Baseball postseason preview: Henry Clay and Scott Co. set for top 25 knockout
The high school baseball postseason has arrived and with it a win-or-go-home game looms for some of the best teams in the state even though two teams from every district in Central Kentucky’s 11th Region will survive to play another day.
Tuesday’s 42nd District semifinal between No. 23 Henry Clay and No. 25 Scott County ranks as perhaps the most anticipated of those Tuesday night showdowns.
Henry Clay swept its two-game set with the Cardinals in the regular season. But Scott County is the only 42nd District team to defeat the top seed, No. 7 Sayre. And the Cards did it twice.
“The thing about high school baseball is, somebody in the state’s going to get upset that first night,” Henry Clay coach Jordan Tarrence said. “There’s going to be a really good team that goes home.”
In the 43rd District, No. 5 Lexington Catholic, the defending district champion and top seed, suffered only two losses inside the region all season — a 5-1 setback at Scott County on March 27 and a 7-6 defeat at home to district rival Lexington Christian on April 29.
LexCath coach Scott Downs suffered a 5-1 loss to No. 1 Trinity without three of his best players to close the regular season. He’s hoping Baird Woodall, Bennie Lawrence and John Crandall will be healthy by Tuesday when the Knights face the winner of Monday’s first-round game between Tates Creek and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
“I think everybody will be back,” Downs said. “If they’re not, we’ve got guys who have proven they can step up and do a job. So I’m confident in whoever we put out there.”
Here’s a glance at the baseball postseason for the teams in the 42nd and 43rd districts. Records and PrepBaseballReport.com rankings are as of Thursday, May 14. Statistics are through Wednesday, May 13.
The 42nd District’s contenders
SAYRE SPARTANS
State rank/district seed: No. 7/No. 1.
Record: 22-8, 6-2 in district play.
Coach: Kevin Clary.
District losses: No. 25 Scott County, 4-3 on May 5; 6-2 on Thursday.
Best win: Beat No. 16 Madison Central in Richmond on April 14 and 2-1 at home on May 2.
Big hitters: Gary Gibson, Sr., .488 AVG, 6 HR, 39 R, 26 SB; Joaquin Acevedo, Jr., .395 AVG, 19 R, 21 RBI; Elliot Jansky, Jr., .379 AVG, 3 HR, 30 RBI.
Aces: Lachlan Heinrich, Sr., 6-2, 1.06 ERA, 68 K; Jansky, 7-0, 2.14 ERA, 35 K.
Knockout game: Sayre will play the winner of Monday’s Bryan Station-Frederick Douglass game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 42nd District semifinals at Sayre Athletic Complex.
HENRY CLAY BLUE DEVILS
State rank/district seed: No. 23/No. 2.
Record: 26-10, 6-2.
Coach: Jordan Tarrence.
District losses: No. 7 Sayre, 8-7 and 10-6 on April 21-22.
Best win: Defeated No. 4 McCracken County 5-2 in their Mustang Classic in Paducah.
Big hitters: Luke Jackson, Jr., .343 AVG, 17 R, 19 RBI; J.T. Ritchie, Sr., .327 AVG; 1 HR, 29 R, 21 RBI; Blake Miniard, Sr., .327 AVG, 25 RBI.
Aces: Ritchie, 5-1, 1.95 ERA, 48 K; Turner Sparks, 4-2, 1.78 ERA, 56 K.
Knockout game: Henry Clay will play Scott County at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 42nd District semifinals at Sayre Athletic Complex.
SCOTT COUNTY CARDINALS
State rank/district seed: No. 25/No. 3.
Record: 34-10, 5-3.
Coach: Scott Willard.
District losses: Douglass, 7-1 on March 31; Henry Clay, 2-1 and 5-2 on April 28, 30.
Best wins: No. 7 Sayre, 4-3, on May 5 and 6-2 on Thursday.
Big hitters: Will Rose, Sr., .478 AVG, 7 HR, 47 R, 39 RBI; Jacob Skinner, So., .368 AVG, 2 HR, 21 R, 24 RBI; Colton Fields, .316 AVG, 20 R, 31 RBI.
Aces: Tyler Wands, Sr., 5-1, 3.07 ERA, 25 K; Keagan Hurt, Sr., 4-1, 3.65 ERA, 33 K.
THE SPOILERS
Monday’s first round game: Frederick Douglass (19-14, 3-5) vs. Bryan Station (7-20, 0-8), 5:30 p.m.
Notes: The Broncos were ranked No. 11 in preseason and remained ranked through PrepBaseballReport.com’s April 27 list, slipping to No. 24 before falling out the next week.
The 43rd District’s contenders
LEXINGTON CATHOLIC KNIGHTS
State rank/district seed: No. 5/No. 1.
Record: 26-8, 7-1.
Coach: Scott Downs.
District losses: Lexington Christian, 7-6 on April 29.
Best win: No. 8 Boyd County, 11-1 on March 28.
Big hitters: Brady Wasik, Sr., .484 AVG, 35 RBI; Jake Scott, Sr., .398 AVG, 34 R, 25 RBI, 31 SB; Baird Woodall, So. .301 AVG, 36 R, 27 RBI.
Aces: Eamon Hughes, Jr., 6-2, 2.23 ERA, 57 K; Wyatt Hayslett, 5-1, 1.62 ERA, 33 K.
Knockout game: LexCath will play the winner of Monday’s Tates Creek-Paul Laurence Dunbar game at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 43rd District semifinals at Lexington Catholic.
LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN EAGLES
District seed: No. 2.
Record: 21-11, 5-3.
Coach: Seth Knight.
District losses: At Lafayette, 8-3, on April 2; No. 5 Lexington Catholic, 3-2, on April 28; at Tates Creek, 7-2 on May 5.
Best win: Lexington Catholic.
Big hitters: Sam Pearson, Jr., .431 AVG, 2 HR, 39 R, 25 RBI, 19 SB; Conrad Hart, Jr., .344 AVG, 2 HR, 31 RBI, 20 R; Joseph Seigler, Sr., .290 AVG, 26 RBI, 23 R.
Aces: Seigler, 3-2, 2.72 ERA, 32 K; Jackson Gier, Jr., 4-3, 1.86 ERA, 20 K.
Knockout game: LCA will play Lafayette at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 43rd District semifinals at Lexington Catholic.
LAFAYETTE GENERALS
District seed: No. 3.
Record: 13-16, 3-5.
Coach: Kevin Goins.
District losses: At LCA, 11-0, on March 31; Dunbar, 2-1 and 6-2, April 14-15; No. 5 Lexington Catholic, 2-0 and 10-0, on April 20, 22.
Best win: Campbell County, 5-4, May 9.
Big hitters: Jacob Carpenter, Sr., .342 AVG, 1 HR, 23 RBI, 12 R; Caden Herron, Sr., .333 AVG, 19 R, 14 RBI; Tyler Collins, Jr., .282 AVG, 3 HR, 25 R, 15 RBI.
Aces: Jackson Cox, Jr., 3-3, 4.63 ERA, 47 K; Jacob Carpenter, Sr., 2-0, 1 SV, 2.40 ERA, 25 K.
THE SPOILERS
Monday’s first round game: Tates Creek (16-17, 3-5) vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar (14-19, 2-6), 6 p.m. at Lexington Catholic.
Notes: The Commodores swept Dunbar in the regular season and put up 11 runs on No. 3 University Heights in a 12-11 loss on May 9.
