It appeared this baseball game would head down to the wire like the regular season match-up did after one inning at Campbell County’s Tom Moore Field.
But then the Bishop Brossart Mustangs pitchers had problems finding the strike zone in the bottom of the second. The Mustangs hit three Camels in that inning and walked four more. Combine that with five singles and a 1-0 Bishop Brossart lead turned into a 9-1 Campbell County lead. Campbell County sent 15 batters to the plate that inning.
Bishop Brossart pitchers hit four Camel batters total. The Mustangs used four different pitchers in the game.
The Camels (20-10 overall) then added four more in the bottom of the third on their way to a 13-2 37th District Tournament championship in five innings. This marked the first district tournament title for Campbell County since 2017. Bishop Brossart (17-16-1) won its last title in 2018 and Scott claimed the last two in 2019 and 2021.
The Camels did not have any errors in this game and the Mustangs had one. Neither team had any unearned runs. Campbell County committed no errors in either tournament game.
“Where we’ve struggled all year has been defensively,” said Scott Schweitzer, Campbell County Head Coach. “We’ve been our own worst enemy. In these last two games, we’ve not. We’ve made every play that’s been hit at us. That’s what you have to do at this time of the year to be able to win one.”
Campbell County batted .500 (10 for 20) overall. Senior first baseman and tournament most valuable player Jake Napier and senior all-tournament member and designated hitter Zack Riley both went 2 for 2. Napier had two runs batted in and scored once with Riley scoring twice and batting one in. Junior right fielder Brayden Wells went 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored.
Senior left fielder Caeleb James had a double and two RBI with junior shortstop Jake Gross adding a double for Campbell County. Senior third baseman Evan Clark and senior all-tournament team second baseman Tyler Fowler scored two runs each. Senior center fielder Greg Vineyard added a two-run single.
Junior Max Lause (4-3) pitched four innings to earn the win for Campbell County. He struck out four, walked one and allowed just one earned run. Freshman Zach Franzen finished the game in the fifth inning striking out three and walking none.
“(Lause and Franzen) were both phenomenal,” said Austin Little, Campbell County senior catcher. “Max and Zach were both hitting their spots with their off-speed (pitches). They consistently threw strikes.”
Bishop Brossart batted .273 (6 for 22) overall. Junior catcher Colin Combs and senior second baseman Ryan Ebert both went 2 for 3. Combs batted in two including a single to center to score junior outfielder Evan Moore with two out in the top of the first to give Bishop Brossart its lone lead at 1-0.
Fowler singled to start the second inning and Napier singled him to third before Wells laid down a bunt to score Wells to tie the game at 1-1. James and Little then drew hit by pitches to score Napier and take the lead for good at 2-1. Freshman Carson Clark ran for Little.
That’s when Vineyard hit a single to left scoring Wells and James to put the Camels up 4-1. Evan Clark then walked to load the bases again. Gross then walked and Riley drew a hit by pitch to score Carson Clark and Vineyard to put the Camels up 6-1. Evan Clark then darted home on a passed ball to increase the lead to 7-1.
“Coach Schweitzer always tells us to be patient and wait for your pitch,” Wells said. “Don’t swing out of the strike zone. We just saw the ball well and swung at pitches that we wanted to.”
With one out, Napier walked to load the bases and Wells singled in Gross before James walked with the bases loaded to score Riley to give the Camels that 9-1 lead. But Andrew Beck struck out the next two Camels to leave the bases loaded.
Bishop Brossart earned one back in the top of the third. Combs singled in Ebert with two out before Lause struck out senior Mitchell Combs to end the inning.
“Anytime you can save pitching and be set up for the region, that’s great,” Schweitzer said. “Max was doing a great job. But if he was under 75 pitches, he’s available to pitch Monday in what could be the first round of the regionals. Zach Franzen came in and threw strikes. We had a strikeout that we threw away. He showed some resiliency there. When they did throw strikes, we did a good job putting the bat on the ball and moving the runners.”
Campbell County opened the third inning with Evan Clark drawing a hit by pitch. He moved to third when Riley singled with one out. Riley stole second. But Evan Clark scored when Bishop Brossart threw the ball into the outfield. Riley advanced to third on the same play. Campbell County led 10-2 at that point.
Fowler then walked and stole second. Napier then singled in Riley and Fowler to put the Camels up 12-2. James then doubled in Wells to make the final score.
Campbell County has won five in a row in the series. The last time Bishop Brossart beat Campbell County came May 24, 2018 by a 5-4 score in the 37th District Tournament title game at Scott.
“Right now, you start to feel like every game could possibly be your last game,” Schweitzer said. “When you go into the region as a winner, you can only draw other district’s losers. You want to be in that driver’s seat with pitching available. I think we have that and we’ll be ready to go on Monday.”
The 10th Region Tournament is at Harrison County. Campbell County will face Harrison County, Bracken County or George Rogers Clark. Bishop Brossart takes on Nicholas County, Mason County or Montgomery County.
Baseball:
34th District Title Game:
Dixie Heights 5, St. Henry 0:
The host Colonels (24-8) earned a second straight district championship with a blanking of the Crusaders (16-13-1).
Senior Logan Wilson (3-2) pitched a phenomenal complete game striking out eight and walking three. Dixie Heights made one error behind him.
“Logan Wilson got ahead of hitters most of the game,” said Chris Maxwell, Dixie Heights Head Coach. “He may have gotten behind 1-0 on one batter. But that was it. St. Henry came back on us in the district seed game. Logan said that’s not going to happen.”
Wilson coaxed four fly outs in the win. He struck out the side in the top of the seventh.
“The wind was blowing in so that played a factor,” said Brandon Brooks, Dixie Heights senior right fielder. “Errors lead to runs so you don’t want them. You have to get under them and make the catches.”
Dixie Heights batted .269 (7 for 26) overall. Junior first baseman Owen Lawrence and junior catcher Ethan Bosley both went 2 for 3. Lawrence had a two-run double scoring senior third baseman Mark Dugan and sophomore pinch runner Carter Schroer to give the Colonels the lead for good off St. Henry junior starting pitcher Nick Browning in the bottom of the first.
“That’s just a momentum switch there in the first inning,” Lawrence said. “You have to come out hot. It got everyone going. Even (Assistant Coach) Peter (Collins) in the dugout (Browning’s) got up and told the crown to get going. He got everyone excited. It’s hard to see out of his hands. His fastball gets to you. It’s sneaky quick.”
Senior left fielder Gabe Thelen added a double and scored a run. Dugan scored twice.
Browning pitched into the fourth for St. Henry. Junior Luke Keipert and senior Matt Miller also pitched for the Crusaders.
The Crusaders had just two hits in the game. Senior catcher Carter Scheben had a double.
Dixie Heights could face Beechwood, Newport Central Catholic, Ryle or Conner in the 9th Region quarterfinals that begin Wednesday. St. Henry could face Highlands, Covington Catholic, Ryle or Conner.
36th District Championship Game:
Highlands 13, Newport Central Catholic 5:
The Bluebirds (19-16) have lost the last two regular season games against the rival Thoroughbreds (18-12). But they once again came back to win the district championship at Bellevue. Highlands has won 10 straight district tournament crowns.
“I think our guys appreciate the process of an entire year and I think they appreciate how we prepare, get better every day then play our best toward the end of the year,” said Jeremy Baioni, Highlands Head Coach. “I think they buy into that and that’s really big for us.”
Highlands batted .321 (9 for 28) overall and drew 12 walks. Junior right fielder Nathan Hartle went 2 for 4 with a triple, two RBI and two runs scored. Senior left fielder Drew Hack had three RBI with junior Brennan Kelsay driving in two and scoring twice. Junior designated hitter JP Donelan had a double and scored three times with senior third baseman Nick Robinson doubling and scoring twice.
Senior lefty Connor Schwalbach started the game and pitched two innings. He struck out two, walked four and allowed one earned run. Senior Abe Hils pitched the next four innings striking out three and allowing two earned runs before junior Jack Hendrix finished it off in the seventh.
Both teams had two errors. NewCath had two unearned runs and Highlands had one.
The Thoroughbreds used five different pitchers in the game. Senior Luke Wiles started throwing three innings. But senior Luke Brockman took the loss. Wiles had one of the two NewCath hits with a double.
“I think the biggest difference when we faced (Wiles) this time is we swung at pitches we wanted to swing at, not what he wanted us to swing at,” Baioni said. “We tell them all the time taking a pitch is important too. He was around the zone. He was a little out of the zone early on and our guys did a good job laying off those pitches. We chased a lot the first time. When you swing at high velocity like that, you have a hard time catching up. Then we were aggressive enough when we did put a swing on them.”
Highlands could face Beechwood, St. Henry, Ryle or Conner in the region quarterfinals. NewCath will play Dixie Heights, Covington Catholic, Ryle or Conner.
33rd District Semifinal:
Ryle 6, Cooper 5:
The rubber match between these two determined who moved on to the district title game at Conner and the 9th Region Tournament.
Junior right fielder Roman Furuta walked it off with his third home run of the season. He belted a 1-0 pitch from Cooper junior Trevor Ollier (2-1) over the left field wall.
“(Ollier) threw me a high fastball the first pitch,” Furuta said. “I saw the ball really well. I knew I was going to get a pitch down in the zone I could handle. Then the very next pitch, he throws the ball right there right down the middle. I put a pretty good swing on it. I pretty much knew it was gone when I looked up. It felt really good.”
Ryle moves on to the district championship back at Conner on Saturday. The Raiders face the host and top-seeded Cougars (28-6) at Noon.
Ryle battled back from a 5-2 deficit after three innings. The second-seeded Raiders (18-13) batted .333 (9 for 27) overall with six extra-base hits. Furuta went 2 for 4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Senior second baseman Ben Fox went 2 for 3 with two doubles and three RBI. Senior first baseman Brayden Stewart, senior Josh Furtado and junior center fielder Landon Sawyer added doubles.
“That’s kind of the attitude we’ve had all year,” said Joe Aylor, Ryle Head Coach. “We kind of go into a game and we expect to win. We’ve battled back in certain situations against Boone County, Cooper and Holy Cross before. Everything we do is geared toward the postseason and try to get to that regional tournament. We felt like our season prepped us for it and we carried it through to what we needed to do.”
Junior TJ Schira started the game for Ryle pitching into the fourth inning striking out five, walking one and allowing five earned runs. Senior Tyler Sickmeyer took over and pitched through the fifth inning allowing one hit. But Furtado pitched the last two innings striking out four and walking one.
“Tyler Sickmeyer has been huge for us,” Aylor said. “He’s been one of our better pitchers out of the (bullpen). He set the school record for appearances this year so he’s been a workhorse for us. Josh (Furtado) has been awesome. When we’ve needed him to step up, he’s stepped up and that’s exactly what he did (Friday). It’s kind of nice it’s two seniors carrying you to the region tournament.”
Junior Chase Gartner started for Cooper (11-21) and pitched six innings. He struck out seven and walked four. Both teams made one error. But neither team scored any unearned runs.
Cooper batted .259 (7 for 27) overall. Senior third baseman Jake Jennings went 2 for 4 with four RBI hitting a three-run home run in the top of the first. Ollier went 2 for 2 and senior first baseman Corbin Fletcher scored two runs.
Softball:
Dixie Heights 5, Highlands 2:
The Bluebirds (21-14) appeared to be in control of this one scoring twice in the bottom of the second. But the Colonels (19-5) scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning on their way to the win. Dixie Heights has won 14 of its last 15 games.
Sophomore pitcher Riley Hopkins (15-5) pitched another complete game striking out four, walking one and allowing two earned runs. Dixie Heights continued to play phenomenal defense behind her recording no errors.
Dixie Heights batted .290 (9 for 31) overall. Senior second baseman Bri Patsel went 3 for 4 with one run scored. Sophomore first baseman Skylar Mitchell went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI.
Highlands batted .200 (5 for 25) overall. Sophomore catcher Michelle Barth went 2 for 3 with one RBI.
Eighth grade pitcher Kaitlyn Dixon (6-4) pitched into the fifth inning before junior Kennedy Baioni took over. Dixon struck out three and allowed three earned runs before Baioni struck out one, walked one and allowed one earned run. Highlands had two errors in the loss.
Dixie Heights travels to Louisville Male (17-7) on Saturday at 11 a.m. Highlands takes on Dayton (9-12) in the 36th District semifinals on Monday at Newport Central Catholic at 5:30 p.m.
Other May 20 NKY Softball Score:
Notre Dame 12, Newport Central Catholic 0 (5 innings)
