Mickie Terry-Snead is talking about the Notre Dame Academy softball team while being about as far away from her squad as possible. “We’re trying to make a run this year,” the coach said of last season’s Ninth Region tournament semifinalist. The Pandas were eliminated by a single run last year in a loss to eventual […]
Author Archives: Marc Hardin
Posted inBaseball
Pioneers ready to operate at Doc Morris Invitational
Simon Kenton baseball coach Brady Smiley was playing one of his trivia games with ballplayers one day during the offseason. It’s an activity combining aspects of preparedness and high school history in a playful format. “I’m big on the fact you have to learn how to compete before you learn how to win,” said Smiley, […]
Posted inSports
The Mustang who can do everything — and still get her sleep
Cold Spring has produced its share of athletes, but every once in a while, one comes along who seems to move through the world with a different operating system. That’s Rachel Shewmaker, Bishop Brossart’s all-around three-sport dynamo heading to Bellarmine University on a soccer scholarship. Shewmaker is currently tearing it up on the softball diamond […]
Posted inSoftball
The Patsels, one for Cooper softball and one for Ryle, set the table for Battle of Union
The first annual Battle of Union softball game on Monday pitting Cooper High School vs. Ryle rose out of an intense neighborhood rivalry. It’s also the product of some very creative coaching and enough trash talk to make a seasoned umpire blush. But this is where the story throws a curveball early in the count. […]
Posted inBasketball
Hall steps down as Dayton girls basketball coach
With more than three decades shaping young athletes behind her, Laura Hall is stepping down as girls basketball coach at Dayton High School. Hall, a 1986 Dayton graduate, ends her two-year run as head coach with an 18–25 record. It’s the program’s strongest two-year stretch since 2018–20. Her departure marks a transition in a 33-year […]
Posted inSoftball
Stubbornness and belief keep Campbell County softball knocking on 10th Region door
The Campbell County High School softball team lives in that tricky space between very good and not quite there yet. The Camels have been doing this for half a decade now — close enough to smell the regional trophy polish, far enough away that the scent still motivates. Last spring’s 8–0 loss to Harrison County […]
Posted inBasketball
Wednesday morning mayhem: CovCath, St. Xavier start Sweet 16 with a bang
The UK HealthCare Boys Sweet 16 comes out swinging Wednesday morning at 11 with Rupp Arena still waking up, and the basketball tournament wasting zero time easing anyone into the madness of March. The blind draw tossed subtlety aside and delivered the matchup most everyone was hoping to see days later: No. 2 Covington Catholic […]
Posted inBaseball
Ninth Region baseball preview: Opponents brace for the Beechwood Tigers
Senior Brooks Becker and junior Caleb Arrasmith are wrapping up practice at Beechwood High School’s indoor athletic facility. The last of the errant baseballs are in the buckets. Bats are put away, and the Beechwood standouts talk about how the Tigers are going to put away the rest of the Ninth Region this season. “It’s […]
Posted inSoftball
Ninth Region softball preview: Highlands resets and ramps up
If you’re looking for mystery in the Ninth Region high school softball race, you won’t find it at the top. Not with this roster and not with this returning ace. Highlands enters 2026 as the Ninth Region’s preseason No. 1 in Kentucky Prep Softball’s statewide rankings. The Bluebirds wear that label with the kind of […]
Posted inWrestling
End of an era: Simon Kenton wrestling coach Peebles steps down after 28 years with the program
A defining era in Simon Kenton wrestling ended last week when veteran coach Jarrod Peebles stepped down following the KHSAA boys state championships in Lexington. The 2003 Simon Kenton graduate is ending a 28‑year association with the high school program. “The team has known for a while, but I didn’t want to make a big […]