Louisville’s Assumption knocks off defending champs for first state softball title
Look out, Kentucky. Louisville’s Assumption might be becoming a softball school.
That’s because the No. 3 Rockets have turned back-to-back 7th Region championships into their first state softball title after a 4-2 win against defending champion Henderson County on Saturday in the finals of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.
“We’ve worked really hard and it brings tears to my eyes. We’ve very proud of one another,” Assumption pitcher Lauren Satterly said after earning tournament most valuable player honors for her efforts in the circle and at the plate. “It’s very special.”
Satterly, a Western Kentucky signee and one of nine seniors who were part of the Rockets’ state semifinals team last year, scored the go-ahead run in the top of the third inning and pitched her way out of potential jams in both the sixth and seventh innings to preserve the win.
Satterly had a hard time picking out the most pivotal moment of the game, but her start of a 1-6-3 double play with no one out in the bottom of the sixth inning squelched a potential Henderson County rally as the Rockets clung to a 2-1 lead.
Then, sophomore Grace Sander delivered a two-run single with two out and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh to provide a 4-1 lead and some much needed insurance.
“I had a bunch of confidence I was going to get a hit,” Sander said. Her hard grounder glanced off the third baseman’s glove and down the left-field line. “Coach was telling me, ‘You’re made for this moment. You can do it.’ And I hit the ball pretty good. It was a great feeling.”
After Assumption worked a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on a Jaelynn Oaks single, a sacrifice and a fielder’s choice RBI by Lauren Campisano, Henderson answered with an RBI double by Lilly Bennett in the bottom half.
But the No. 5 Colonels (34-7) had trouble solving Satterly, who scattered five hits and allowed only three walks.
Though neither team’s top pitcher took the circle in the Rockets’ 7-2 win over the Colonels in the regular season, Assumption coach Suzanne Greenwood said it helped to get a firsthand look at Henderson’s tendencies in preparation for a day like Saturday.
“We know they’re fast. We know that they can hit. We know that they’re patient at the plate,” Greenwood said. “You just have to work a plan around that.”
Down to its last three outs, Henderson mounted a charge in the bottom of the seventh inning as Mackenzie Burczyk led off with a single and Anna Kemp drew a walk. One batter later, Lilly Bennett came through again with an RBI single to cut Henderson’s deficit to 4-2 and put the tying run in scoring position as she advanced to second on the throw home.
Satterly righted herself and induced a grounder to first base to get a tag out at the plate for the second out and a grounder to second to end the game.
“I was pretty nervous, but I kind of bent down and wrote in the dirt. I knew God had my back,” Satterly said. “I knew the end was written. So I just went out and did my thing.”
Assumption (35-6), one of Louisville’s four all-girls Catholic schools, has the state’s most dominant girls volleyball program with a record 24 state championships.
By contrast its softball team has made only four trips to a fast-pitch softball state tournament — 1996, 1998 and the last two years under Greenwood.
The Rockets are now 1-0 in state softball championship games. That has a historic ring to it.
“It’s hard to talk about without getting emotional, because I know how hard these kids work day in and day out,” Greenwood said. “They’re seeing the fruits of their labor. We trusted the process the whole time and all the credit, of course, goes to them. They’re the ones that have to be able to execute it.”
State softball all-tournament team
Malana Hamm, Rowan County; Kylie Clark, Daviess County; Owyn McCoy, Harrison County; Claire Melton, Taylor County; Ada Little and Makiah Jackson, Scott County; Taylor Blevins and Jada Patton, Lawrence County; Saniya Shields, Lillian Bennett, and Anna Kemp, Henderson County; Jaelynn Oaks, Paige Crain and Lauren Satterly (MVP), Assumption.
This story was originally published June 14, 2025 at 4:37 PM.
