The KHSAA softball postseason got underway on May 17 with district tournaments taking place across the state. Locally, six district crowns were handed out from the 32nd through 37th District.
Here’s how they went down:
32nd District: Grant County 1, Simon Kenton 0
Brianna Knochelman’s complete game, three-hitter halted Simon Kenton’s 18-game winning streak in helping Grant County (13-11) win a fifth straight district title.
Knochelman struck out 15 in the effort, shutting down the Lady Pioneers high-powered offense. The lone run came in the fourth inning when Calleigh Hammons sac fly scored Maitlyn Brinker.
Simon Kenton’s (22-5) Lauren McIntosh was nearly as good in the circle, allowing four hits, an earned run and striking out seven in her complete game effort. Larkin Mitchell had two of the three Lady Pioneeer hits, Jayden Jones the other.
Both teams move on to the 8th Region tournament that is expected to start on Sunday at Oldham County High School.
33rd District: Ryle 2, Conner 1
Contrary to their two regular season meetings, Ryle’s Laci DeLauder and Conner’s Jocelyn Ortiz kept hitters at bay for the most part in Monday’s championship game.
Conner’s (10-18) first two batters reached in the contest when Kayla Ortiz tripled and Ellie Ortiz drove her home. DeLauder proceeded to retire 21 of the next 27 batters she faced.
Ryle’s (17-8) damage came in the second and third innings when DeLauder singled and Emily Gehring came around and scored after an error. Making it 2-1 in the third was when Rayne Patsel walked with the bases loaded, scoring Leah Broussard, who started the two-out rally with a single.
Both pitchers continued to settle in from there, neither team able to push a run across from that point.
Since the 33rd District aligned the way it is currently in 2009, the district titles have been fairly spread out between these two teams. Ryle has eight district titles in that time, Conner with six.
The two will now look forward to the 9th Region Tournament, expected to begin Sunday at Thomas More’s Softball Field.
34th District: Dixie Heights 17, Lloyd Memorial 5 (6 innings)
For complete coverage of this game, go here
35th District: Notre Dame 4, Holy Cross 1
Abby Turnpaugh’s arm and bat helped propel the Pandas to a 12th straight district championship.
Turnpaugh struck out 12 in a complete game four-hitter, adding two RBI at the plate. Morgan Russell added the other RBI for the Pandas.
Knotted at 0-0 through three, Notre Dame (16-5) broke through in the fourth with three runs. Turnpaugh knocked a two-run double, Russell with an RBI single.
Addison Zinser made it 4-0 in the fifth after scoring on a wild pitch.
Holy Cross (15-12) avoided the shutout as they were down to their final out and Jordyn Rieselman driving in Emma Sargent on a single. Evie Thomas helped keep things tight as she tossed a complete game six-hitter and allowed just two earned runs. Thomas struck out four and walked one.
The two await their opponents come Friday at the Ninth Region tournament draw.
36th District: Highlands 15, Newport Central Catholic 0 (3 innings)
The Bluebirds extended their shutout streak in the 36th District Tournament to 10 games in Wednesday’s shutout of Newport Central Catholic (9-5), winning their seventh straight district title.
The last run they have allowed in a district tournament game was 2019, a 11-1 district championship victory over Dayton. Since then, they’ve gone 41 innings without allowing a run, the majority of those games ending early with the run-rule.
In Wednesday’s shutout of NewCath, Kaitlyn Dixon threw three innings of no-hit softball, striking out eight as 31 of her 37 pitches went for strikes.
Cam Markus, Kate Class and Payton Brown were the two big run producers, Markus drove in four runs, Class and Brown with three. Highlands (27-6) knocked six extra-base hits, Brown leading the way with two doubles. Morgan Pompilio also drove in multiple runs with two.
Highlands now looks to win a fourth straight region title when they get underway on Sunday at Thomas More.
37th District: Campbell County 14, Scott 7
Not one, but two grand slams were hit in this slugfest as Campbell County won a fourth straight district title.
Josie Feebeck was the first of the salamis, making it a 4-0 lead for the Camels in the bottom of the second. Hope Hamilton followed with a solo shot to make it 5-0.
Trailing 8-1 in the top of the fourth Kaitlyn Fraley made it a 8-5 game with her blast. Scott continued to make it interesting in the fifth when they made it a one-run game thanks to Lainey Jones reaching on an error while Fraley and Emerson Morman came around to score.
Campbell County broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth with a six-spot to make the final. On top of Feebeck’s big day at the plate with three hits, four RBI and two runs scored, Hope Hamilton nearly hit for the cycle with the homerun, a triple, single and three RBI. Samantha Perry and Addysen Griffin collected two RBI apiece. The Camels finished with 19 hits.
Scott was led by Fraley’s four RBI day, Elise Manhardt also collecting an RBI as six different Eagles recorded a hit in the contest.
The two will head to the 10th Region tournament on Monday at Pendleton County. The draw is Saturday morning.
PHOTOS: Campbell County vs Scott 37th District Championship (provided by Charles Bolton)
