Notre Dame covered the turf hoping to play the 9th Region home softball game Friday afternoon.
The Cooper Lady Jaguars (5-2) arrived when the sun came out and the game started against the Pandas (2-2) 45 minutes later than originally scheduled. Cooper led 3-0 after three innings.
But then the ice pellets came forcing a delay. After the weather cleared, the attempts to ready the field took place. But safety concerns forced the suspension of the game. It will pick up where it left off sometime in the future.
Senior Amber Chaney started the game for Cooper on the mound and has three strikeouts, one walk and one hit. Chaney also has two singles off Notre Dame senior pitcher Cam Steinbrunner.
Chaney led off the game with a single and sophomore second baseman Ava Scott doubled her to third down the left field line. Senior shortstop Dylan Scott singled Chaney home and senior catcher Gweny Wessling hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Ava Scott giving Cooper a 2-0 advantage.
Cooper added a run in the top of the third. Wessling doubled and scored when junior first baseman Kendall Blau singled.
Only senior leadoff hitter and shortstop Addison Mack has been able to reach base for the Pandas in those three innings. Mack walked in the first inning and made it to third when sophomore center fielder Ava McKinley laid down a sacrifice bunt. Then in the third, Mack singled with two out and stole second.
Cooper takes on Oak Hills (Ohio) in Union at 2 p.m. Saturday. Notre Dame travels to Campbell County (4-3) on Monday at 5 p.m.
Softball:
Simon Kenton 15, Walton-Verona 0 (3 innings):
The Lady Pioneers (8-4) dominated the Bearcats (4-7) in a crucial 32nd District seed game. Teams play each other once for seeding purposes during the regular season.
This marked the first seed game for Simo Kenton. Walton-Verona finished 2-1 in district seed play having already beaten Williamstown and Grant County.
Sophomore pitcher Landrey Dance (5-2) threw a complete game to pick up the win and Simon Kenton had one error behind her. She struck out two, walked three and allowed just one hit.
“Landrey did a really good job in tough conditions throwing strikes and making them put the ball in play,” said Chris Young, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “Our defense was letting us down early in the year. It’s steadily improved. That’s a real focus in practice. We made the plays we needed to make and ultimately didn’t hurt ourselves. I think when you start to see lower scoring games, that tends to help.”
The Lady Pioneers posted an impressive .700 (14 for 20) batting average in the game with four players recording multi-hit games and 10 stolen bases. Senior shortstop Alexis Baker went 3 for 3 with two doubles, two runs batted in, two runs scored and two stolen bases. Senior third baseman Hannah Schwier went 3 for 3 with two home runs, one double, five RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
“In our early-season scheduling, we faced some really good pitching,” Young said. “Our girls are now getting to the point where we’re really comfortable at the plate. Notre Dame had two really good pitchers and Walton-Verona has had some big wins early in the year so our girls came out really focused. I was really happy with that.”
Junior right fielder Kaylee Korros went 2 for 2 with one RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases for the Lady Pioneers. Freshman second baseman Larkin Mitchell went 2 for 3 with two RBI, one run scored and one stolen base.
“We’ve been working on speed and having a lot of hitting practice,” Korros said. “(Certain pitches) are nothing new. I think in this game, we came out hot. Everyone was hitting the ball in the conditions that we had. We were pumped up for it. We came out energized. It was a great feeling.”
Walton-Verona takes on Eminence (2-7) in the All A 8th Region Tournament on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Simon Kenton does not play again until April 19 at home against Campbell County (4-3) at 5:30 p.m.
Baseball:
Conner 14, Lawrenceburg (Indiana) 3 (5 innings):
The Cougars (11-1 overall) hoped to get this game in considering they have two big 33rd District seed games coming up. Head Coach Brad Arlinghaus said it would have been tough being off three days in a row.
“The kids right after school got out and they helped me get the field ready,” Arlinghaus said. “That always makes me a little bit nervous when field work is something they got to do instead of mentally preparing for the game. We kind of sleep-walked the first two innings. Then we woke up after that and we took care of business.”
Conner fell behind in the top of the first, 2-0 before scoring three times in the bottom of the inning. The Cougars took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the second and never looked back. They scored four in the third and five in the fourth.
Conner batted .435 (10 for 23) in the win with three players recording multi-hit games and stealing four bases. Senior shortstop Gage Testerman led the way going 2 for 2 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored. Junior designated hitter Brayden Stidham went 2 for 3 with one double, one stolen base, four RBI and one run scored. Junior center fielder/pitcher Ayden Lohr went 2 for 4 with one stolen base, one RBI and three runs scored.
“Our guys have been doing a good job all year reading the ball in the dirt,” Arlinghaus said. “We’ve been preaching that. They see it go by (catchers) and they’re going to take the base that they give you. We took advantage of their mistakes.”
Conner had five doubles total. Junior catcher Luke Hubbard and senior second baseman Blaise Bowman had the other two. Hubbard batted in two and stole a base. Bowman batted in two and scored twice. Junior right fielder Jackson Bucks scored twice and stole a base.
“I definitely think we’ve been through a lot of adversity this year,” Hubbard said. “Going forward when we start to play even better teams, I definitely think we’ll be able to play though a lot more adversity since we’ve played different sorts of teams. We’ve seen different types of pitching this year and that is definitely preparing us for all those good teams that we’re going to play.”
Sophomore Rex Richter (3-0) pitched the first four inning picking up the win for Conner. He struck out three, walked one and allowed three hits and one earned run. Conner had three errors and Lawrenceburg committed four.
Lohr finished the game on the mound in the fifth. He struck out one and allowed one hit.
Conner plays host to Boone County (5-5) on Monday. Game time is 5 p.m.
Simon Kenton 4, Newport Central Catholic 3:
The Pioneers (7-4) edged the Thoroughbreds (7-2) in a non-region game in Independence. Senior pitcher/shortstop Hunter Parks led off the bottom of the seventh reaching on an error before senior left fielder Nolan Schreiber walked moving Parks to second. One out later, senior designated hitter Peyton Fernbach singled to left scoring Parks to give the Pioneers the win.
“We had some (sleet) come down for about an inning – some nasty stuff. (It was a) tough inning. But we played through it,” said Troy Roberts, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “It was a very good bounce-back win. We needed that.”
Simon Kenton batted .296 (8 for 27) in the win. Senior catcher Thomas Lind led the way going 2 for 3 with a double, one RBI and one run scored. Parks scored twice and junior right fielder Ian Powell added a double.
Parks pitched the first five innings for Simon Kenton striking out three, walking three and allowing six hits and one earned run. Junior Ben Stephens (2-0) pitched the final two innings to pick up the win. Stephens allowed one hit.
“Hunter Parks came out and pitched a really good game so I felt like I had back him up,” Stephens said. “I threw strikes and did the job. We have a good defense behind us.”
Simon Kenton did have four errors to three for NewCath. Both teams scored two unearned runs.
Senior Brennan Seiter started on the mound for NewCath and pitched the first six innings. He allowed two walks, seven hits, two earned runs and struck out six. Sophomore Connor Seiter pitched the bottom of the seventh taking the loss.
“Every hitter went to the plate with a purpose,” Roberts said. “We kind of didn’t do that (in the 12-7 loss to Walton-Verona on Thursday). We kind of got on them about that in batting practice about the attitude and the focus and I think they kind of carried that over a little bit. We hit the ball hard a lot of times.”
NewCath batted .259 (7 for 27) in the loss. Brennan Seiter went 2 for 4 to lead the Thoroughbreds. Senior shortstop Luke Wiles added a double.
The Pioneers travel to Collins (11-3) on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. game. NewCath travels to Newport (1-8) for a 5 p.m. 36th District game Monday.
Dixie Heights 9, Walton-Verona 3:
The Colonels (6-3) took down the Bearcats (9-3) in a non-region game.
Dixie Heights hit .393 (11-for-28) at the plate. The Colonels recorded seven extra-base hits.
“We came out hitting the ball pretty well,” said Chris Maxwell, Dixie Heights Head Coach. “They have their All A (8th Region) Tournament next week so I don’t think we saw their better pitchers. They threw three pitchers at us. We were actually about three minutes shy of canceling the thing. (Walton-Verona) hadn’t left yet. It was about 10 after four and we finally started to get some of that rain at Dixie Heights. It was all around us, but not at our place. We weathered that and decided to play. It was cold. But we did have a two-minute stoppage. That sleet carried back off.”
Senior third baseman Logan Wilson led the way for Dixie Heights going 3 for 3 with a home run, double, three RBI and three runs scored. Junior designated hitter/pitcher Owen Lawrence went 2 for 4 with one double and two RBI. Junior catcher Ethan Bosley went 2 for 4 with two doubles. Senior shortstop Jay Flynn tripled, scored twice and stole one base and senior right fielder Mark Dugan doubled. Dugan scored once and drove in one.
Senior Brandon Brooks (3-0) started and pitched four innings to pick up the win. He struck out four, walked one and allowed five hits and two earned runs. Lawrence pitched the last three striking out two, walking one and allowing three hits and one earned run.
“It was a good momentum builder,” Bosley said. “We were on the same terms (pitching) and it felt good. We were connecting.”
Walton-Verona batted .276 (8 for 29) in the defeat. Junior designated hitter Jimmy Shields led the way going 2 for 4 with an RBI and run scored and sophomore left fielder Julian Dixon went 2 for 2 with one RBI and one run scored. Freshman pitcher Aiden Kerns homered for the Bearcats.
Walton-Verona takes on Eminence (1-7) in the All A 8th Region Tournament on Monday at 6 p.m. Dixie Heights plays host to Lloyd Memorial on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a 34th District game.
Other April 8 NKY Softball Scores:
Mason County 9, Bishop Brossart 7 (5 innings)
Bracken County 19, Calvary Christian 8 (4 innings)
Other April 8 NKY Baseball Scores:
Trimble County 9, Ludlow 5
Calvary Christian 11, Williamstown 0 (5 innings)