The Simon Kenton baseball and softball teams and the Walton-Verona baseball team are headed to Louisville.
All three advanced in the 8th Region tournament on Sunday, advancing to the University of Louisville for the semifinals. Simon Kenton baseball will play Shelby County on Monday at 8 p.m. at Jim Patterson Stadium, Walton-Verona taking on Woodford County Monday at 6 p.m.
Simon Kenton softball will play Woodford County on Wednesday at UofL’s Ulmer Stadium at 8 p.m.
Here’s how it went down on Sunday:
Simon Kenton 14, Henry County 2 (Softball)
The Pioneers won their first region tournament game since 2017 with a victory over Henry County (16-10) on Sunday.
Simon Kenton (16-15) brought the bats out with 22 hits in the contest, Larkin Mitchell leading the way with five hits, two of them doubles. The hit parade included 10 doubles, Emilie Young with four hits and two going for extra bases, Adreena Jones with three hits and three RBI, Taylor Jones with three hits and three RBI, Jayden Jones with two hits and Addison Johnson with two hits and four RBI.
That was plenty for Landrey Dance, tossing a complete game with seven hits and two earned runs allowed, striking out seven and walking three.
After tied at 1-1 through two, the Pioneers put up a four-run third and two in the fourth for a 7-1 advantage. They continued to separate with three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh with all of their runs earned.
The win gets them to Wednesday’s semifinals against Woodford County (24-9). The two have not faced one another since 2019, Woodford is 2-0 all-time against the Pioneers. The winner of Wednesday’s game will head to Thursday’s championship taking on the winner of Grant County and Oldham County.
Simon Kenton 8, Carroll County 2 (Baseball)
A four-run fourth inning helped Simon Kenton get to their second straight region semifinal in the victory over Carroll County on Sunday.
The Pioneers (26-10) took advantage of seven Panther errors on the day, collecting seven hits as they also put up two runs in the second and sixth innings.
After Carroll County (16-15) jumped ahead 1-0 in the first, the Pioneers took the lead for good in the bottom of the second with the two-spot.
Daniel Uhl and Ben Stephens led Simon Kenton with two hits apiece, Stephens and Gavin Riley with two RBI apiece, Riley drawing two walks while a Uhl double was their lone extra base hit of the game.
Riley pitched six innings of six-hit baseball, allowing the earned run in the first, adding six strikeouts with two walks. Anthony Procaccino came on in the seventh, giving up two hits and an earned run with two strikeouts.
On top of the seven Panther errors, the Pioneers drew eight walks and had two hit by pitches to put 17 runners on base in the contest.
Simon Kenton faces Shelby County (27-9) on Monday night at 8 p.m. The two did not face one another this season and haven’t played since 2019 when the Rockets knocked out the Pioneers in the 8th Region quarterfinals.
Walton-Verona 4, Owen County 2 (Baseball)
Julian Dixon’s two-run homerun helped get the Bearcats (26-7) to the 8th Region semifinals for the second year in a row over Owen County (21-9).
Trailing 2-1 headed into the top of the sixth, Cayden Smithers solo homer knotted things up at two. After Ethan Hager reached on an infield single, Dixon’s blast went over the left center fence to make it 4-2.
Evan Kerns got out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth and pitched a complete game, allowing five hits, an earned run and struck out seven while walking one.
Lance Coleman and Ethan Mills had two hits apiece to lead the Bearcats as they finished with seven hits. They struck out just once as a team.
Owen County jumped out to a 2-0 lead after four innings of play, Bryce Corpus crossing home plate in the top of the fifth for the Bearcats first run of the contest. Smithers homer went over the right field fence, Dixon following to give them the lead for good.
They’ll now take on reigning 8th Region champ Woodford County (25-11) on Monday at 6 p.m. The two did not face one another this season. The winner then heads to Thursday’s championship to take on the winner of Simon Kenton and Shelby County.