Will it be Highlands-Dixie Heights Part III or will someone spoil the potential of the trilogy for the 9th Region softball final?
That’s been the case the prior two seasons with the Bluebirds and Colonels advancing to the championship, Highlands winning both matchups to earn a state tournament berth.
Highlands was looking to be the runaway winner of the region for the majority of the season, but a 29-game win streak against 9th Region opponents was snapped on May 7 when they lost to Notre Dame, 4-3. They’ve since lost two more against 9th Region foes, 7-6 to Dixie Heights on May 13 and 1-0 to Ryle on May 16.
It should make for an exciting tournament when all eight teams get going on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinal round. The field consists of Highlands, Dixie Heights, Notre Dame, Cooper, Conner, Holy Cross, Dayton and Lloyd Memorial.
The quarterfinal matchups are Conner at Dixie Heights with the winner facing the Notre Dame and Dayton winner.
On the bottom half of the bracket, Highlands begins their quest for a three-peat with Holy Cross while the winner of Cooper and Lloyd Memorial faces the winner of Highlands-Holy Cross in the semifinals.
The district champions (Cooper, Dixie Heights, Notre Dame and Highlands) host in the quarterfinals while the semifinals on Monday and championship on Wednesday move to Thomas More University and their new softball field.
Here’s a look at the first round matchups:
Conner (17-11) and Dixie Heights (13-19) meet in what is the premiere matchup of the first round. No district champ wanted to draw the 33rd District runner-up and Dixie Heights was the one with the short end of the stick. The two did not meet in the regular season. Throw Dixie’s record out the window come tournament time, they’ve made three of the last four region championship games, winning it in 2019. Conner’s last trip to a region final came in 2013, when they made seven straight trips to the region championship game.
Notre Dame (17-7) enters winners in eight of their last 10 facing Dayton (14-6) making their first 9th Region tournament appearance since 2021. The two did not see each other in the regular season.
Highlands (24-12) and Holy Cross (18-10) meet on Sunday, the first meeting between the two since March 31, 2021. Highlands has won 14 straight matchups between the two, Holy Cross’ last victory against the Bluebirds coming in 2002.
Cooper (19-10) and Lloyd Memorial (13-17) meet with the Juggernauts making their first 9th Region fastpitch softball tournament appearance in program history. Cooper’s program has been around since 2009 and is making their fourth straight 9th Region tournament appearance. They’ve been close to breaking through, making the region championship in 2021, with tight losses to Highlands the past two seasons, 3-1 in the semifinals in 2022 and 2-1 in the semis in 2023. Cooper won both regular season matchups by run-rule, 15-0 in three innings on March 12 and 19-2 in three innings on April 25.