Another great week came and culminated in another great victory for the Dixie Heights Colonels softball team (14-4 overall).
Dixie Heights knocked off the Western Hills Lady Wolverines (19-4), ranked 24th in the latest Kentucky Softball Coaches Association poll, 6-3 on the road. Dixie Heights has won nine straight, which includes two wins ranked in the poll’s top 25.
Dixie Heights batted .313 (10 for 32) in the win. Sophomore first baseman Skylar Mitchell led the way going 3 for 4 with one run scored. Senior second baseman Bri Patsel went 2 for 4.
Sophomore center fielder Taylor Ingram belted a solo home run in the top of the fourth to give Dixie Heights a 4-0 lead. She scored twice.
Sophomore Riley Hopkins (12-4) picked up the win for the Colonels. She struck out two, walked two and allowed just four hits and one earned run. Hopkins also had a double and drove in two at the plate.
Dixie Heights had two errors to one for Western Hills. Both teams had two unearned runs.
The Colonels take on Lloyd Memorial (2-12-1) on Monday at home. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
Softball:
Cooper 15, Frederick Douglass 3 (5 innings):
The Lady Jaguars (20-5) ventured to Lexington hoping to play twice.
They run-ruled the Broncos (11-13) in the first game at Dunbar and jumped out to a 12-2 lead on the host Lady Bulldogs entering the bottom of the third. But then the rain came and the game could not be completed.
Junior pitcher Kendall Blau (8-2) pitched three innings to earn the win striking out three, walking none and allowing one earned run and three hits. Blau went 3 for 3 with a solo home run.
Senior Hanna Hollis pitched the last two innings for Cooper. She struck out three, walked two and allowed two hits and two earned runs.
“It was good to see different teams,” said Rusty Scott, Cooper Head Coach. “I don’t think in the history of Cooper we’ve ever played Frederick Douglass. We always want to challenge ourselves in different ways. Different teams bring something different to the table. Kendall pitched excellent. We had a lot of timely hits.”
The top five spots had monster games in the win over Frederick Douglass. Cooper batted .448 (13 for 29) overall. Senior center fielder Amber Chaney went 2 for 3 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs scored and recorded a diving catch out toward the fence defensively to end an inning. Senior shortstop Dylan Scott went 2 for 3 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Senior catcher Gweny Wessling went 2 for 4 with a home run, three RBI and one run scored. Sophomore second baseman Ava Scott went 2 for 4 with one RBI and three runs scored for Cooper.
Cooper did not have any errors and Frederick Douglass had one. The Lady Jaguars scored three unearned runs in the win.
“We’re pretty aggressive and we do pretty well on the bases,” Coach Scott said. “We exploited a couple mistakes. Once or twice, we took two bases on a passed ball.”
Sophomore designated player Lexi Hamblin had a walk in the game. She had two hits and three RBI against Dunbar.
“Hits are great. But walks definitely help too,” Hamblin said. “It’s good to get on base regardless. Being able to pick your pitches and make the pitcher throw more pitches always helps.”
Cooper plays host to Scott (13-15) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Beechwood Invitational Results:
The Walton-Verona Bearcats (13-10) finished 2-1 at Beechwood. Walton-Verona edged Scott, 10-9 scoring four unearned runs off five Scott (13-15) errors and yielding two on two errors.
Senior Audrey Pollard earned the win pitching a complete game. She struck out two and walked none.
Walton-Verona batted .387 (12 for 31) overall. Senior catcher Lacey Alford went 3 for 4 with a double and three RBI to lead the way. Sophomore third baseman Addison Svec went 2 for 4 with an RBI and three runs scored. Sophomore right fielder Maya Lepping went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Senior shortstop Kenzie Farmer scored twice.
Scott batted .394 (13 for 33) overall with five players recording multi-hit games. Sophomore first baseman Emma Scribner went 3 for 4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored. Freshman third baseman Emerson Morman went 2 for 3 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored. Senior catcher Morgan Chalk went 2 for 4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Sophomore left fielder Ivy Cochran went 2 for 4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Eighth grade pitcher Scarlett Cochran went 2 for 4 with one run scored.
Walton-Verona also beat Villa Madonna, 14-3 in five innings. Pollard also picked up that win striking out six, walking one and allowing one earned run and five hits. Pollard also scored two runs.
The Bearcats batted .481 (13 for 27) overall. Farmer went 3 for 4 with three RBI and two runs scored. Eighth grader first baseman Tiffany Holt went 2 for 3 with one RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore left fielder Delaney Moffitt went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Svec went 2 for 4 with one double, one RBI and two runs scored.
Villa Madonna had three extra-base hits batting .238 (5 for 21) overall. Senior first baseman Gabriella Bicknell went 2 for 2 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Eighth grade shortstop Emma Adams tripled and senior center fielder Camdyn Meier had a double.
Walton-Verona concluded the day with a 4-3 loss to Beechwood (12-13). Pollard took the loss striking out eight, walking four and allowing two earned runs. She went 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and RBI.
The Bearcats batted .281 (9 for 32) overall. Farmer went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Alford had two RBI.
Junior Brooklyn McGuire earned the win for the Tigers. She struck out three and allowed three earned runs.
The Tigers batted .259 (7 for 27) overall. Seventh grade catcher Brooke Moore went 3 for 4 with two RBI. Junior third baseman Laney Hatridge and junior left fielder Lynden Noll had triples.
Scott no-hit Beechwood, 13-0 in five innings earlier in the day. Scribner threw the complete game striking out nine and walking six. She also had a double at the plate.
Scott batted .455 (10 for 22) overall. Ivy Cochran went 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Morman went 2 for 3 with two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored. Senior third baseman Riley Reeves went 2 for 2 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored.
Villa Madonna beat Scott, 23-6. Senior Joslyn Thornberry earned the win striking out three and walking three. She also had a triple, five RBI and scored four runs. Seventh grade first baseman Cam Kratzer went 2 for 2 with four RBI and two runs scored. Eight different Vikings scored at least two runs and six had at least two RBI.
Scott batted .450 (9 for 20) overall. Junior shortstop Audrey Griffin went 3 for 3 with a triple, RBI and run scored. Chalk went 2 for 3 with two RBI and one run scored. Freshman pitcher Addy Riley went 2 for 2 with a double, one RBI and one run scored.
Walton-Verona plays at Gallatin County on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and Villa Madonna plays host to Dayton at the same time. Scott plays host to Notre Dame (8-7) on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Beechwood plays host to Boone County on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Baseball:
Ryle 2, Danville 1:
The Raiders (13-11) ventured south and earned a huge win over the 2021 state semifinalist Admirals (23-6) at Centre College.
Junior TJ Schira (3-3) earned the win pitching six innings striking out five, walking three and allowing just two hits and one earned run. Senior Brayden Stewart pitched the seventh inning walking one and striking out three to earn his first save of the season.
“(Danville) is a really good hitting team so I had to key on hitting my spots and get ahead in counts, let my defense do the work,” Schira said. “(Stewart) came in and had his stuff. He should be good for us in the postseason.”
Ryle batted .192 (5 for 26) overall. Junior shortstop Roman Furuta went 2 for 3 to lead Ryle and junior center fielder Landon Sawyer had a two-run double to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Danville scored its run in the bottom of the fourth.
“Danville’s a well-respected team in the state,” said Joe Aylor, Ryle Head Coach. “To go down there and compete was huge for us. It kind of shows we can compete with just about anybody. We did a really good job of executing when we needed to execute.”
The two Raider runs came in the top of the third inning. Sophomore catcher Caleb Mann singled and senior Tyler Sickmeyer ran for him. Sickmeyer moved to second with Ryle second baseman Ben Fox reached on a sacrifice bunt. The two reached up when senior left fielder Tristan Musson reached on a bunt to load the bases setting up Sawyer’s run-scoring double.
Ryle travels to Woodford County (18-9) on Monday. Game time is 6:30 p.m.
Highlands 9, Madison Central 2:
The Bluebirds (16-10) picked up a huge home win over the Indians (20-6-1) at Highland Park.
Highlands batted .357 (10 for 28) in the win. Junior Ryan DeBurger led the way going 3 for 3 with a double, three RBI and one run scored. Senior Camden McAtee went 2 for 2 with a double, RBI and run scored. Junior Jack Hendrix went 2 for 3 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored. Senior Jonah Hankins had a home run and two RBI. Senior Mason Welsch added a double.
The Bluebirds had four players pitch in this game. Sophomore Brody Benke, Hendrix, senior Connor Schwalbach (4-2) pitched two innings each before senior Abe Hils pitched the seventh. The four combined to strike out 10, walk four and allow three hits and one earned run.
“It’s a good win,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. “With only having two games this week, we were in desperate to get some guys out there and get some work on the mound and they all did a good job. Our approaches continue to improve. They really paid off. We had some timely hits.”
Highlands plays host to Conner (23-5) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Trinity Bests Beechwood, St. Henry:
The Crusaders (13-11-1) faced the defending state champion Shamrocks (27-3) and lost 5-2.
Errors hurt St. Henry. The Crusaders committed three leading to four unearned Shamrock runs while scoring one off two Trinity runs.
St. Henry batted just .120 (3 for 25) overall. Senior catcher Carter Scheben went 2 for 3 for the Crusaders.
Senior Owen Eilerman (1-1) pitched the first four innings for St. Henry striking out two, walking one and allowing five hits and four unearned runs. Junior Matt Resing pitched the last two innings striking out three, walking none and allowing two hits and one earned run.
The Tigers (21-4) then lost 4-3 to the Shamrocks. Beechwood had no errors to three for Trinity. Beechwood managed two unearned runs off the Shamrock errors.
Both teams had six hits. Junior first baseman Cameron Boyd went 2 for 3 with a solo home run to lead Beechwood. Junior right fielder Landon Johnson also went 2 for 3.
Junior Mitchell Berger pitched the first four innings for Beechwood. He struck out six, walked two and allowed five hits and two earned runs. Junior Torin O’Shea (1-1) pitched the fifth and sixth striking out one, walking one and allowing one hit and two earned runs.
St. Henry faces Dixie Heights (17-7) at 5:30 p.m. Monday in Erlanger. Beechwood plays host to Cooper (9-17) on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Other May 7 NKY Softball Score:
Grant County 4, Notre Dame 0
Other May 7 NKY Baseball Scores:
Gallatin County 3, Bellevue 0
Carroll County 5, Villa Madonna 4
