One generally thinks the team that has already played some games has the upper hand on the team opening the season.
But that did not turn out to be the case when the Covington Catholic Colonels baseball team opened with a 4-1 9th Region win on the road against the Boone County Rebels (2-2). The Colonels built a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning and made the lead stand.
“We’re always happy to get a win,” said Bill Krumpelbeck, CovCath Head Coach. “Boone County’s got a very good team, a well-coached team, very fundamentally sound. We got some work cut out for us. But we got a good pitching performance. We had some opportunities offensively and didn’t take advantage of that. We’ll work on that.”
The three CovCath pitchers combined to hold the Rebels to no earned runs. Senior Colin Gastright started and pitched into the fifth inning striking out five, walking three and allowing five hits. Senior William Burke took over with two out in the fifth and pitched through the sixth inning striking out two, walking one and allowing just one hit. Senior Luke Lenhof then pitched the seventh striking out three to go with one walk and one wild pitch.
“Those guys over there can hit for sure,” Gastright said. “I feel like we did a really good job of keeping them off-balance, keeping them guessing at the plate, getting out of jams and making big pitches here and there when we had to. I think we can be a very dangerous team. We have good senior leadership. It was good to play against someone in a different uniform for a change.”
CovCath did have to work out of some jams committing three errors. Boone County left at least two runners on base in each of the last four innings including the bases loaded in the sixth inning with two out.
“CovCath is a heck of a team,” said Wayne Huff, Boone County Head Coach. “They’re well-coached. They’re not going to make mistakes. They play good, solid baseball. We knew for us to be in this game, we had to match them when it came to defense, pitching and hitting. I thought we put the bat on the ball. We just couldn’t get that big hit when we needed that hit. Our guys kept fighting to the end. Even the last out was a nice running catch by their center fielder. But if that drops, maybe we get a run or two more. It could have been different. They just outplayed us.”
Covington Catholic batted slightly better as a team at .259 (7 for 27) compared to .192 (5 for 26) for Boone County. Senior right fielder Nicholas Darpel had the only multi-hit game for either team going 2 for 3 with one run batted in and one run scored.
“It was all of us who made that inning long,” Darpel said. “We have a nice young team starting out. Some of our seniors stepped up. We got some hits when we needed them. Hopefully, we can keep carrying that on all season.”
Sophomore Chris Henson (1-1) started the game pitching three innings taking the loss for Boone County. He struck out five, walked four and allowed four runs and two hits. Senior Jason Williams pitched the last four innings striking out two to go with one walk and five hits.
CovCath struck for one run in the top of the second inning to go up 1-0. Lenhof doubled and Darpel singled him home.
The Colonels then sent nine hitters to the plate in the top of the fourth inning to go up 4-0. Darpel and Burke started the inning with consecutive walks before junior catcher Jonathan Fitz reached on a Boone County error to load the bases. Senior designated hitter Samuel Epplen walked to score Darpel forcing a Boone County pitching change.
“We haven’t even had a scrimmage other than with ourselves,” Krumpelbeck said. “It’s the first live pitching that we’ve seen. I think we can work some of that out. We have to get some hits in that situation.”
The next CovCath batter in sophomore Evan Pitzer singled to score Burke. One out later, junior pinch hitter Max Lawrie singled sharply to score Fitz. But Williams pitched out the jam getting sophomore center fielder Charlie Dieruf to ground into a force at home and Lenhof to line out Boone County first baseman Evan Warning.
“It might be a 1-1 game,” Huff said of the top of the fourth. “We sort of hurt ourselves. Chris was starting to run out of gas a little bit. He started to lose his control and we had an error behind him. That’s all CovCath needs. If you give them one little extra out, they always take advantage of them. Our kids knew if we didn’t play close to perfect baseball, that would be the outcome. We got sort of lucky it was only 4-1. It could have been a lot worse. (The Colonels) play baseball the right way.”
Boone County senior shortstop Jayden Wilson kept the Colonels from potentially scoring another run in the top of the seventh. He made a nice play in shallow center tracking down the ball off Darpel’s bat for the web gem. With two out, Fitz singled and stole second. But Epplen popped out to Warning to end the threat.
Burke struck out Boone County senior third baseman Tyler Krohman to end the sixth inning. But the Rebels prevented the shutout in the bottom of the seventh. Senior left fielder Issac Vest struck out. But the ball got away from Fitz allowing Vest to reach first with one out. Vest then took second on a wild pitch then scored when Moore doubled. Henson then walked putting runners on first and second. But Lenhof retired the next two batters to end the game.
Krumpelbeck did mention one big challenge this season with a young infield. Burke and Gastright played first base. But outside that, CovCath started sophomores at third base with Pitzer and second base in Owen Leen and a freshman at shortstop in Jackson Reardon.
“I haven’t had that situation since I’ve been coaching,” Krumpelbeck said. “But we had some seniors that decided not to play this year. It’ll take a little time to adjust to varsity baseball. Our pitching staff is strong. As long as you have pitching, you can compete at the high school level.”
Boone County returns to action Thursday against Newport Central Catholic (1-0) at 5 p.m. Covington Catholic faces Cincinnati (Ohio) St. Xavier at Noon and West Clermont (Ohio) at 2:30 p.m. in the Champions Classic.
Baseball:
Ryle 13, St. Henry 1 (6 innings):
The Raiders (2-2) evened their record in 9th Region play at 1-1 with a run-ruling of the Crusaders (2-1) in Erlanger. Ryle led 9-1 after three innings. The Raiders scored three runs in the top of the sixth to force the run-ruling.
“That was a very good win for us,” said Joe Aylor, Ryle Head Coach. “(St. Henry Head Coach) Greg (Pass) runs a very, very good program. His teams are always competing in the region. Anytime that you get a chance to compete and beat them, I’d take that as a positive.”
In the 9-6 win over Walton-Verona in Union on Tuesday, Aylor said the Raiders gave up four unearned runs in the top of the seventh inning. He said the team talked about how to play with a lead and the team did better with that against St. Henry.
Sophomore Caleb Mann pitched the first three innings picking up the win for Ryle striking out three to go with four hits, one run and two walks. Senior Parker Coop pitched the final six innings walking two and allowing two hits.
The Raiders went 16 for 34 at the plate for a .470 clip. They saw seven players record two hits and took advantage of three walks and four Crusader errors. Senior designated hitter Brayden Stewart went 2 for 4 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored.
“We came out swinging earlier in counts,” Stewart said. “Their pitcher was leaving fastballs and curve balls over the plate so we just went out there and kept a positive attitude even if we started off 0-2. We stuck to our game plan.”
Senior left fielder Tristan Musson went 2 for 2 with three runs scored, one double and two RBI. Junior third baseman TJ Schira went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored. Senior catcher Brayden Vice went 2 for 3 with one double and one RBI and junior center fielder Landon Sawyer went 2 for 4 with one double, one RBI and one run scored.
Also recording two hits for Ryle were junior second baseman Roman Furuta and sophomore first baseman Quincy Dillon. Furuta batted in two and Dillon scored twice.
St. Henry went 6 for 23 at the plate for a .261 average. Senior left fielder Owen Eilerman led the Crusaders going 2 for 3 with one RBI. Junior Luke Kiepert took the pitching loss for the Crusaders throwing three innings striking out four.
Ryle plays in the Champions Classic on Saturday against two Ohio opponents. The Raiders take on Cincinnati La Salle at Noon and Turpin at 2:30 p.m.
Conner 11, Highlands 0 (5 innings):
The Cougars (2-0) put another 11 on the board in a second straight run-ruling to start the season. It marked the first game for the Bluebirds.
Rain and sunshine came throughout the afternoon. But the Cougars scored twice in the first inning and seven in the second to go up 9-0. They finished the game with two in the fourth.
“I’m very happy with the way they’re swinging the bats,” said Brad Arlinghaus, Conner Head Coach. “For the most part, they’re having pretty good approaches with their at-bats. When we’ve had people on, we’ve had some pretty key hits. We’re still not perfect. But for this early on, we’re seeing the ball pretty well right now.”
Conner hit .421 (8 of 19) at the plate and took advantage of six walks and one Highlands error. Senior catcher Briggs Yuenger led the way going 3 for 3 with one home run, two doubles, four RBI and one run scored. Senior shortstop Gage Testerman went 1 for 2 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored.
“It’s really just been pitch selection,” Yuenger said. “We haven’t really swung at a lot of balls. We’re not really trying to do too much with it. We just keep swinging the bats like we do every day in batting practice and things like that.”
Junior Jackson Bucks picked up the pitching win. He threw the first three innings striking out five, walking five and allowing no hits. He also doubled at the plate to help the cause.
Conner had no errors in this game. The Cougars had 125 last year.
“We definitely put an emphasis on catching the baseball,” Arlinghaus said. “Through the first two games, we’re catching the baseball. But our pitchers are also keeping us in games. We’re not walking a ton of people. Our pitchers are letting our defense play and our defense is rewarding our pitchers.”
Senior Abe Hils took the pitching loss for Highlands. He pitched the first three innings. Junior Ryan DeBurger and senior Austin Eads pitched the fourth inning. DeBurger struck out one.
Conner takes on Grant County (1-1) at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Highlands plays in the Champions Classic on Saturday against two Ohio teams in St. Xavier at 9:30 a.m. and West Clermont at 5:30 p.m.
Softball:
Scott 21, Gallatin County 6 (4 innings):
Four games have seen the Lady Eagles (3-1) run-rule their opponents or be on the opposite end of one. They did that to the Lady Wildcats (1-2) in a non-region home game.
Gallatin County had six errors to two for Scott. Scott had eight unearned runs to two for the Lady Wildcats.
“It was little hairy there for a bit giving up four runs (in the top of the second) on two hits,” said Lisa Brewer, Scott Head Coach. “Fortunately my pitcher ended up having short-term memories and she was able to pull it back together.”
Sophomore Emma Scribner (3-1) threw a complete game striking out four to go with nine walks, four earned runs and limiting the Lady Wildcats to a .153 (2 of 13) clip at the plate. She went 1 for 2 at the plate with two walks, three runs scored and one RBI.
Scott went .520 (13 of 25) at the plate with a lot of production coming from the bottom of the line-up. Sophomore second baseman Ivy Cochran led the way going 4 for 4 with one home run, three RBI and three runs scored.
“You just have to stay behind the ball,” Cochran said. “It started a chain. Everyone fed off that energy when one person started it off. We just had to make sure we did everything as a team because when one person get down and makes a mistake, we can’t let that hurt us.”
Scott junior shortstop Audrey Griffin went 2 for 3 with a triple, double, three RBI and three runs scored. Sophomore first baseman Ivy Shepherd went 2 for 4 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Senior left fielder Morgan Chalk had three RBI and two runs scored on a double with freshman center fielder Elise Manhardt recording two RBI and scoring twice. Junior right fielder Kayla Overman added two runs.
Scott had seven stolen bases. Manhardt and Scribner had two each.
“It was slower pitcher than what they saw (Tuesday),” Brewer said. “They just waited on the ball and made some solid contact. Even some of the balls where our runners got out, they were nice, strong hits. It was nice to see them pull it together. They were aggressive at the plate and on the base paths.”
Scott takes on Prestonsburg (2-1) at Bath County on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m.
Boone County 5, Grant County 3:
The Lady Rebels (1-1) trailed 3-1 entering the top of the sixth inning. But they scored once in the top of the sixth and three times in the top of the seventh to record the road win over the Lady Braves (2-1).
Both teams recorded seven hits. But Grant County had three errors to one for Boone County.
Senior Kaitlyn Irwin led Boone County going 2 for 4 with one run scored. Sophomore third baseman Amariana Sweet had a triple, three walks, one run scored and one RBI.
Irwin (1-1) threw a complete game picking up the win. She struck out one, walked one and allowed three earned runs.
Boone County plays in the Western Hills Lady Wolverines Classic on Friday. The opponent is Fern Creek (3-2) at 9 p.m.
Western Hills 13, Simon Kenton 12 (8 innings):
A second straight eight-inning game did not work out as well for the Lady Pioneers (4-2) in the loss to the Lady Wolverines (4-0) on the road. They beat North Laurel, 16-15 after losing a large lead on Saturday.
Simon Kenton led Western Hills, 11-7 entering the bottom of the sixth. But Western Hills scored five times to go up 12-11 before the Lady Pioneers tied it in the seventh inning.
Errors hurt Simon Kenton again. The Lady Pioneers had five leading to six unearned Lady Wolverine runs while scoring three unearned runs on two Western Hills errors.
Simon Kenton batted .405 (17 for 42) at the plate with four players recording multi-hit games. Freshman second baseman Larkin Mitchell and sophomore catcher Emilie Young both went 4 for 5. Young homered and had two doubles to go with two RBI and two runs scored. Mitchell scored four runs and senior shortstop Alexis Baker added a home run.
Sophomore third baseman Landry Dance went 2 for 4 with one triple, one double, three RBI and two runs scored. Seventh grade pitcher Lauren McIntosh went 2 for 3 with a double. Eighth grade first baseman Adreena Barton doubled and had two RBI with sophomore pitcher Addison Johnson also doubling.
Simon Kenton takes on Louisville Ballard (2-0) on Friday. Game time is 6 p.m.
Other March 23 NKY Baseball Scores:
Bishop Brossart 15, Lloyd Memorial 3 (5 innings)
Villa Madonna 16, Gallatin County 4 (5 innings)
Bracken County 16, Holmes 10
Other March 23 NKY Softball Scores:
Bishop Brossart 21, St. Henry 1 (3 innings)
Walton-Verona 10, Carroll County 6
