bree Jones followed with a hit to right field that scored another, but Assumption right fielder Ava Lou Mattingly’s throw home cut down pinch runner Lexi Crum at the plate for the second out on a close call.
Satterly struck out Jada Patton to end the inning and keep Assumption’s lead at 4-2.
Assumption tagged on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a pair of sacrifice bunts by Sander and Tia Ice and an RBI single by Paige Crain.
State Softball Tournament Championship
No. 5 Henderson County (34-6) vs. No. 3 Assumption (34-6)
When: Noon Saturday
Where: At UK’s John Cropp Stadium
Tickets: GoFan.co/app/school/KHSAA
Streaming: KHSAA.tv
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 7:34 PM.
