A fun fact about cougars: once they have a hold, they don’t let go easily.
That mentality fit Conner perfectly Sunday afternoon.
From the opening inning on, the Cougars dictated the game, attacked early at the plate and leaned on a dominant outing from Brady Bushman to take down Cooper 7-2 in the 33rd District semifinals in Hebron.
Conner entered the matchup with confidence after already defeating the Jaguars twice during the regular season, but the Cougars still understood the challenge in front of them.
Rather than sitting back, Conner made its approach clear before the first pitch was even thrown.
“We talked about it before the game. We had to be aggressive from pitch one,” designated Conner head coach Jamie Stidham said. “That’s what really triggered our success early.”
That aggressiveness immediately showed up at the plate. The Cougars consistently attacked early in counts, put pressure on Cooper’s pitching staff and built a 6-0 lead through the first three innings.
Even as the Jaguars found chances to answer later in the game, the Cougars never looked rattled or out of rhythm.
A big reason was Bushman.
After working through some early mechanical adjustments in the first inning, the senior right-hander settled into complete control on the mound. Bushman tossed a complete game, allowing just five hits while striking out 12 and refusing to let Cooper build sustained momentum.
Even in the seventh inning, with his pitch count climbing, Bushman wasn’t interested in handing the ball over.
“That was my game,” Bushman said. “I wanted to take us to the championship, and I trust myself. I wanted to own it.”
That edge and confidence reflected the mindset Conner has carried throughout the season. The Cougars have leaned heavily on togetherness.
“They come together like no other,” Stidham said. “Their togetherness is what makes this baseball team.”
Cooper had opportunities throughout the afternoon, putting runners on base and trying to chip away at the deficit, but timely hits never came consistently enough against Bushman.
“We got guys on base, we just couldn’t hit the baseball with guys in scoring position,” Cooper head coach Rob Sawyers said. “We knew we were going to have to face Brady, and we think he’s one of, if not the top, player in Northern Kentucky. We knew our work was going to be cut out for us.”
In the first inning, Bushman briefly ran into trouble after allowing a hit and a hit by pitch back-to-back, but he quickly responded with two strikeouts to escape the jam and set the tone for the rest of his outing.
That same early aggression at the plate paid off immediately for Conner. The Cougars collected four hits in the opening frame, with Everret Hall driving in the first run of the game. Hall would later finish as the team’s RBI leader with two on the day.
Conner kept the pressure on from there, adding another run in the same inning before stretching the lead to 4-0 in the second. The Cougars continued to build the advantage, scoring in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to steadily build control of the game.
The Jaguars eventually broke through in the fifth when Brogan Scott singled into left to bring in a run, and added another in the sixth on an RBI from Cole Baesel.
Through it all, Bushman never lost command. Even after surpassing 100 pitches, he finished strong, striking out two of the final three batters he faced to seal Conner’s trip to the championship.
Cooper’s season comes to an end at 16-15 as the Jaguars continue their search for their first district tournament win since 2018. While that milestone remains a clear goal for the program moving forward, head coach Rob Sawyers also pointed to several steps of progress made this spring.
“We have the first winning season since 2019 and also scored over 200 runs, which was a team record for us,” Sawyers said. “We won the JV region tournament this year too. Now it’s time to figure out a way to get to the district championship.”
Conner will meet Ryle for the district championship Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Hebron.
MORE PHOTOS: Provided by Charles Bolton
COUGARS 7, JAGUARS 2
COOPER — 000-011-0 — 2-5-1
CONNER — 221-110-x — 7-10-3
RBI — (CON) Hall 2, Brunkel, Bushman, Kelly, Testerman, Wagner (COO) Baesel, Scott
2B — (CON) Brunkel
3B — (CON) Wagner
WP — Bushman. LP — Brinkman.
Records: Conner 21-13, Cooper 16-15