The battle between the two school located near Kentucky Highway 536 seemed to be in control by the visitors in the bottom of the sixth.
The Campbell County Camels baseball team (5-3) from the 10th Region led the host Simon Kenton Pioneers (6-3) from the 8th Region, 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth. But things changed quickly with a few Campbell County errors. The Pioneers ran off five runs to tie the game then scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to win the battle between two teams expected to contend in their respective regions, 10-9.
Both teams committed three errors. That led to three unearned runs each.
Simon Kenton senior catcher Tom Lind and senior third baseman/pitcher Riley Cross led the comeback with two hits each. Cross pitched the seventh inning earning the win and batted in three. Junior designated hitter/third baseman Gavin Riley batted in two with senior left fielder Nolan Schreiber recording a double and scoring twice. Senior center fielder Logan Grubenhoff also scored twice for Simon Kenton.
“Our mindset after a loss (is) we don’t get down on ourselves,” Lind said. “We take the next game and we take it one step at a time. Bouncing back after mistakes is really big. The game is not over. You have 21 outs to make the play. There is always going to be another time.”
Senior center fielder Greg Vineyard and junior shortstop Aydan Hamilton helped Campbell County build the nice lead. Vineyard went 2 for 3 with a solo home run, two runs scored and an RBI. Hamilton went 2 for 3 with a two-run home run in the fifth inning and four RBI.
Campbell County had four extra-base hits total. Junior second baseman Jake Gross and junior first baseman Braden Kramer had doubles.
Senior Sam Reynolds (0-2) look the loss for the Camels. After the Pioneers tied the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the seventh, Reynolds nearly escaped the bases-loaded jam striking out two with five fielders on the infield. But senior shortstop Hunter Parks scored on a wild pitch to give Simon Kenton the win.
“Our team does not give up until the last out is made,” Parks said. “We fight, fight and fight until the last out is made. It’s something we take a lot of pride in. Coach Roberts puts us in good positions to win.”
Reynolds hit Cross with a pitch before Parks walked to start the bottom of the seventh. Then junior right fielder Ian Powell laid down a bunt down the third base line that stayed fair. Schreiber walked to score Cross.
“That was our problem on Saturday (in the 8-5 loss at South Oldham) twice and we didn’t put the ball in play,” said Troy Roberts, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “We talked about that after the game. So when our first two guys come up and don’t do that, I’m thinking, ‘Just put a ball in play.’ It’s easier said than done. It’s high school baseball. Anything can happen.”
Campbell County jumped ahead 3-0 in the first inning against Simon Kenton junior pitcher Dakota Brown. Vineyard singled, stole second and moved to third when left fielder Evan Clark grounded out the scored when Hamilton singled. Hamilton moved to third when senior third baseman Zack Riley singled. Hamilton scored and Riley moved up to second on a Simon Kenton error. Then Gross hit a sacrifice fly to score Riley.
“They could have easily just folded. But we really fought back and kept a good approach in the bottom of the second inning, which got us a few runs,” said Troy Roberts, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “I give our guys credit for hanging in there, not quitting, fighting until the end.”
Simon Kenton earned two back in the bottom of the second off Campbell County senior starter Jake Napier. Senior first baseman Peyton Fernbach singled. Then with one out, Grubenhoff and sophomore second baseman Daniel Uhl recorded consecutive singles to lad the bases. Cross singled in Fernbach and Grubenhoff before being thrown out trying to advance to second.
Vineyard slammed his home run to left in the top of the fourth to give the Camels a 4-2 advantage. But the Pioneers responded with one in the bottom of the third. Schreiber doubled then scored when Lind singled.
Campbell County increased the margin to 6-3 in the top of the fifth. Clark singled before Hamilton homered to right.
The Camels scored two unearned in the top of the sixth to go up 8-3. Kramer doubled then moved to third when senior Ty Fowler reached on an error. Kramer then scored on another Simon Kenton error. Fowler and Vineyard moved up on a wild pitch before Clark walked to lead the bases. Hamilton drew a walk to score Fowler.
The Simon Kenton rally in the sixth started when Uhl and Cross drew consecutive walks to start the inning. The two moved up on a wild pitch before Cross singled in Grubenhoff. Parks hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Uhl before pinch runner George Everman scored on a Campbell County error. Following another Camel error to lead the bases, Riley singled in Schreiber and pinch runner Ben Stephens to tie the game.
“Offensively, we played well. Defensively, we didn’t,” said Scott Schweitzer, Campbell County Head Coach. “You can’t give good teams extra outs. We made some mistakes in the sixth inning. (The Pioneers) took advantage of them. But each day is a new day in baseball. You come back and get at it the next day.”
Gross gave Campbell County a 9-8 advantage in the top of the seventh inning. He doubled, took third on a junior Brayden Wells bunt then scored on a wild pitch.
Simon Kenton plays host to Walton-Verona (8-2) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Campbell County plays host to Ryle (5-4) at 5 p.m.
Baseball:
Highlands Wins Final Two Games at Myrtle Beach:
Highlands (6-3) took down two Kentucky opponents to finish the Cal Ripken Experience. Highlands is 5-1 against in-state opponents.
“We got to see a lot of guys get out and get reps and opportunities,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. “We have some really difficult decisions ahead of us because some guys went out and did some things really well three days in a row. It starts with pitching.”
The Bluebirds knocked off the Franklin-Simpson Wildcats from the 4th Region, 4-2. Senior left-hander Connor Schwalbach (1-0) pitched five innings striking out six to go with three hits and two runs. Sophomore Drew Barth pitched the last two innings striking out one and allowing three hits. Both teams had one error in the game.
The teams entered the bottom of the fifth tied 2-2. But senior third baseman Drew Hack stepped to the plate and slammed a home run to left center field to make the final score scoring senior Abe Hils in front of him. Hack finished 2 for 3 adding a double to go with the two runs batted in and run scored.
“We couldn’t get too many timely hits,” Baioni said. “But we had two that were really big for us. Drew Hack had good approaches at the plate. He put together two really good at-bats.”
Hils put Highlands up 2-1 in the bottom of the second. He singled to score junior Ryan DeBurger and senior Parker Cleveland.
The Bluebirds batted .296 (8 for 27) in the game and stole five bases. Senior Ryne Wiseman added a double.
Highlands finished the experience with a 4-1 win over the Lawrence County Bulldogs from the 15th Region. Junior Jack Hendrix (2-0) pitched six innings striking out six and allowed two hits and one run. Sophomore Zach DeSylva pitched the seventh inning and allowed one hit. Neither team made any errors.
“I just went out there and tried to throw strikes because I knew I had a good defense behind me,” Hendrix said. “We came up with some big hits and runs. I was able to hold them (down). I am going to have to give that credit (of mixing pitches) to Coach Baioni. He calls our pitches. It worked out.”
The Bluebirds scored four earned runs off Lawrence County senior pitcher Luke Patton, who signed with Army in the fall. They also drew three walks and had six hits off Patton.
“What’s good is to see good competition period,” Baioni said. “(Patton) was probably (throwing) in the mid to upper-80s (miles per hour) with a really good slider. We put some really good at-bats together. Some of them were a product of hitting them where they weren’t. But some of them were really good swings. That’s a really good arm you don’t see all the time in high school baseball.”
All four Highlands runs came in the top of the second. Senior Charlie Gorman and junior Nathan Hartle had RBI doubles with seniors Cam McAtee and Nick Robinson adding RBI singles. Senior Jack Schneider doubled and ultimately scored. Gorman, Hartle and McAtee scored the runs.
“You have to jump on the best pitch that you can get because you’re not going to get one that good later in the at bat so it’s important to do that as early as you can,” Robinson said. “You’re going to have to jump on the fastball because the breaking balls are a lot harder to hit. If he throws you a breaking ball early, you might not want to swing at it.”
Highlands travels to St. Henry on Wednesday at Highland Park. Game time is 5 p.m.
Conner 7, Scott 3:
Neither teams scored in the first three innings of the game. But Conner (9-1) rattled off three in the top of the fifth before scoring two more times in each of the next two innings to build a 7-0 lead entering the bottom of the seventh against the Eagles (2-9).
Junior Brody Mangold pitched the first four innings to pick up the win for the Cougars. He struck out six, walked two and allowed one hit.
Senior Tyler Parsons pitched the fifth and sixth innings striking out four and walking one. Senior Trevor Jordan then pitched the seventh striking out three for Conner. Conner committed one error.
“When our offense is down sometimes, I feel like a lot of the time, pitching and defense really pick up for us and I think that’s one of our strong suits,” Parsons said. “We’ve picked each other up. We’ve been on each other keeping our heads up and I really think that’s really helped us out.”
Conner batted. (7 for 27). Senior catcher Briggs Yeunger went 3 for 4 with one double and three RBI. Senior third baseman Blaise Bowman added a double.
Junior Blaise Huiet took the pitching loss for Scott. He struck out eight before sophomore Dylan Giffen came on in relief and struck out eight. Scott had just three hits in the game.
“(Huiet) threw the ball really well the first three innings,” said Brad Arlinghaus, Conner Head Coach. “He was hitting his spots and keeping us off-balance. He got a little wild in the fourth. He had some walks. We had some big hits.”
Conner takes on Simon Kenton (6-3) on Wednesday in Hebron at 5:30 p.m. Scott faces Calvary Christian (7-4) on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
St. Henry 15, Dayton 3 (5 innings):
The Crusaders (6-2-1) downed the Greendevils (4-5) in the All “A” Region Tournament.
St. Henry took advantage of nine Dayton errors scoring six unearned runs. Senior Clay Duckworth picked up the win throwing a complete game striking out 10, walking one and allowing one earned run and six hits. The Crusaders only committed one error defensively.
“It’s always good to go take care of business when you feel like you should,” said Greg Pass, St. Henry Head Coach. “Dayton played well. (The Greendevils) had a few guys who could swing it.”
St. Henry batted .417 (10 for 24) in the game. Junior designated hitter Nick Browning led the way going 3 for 3 with a double, three RBI and two run scored. Senior third baseman Matthew Miller went 2 for 3 with a double, one RBI and three runs scored. Senior shortstop Luke Mason went 2 for 3 with a double and one run scored. Junior first baseman Luke Kiepert and senior right fielder Elie Meiman had doubles. Keipert scored twice.
“We did a really good job of taking advantage of opportunities,” Pass said. “All the guys were locked in and ready to go from the jump.”
Dayton had two players record multi-hit games. Senior shortstop Maveric Catacora and junior pitcher Russell McIntyre each went 2 for 3. McIntyre doubled and scored one run.
St. Henry plays at Newport (1-7) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the next round of the All A 9th Region Tournament. Dayton plays host to Covington Latin (0-2) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Covington Catholic 9, Ryle 7:
The Colonels (4-4) jumped on the Raiders building a 5-0 lead after three then 9-2 after five. They held off the Raiders (5-4) after Ryle scored five runs in the top of the sixth.
Senior Will Burke (1-0) picked up the win striking out three, walking two and allowing eight hits and five earned runs. Senior Luke Lenhof took over in the fifth and completed the game striking out three, walking one and allowing three hits and two earned runs.
Junior designated hitter Max Lawrie led CovCath going 3 for 3 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Burke hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the third and senior Evan Myers went 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Sophomore center fielder Charlie Dieruf added a double.
Ryle batted .379 (11 for 29) in the game. Senior designated hitter Brayden Stewart led the way going 3 for 4 with a triple, double and two runs scored. Sophomore pitcher Caleb Mann went 2 for 4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored. Junior second baseman Keegan Flaherty went 2 for 3 with one RBI and one run scored with senior left fielder Tristan Musson gong 2 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI.
Mann (2-0) pitched into the fourth inning taking the loss before Tyler Sickmeyer finished the game. Mann struck out five and Sickmeyer struck out one.
CovCath plays host to Cooper (1-6) at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Ryle travels to Campbell County (5-3) on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. game.
Boone County 12, Cooper 6:
The Rebels (5-5) scored six runs in the bottom of the second and never looked back against the Jaguars (1-6) in a non-seed 33rd District match-up.
Senior Issac Vest picked up the win for Boone County. He pitched three innings striking out five, walking two and allowed five hits and four earned runs. Senior Evan Warning pitched the last four innings striking out seven, walking two and allowing no earned runs.
Boone County batted .296 (8 for 27) in the game. Vest went 2 for 4 with two runs, one double and an RBI. Senior first baseman/shortstop Jayden Wilson went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBI and one run scored. Senior designated hitter Jason Williams batted in two and senior outfielder Jake Barth scored twice.
Cooper threw four pitchers and committed five errors to three for Boone County. The Jaguars batted .233 (7 for 30) in the game. Senior Cameron Kuehn went 2 for 3 with two runs scored. Sophomore Mark Nowak and junior Trevor Ollier both went 2 for 4 with an RBI. Nowak scored once.
Cooper travels to Covington Catholic (4-4) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Boone County takes on Campbell County (5-3) in Florence on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Softball:
Highlands 17, Scott 2 (4 innings):
The Bluebirds (5-8) scored 11 runs on the Lady Eagles (6-5) in the bottom of the first and finished the run-ruling with five runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Both teams had three errors. But Highlands junior pitcher Kennedy Baioni (3-5) threw a complete game striking out three, walking none and allowing three hits and two unearned runs. Baioni also doubled and scored twice at the plate.
Highlands batted .615 (16 for 26) in the win and drew five walks. Junior third baseman Carly Cramer went 4 for 4 with a double, four RBI and four runs scored. Senior shortstop Anna Greenwell went 3 for 4 with a triple, three RBI and three runs scored. Eighth grade left fielder Camryn Markus went 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Eighth grade second baseman Morgan Pompilio went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and sophomore center fielder Bailey Markus went 2 for 3 with two RBI and one run scored.
Highlands had five extra-base hits. Senior first baseman Eleanor Todd tripled and eighth grade catcher Payton Brown had a double. The Bluebirds are playing without sophomore Michelle Barth.
Scott did not have any multi-hitters. But sophomore Emma Scribner doubled.
Highlands plays host to Simon Kenton (6-4) on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Scott plays host to Campbell County (4-3) on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Campbell County 10, Walton-Verona 2:
The Camels (4-3) pounded out eight doubles in the home win over the Bearcats (5-5). Walton-Verona committed three errors to one for Campbell County.
Campbell County batted .467 (14 for 30) in the game. Senior center fielder Bella Bastin led the way going 4 for 4 with a double and three runs scored. Senior left fielder/shortstop Maddie Kramer went 2 for 4 with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. Freshman Jayci Kremer went 2 for 4 with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. Junior catcher Isabella Whisman, freshman second baseman Moriah Price and junior pitcher Alex Leicht added doubles.
Junior Paige Stewart started the game pitching the first three innings for the Camels. She struck out two, walked on and allowed one earned run and four hits. Leicht pitched the last four striking out six, walking three and allowing four hits and one earned run.
Walton-Verona batted .296 (8 for 27) in the loss. Senior catcher Lacey Alford went 2 for 4 and sophomore Addison Svec went 2 for 3 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Senior third baseman Audrey Pollard added a double.
Campbell County plays host to Calvary Christian (2-5-1) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. Walton-Verona plays host to Bellevue (2-2) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Other NKY April 4 Baseball Scores:
Bishop Brossart 16, Newport 0 (3 innings)
Calvary Christian 4, Ludlow 2
Newport Central Catholic 13, Holmes 4
Lloyd Memorial 7, Villa Madonna 1
Walton-Verona 10, Madison Southern 2
Other NKY April 4 Softball Scores:
Calvary Christian 14, Ludlow 3 (5 innings)
Holmes 16, August 1 (3 innings)
Villa Madonna 19, St. Henry 4 (4 innings)