Head coach Mary Beth Odom did the Jack Sparrow for the Beechwood Tigers softball team like she promised on St. Henry’s Wink Kramer Field.
The Tigers (3-2 overall) had just made history winning the All “A” 9th Region Tournament championship for the first time in program history with a five-inning 12-2 run-ruling of the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (4-1). Beechwood won all three tournament games after opening the season with losses to 9th Region contenders Dixie Heights and Ryle.
“Just like always, we work hard in the offseason. I told them if we do good things, pay attention, focus, do all the right stuff, we will definitely make leaps and bounds this year,” Odom said. “This was definitely one of them. They work hard at practice, in school and on and off the field so I’m thrilled, speechless. We earned it.”
Beechwood did the better job putting the ball in play batting .591 (13 for 22) overall, striking out just once and taking advantage of six NewCath errors to score six unearned runs. On the other side, NewCath batted .250 (5 for 20) striking out six times and scored both runs off three Beechwood errors.
“That’s what I told them,” Odom said. “If you hit the ball solid, hard on the ground, we’ll get people on, over and get them in and they accomplished that ten-fold.”
The Tigers had to make some adjustments to slower pitching after starting off the season against two of the region’s best in Dixie Heights junior Riley Hopkins and Ryle junior Maddie Goddard. Beechwood smacked 30 hits in the three games in this tournament.
“Definitely take it to right center. You have to focus on the ball coming in all the way and barrel it up,” Odom said. “You can not lunge at it. You have to wait and let it get to your strike zone so you can get the meat of the bat on the ball.”
The Tigers saw three different hitters record multi-hit games. Senior left fielder Lynden Noll went 3 for 3 scoring twice and senior center fielder Addison Durrett went 3 for 4 with a triple, two runs batted in and one run scored. Junior third baseman Katelynn Murphy went 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored and senior first baseman Lexi Engelman doubled in two.
Senior Brooklynn McGuire (3-2) pitched a complete game for the Tigers retiring the side once. Beechwood committed its three errors in the top of the third leading to the two Thoroughbred unearned runs.
“You have to start off ahead of the batters. Then you can make them do what you want them to do,” McGuire said. “The pitcher and catcher are really in control of the game so you have to keep your head up because teammates rely on you when things are going down. That’s something I’ve been working on.”
NewCath used three different pitchers. Senior Kayleigh Brooks (4-1) started and pitched the first three innings. Senior Mia Buemi pitched the fourth inning and senior Casey Berry pitched the fifth. Buemi also led NewCath at the plate going 2 for 3 with a triple.
The Tigers scored the only runs they needed in the bottom of the first. Durrett led off with a single, stole second, moved to third when senior shortstop Laney Hatridge grounded out and scored on a Murphy single. Murphy and Noll then scored unearned runs to put Beechwood up 3-0.
“I just try to hit the ball to get on or take a walk as far as I can,” Durrett said. “Being the leadoff, you just have to look for the pitches you can hit. The seniors have grown up playing with each other. We just push each other as far as we can.”
Beechwood added another run in the second when McGuire singled and sophomore pinch runner Hannah Penny scored on Durrett’s triple. After NewCath scored twice in the top of the third, Beechwood broke the game open with five in the third, one in the fourth then ended the game with two in the bottom of the fifth.
“I knew they were going to be a good hitting team,” NewCath head coach Mark Watts said of Beechwood. “(Odom) works really well with the team. They’re really improved from last year. They had a lot of those cheap hits as I like to call them. They looked like line drives. But they just suddenly dove. We worked on fielding those in practice. It just wasn’t our night to catch them.”
Watts is in his first season leading the Thoroughbreds after assisting long-time head coach Denny Barnes. NewCath made the region tournament last year for the first time since last winning the 36th District championship in 2017. The Thoroughbreds last won a region tournament game in 2012.
“The girls listen really well,” Watts said. “We try to direct them in the game. They’re like sponges. They want to take it all in.”
Beechwood’s next scheduled game is Tuesday at Boone County (3-4) at 5 p.m. NewCath has a doubleheader at Model scheduled for Noon and 2:30 p.m.
Other Softball Scores
Calvary Christian 4, St. Patrick 2
Campbell County 6, Conner 5 (8 innings)
Ballard 13, Dixie Heights 2 (5 innings)
Holy Cross 19, Bellevue 8 (5 innings)
Bishop Brossart 15, Mason County 6
Villa Madonna 32, Newport 11 (6 innings)
Oldham County 9, Boone County 3
Williamstown 17, St. Henry 0 (3 innings)
Baseball
Campbell County 4, Highlands 1
The Camels (4-1) came to Highland Park and left with the rivalry win over the Bluebirds (2-3). Highlands committed the game’s lone error.
Junior Chris Bramley (1-1) pitched a complete game for the Camels striking out four, walking three and allowing six hits and one earned run. The Camels batted .296 (8 for 27) overall with senior third baseman Evan Clark doubling and batting in two. Senior second baseman Jake Gross homered scoring twice.
Junior third baseman Drew Barth went 3 for 3 with one RBI doubling twice for Highlands. Junior Callum McAtee went 2 for 3 with a double.
Senior Ryan DeBurger (0-1) started for the Bluebirds striking out three, walking one and allowing two earned runs and five hits. Junior Xander Crawford pitched the last three innings striking out two, walking two and allowing three hits and two earned runs.
Other Baseball Scores
Lloyd Memorial 11, Ludlow 5
Boone County 8, Bellevue 4
Bishop Brossart 6, Dixie Heights 0
Walton-Verona 10, Cooper 2
Cincinnati (Ohio) Moeller 4, Ryle 1
South Oldham 5, Simon Kenton 1
