The Campbell County High School softball team lives in that tricky space between very good and not quite there yet. The Camels have been doing this for half a decade now — close enough to smell the regional trophy polish, far enough away that the scent still motivates.
Last spring’s 8–0 loss to Harrison County in the 10th Region championship game was the latest reminder that the Camels have been knocking on the door so long they could probably describe the grain pattern. But this year’s team, senior-heavy and postseason-tested, believes it finally has the right combination of horsepower, hunger, and hard-earned scar tissue to kick that door in.
Campbell County begins the season Thursday, March 19 at home against Mason County. Game time is 6 p.m.
“I love this team,” said head coach Sandi Kitchen, a Campbell County graduate.
There’s a lot to love. The Camels return seven seniors who know the clock is ticking down on their careers under Kitchen, now in her 13th season. The physical education teacher has quietly built one of the most consistent programs in northern Kentucky. The Camels finished 19–6 last season, won an eighth straight 37th District title, and avenged a 12-3 regular-season loss to Scott by thumping the Eagles 14–7 in the district final.
The Camels have been climbing the regional tournament ladder one rung at a time — quarterfinalist, quarterfinalist, semifinalist, semifinalist, finalist — like a team following a blueprint that keeps adding new floors.
The next rung is obvious.
“Our lineup is primarily senior-loaded and I believe this to be a strength,” coach Kitchen said. “They are hungry to make Camel softball history and get to state.”
Getting over the hump with hitting and Hope
If the Camels do it, they’ll do it behind ace pitcher Hope Hamilton, the all-Northern Kentucky Softball Coaches Association first-team senior who has become the program’s competitive thermostat. When she’s hot, the whole team runs warmer.
Hamilton hit .400 with seven home runs and 23 RBI last season. She was 14-4 in the circle with a 3.33 ERA. Expect those numbers to improve as Hamilton is physically stronger and already mentally tough. She’s versatile enough to slide over to third base when sophomore Lexi Gugel takes the circle. Gugel matters — because the Camels need her.
“Unfortunately, Addy Griffin is out for the year due to an off-season shoulder injury,” Kitchen said of the expected No. 2 pitcher. “Gugel is a quality pitcher who has great velocity and several pitches to move her into a varsity pitching slot behind Hope.”
That’s a big ask for a sophomore, but the Camels have been here before. Campbell County has been a survivor of injuries, lineup shuffles, and the annual reality that Harrison County returns another wave of arms and bats capable of flattening a bracket.
Harrison County brings back two senior pitchers with sub‑2.00 ERAs in Isabella Persinger and Shyanne Ross, plus six of the top nine hitters. The team hit .372 last year and posted a 1.25 ERA. The Fillies are, in other words, still the Fillies.
The Camels aren’t exactly showing up with a plastic fork to a sword fight. They hit .373 as a team last season, and most of that production returns. Faith Whitford is back in left field after leading the team with a .453 batting average and 11 doubles. Sam Perry hit .383 and anchors shortstop. Lilly Phirman handles the catching. Emma Schultz is steady at second. Mallory Fleckenstein rotates between the corners.
“I think we can make a statement,” Perry said. “We can pitch.”
They also make excellent contact at the plate, as Hamilton, Perry, Phirman, Fleckenstein and Schultz struck out just 17 times last season combined in more than 310 plate appearances.
And that’s not all.
Speedy Feebeck sets the tone
Junior center fielder and leadoff hitter Josie Feebeck — an all-NKSCA second-team pick — remains the team’s high‑octane engine, the player who can turn a routine single into an emergency for the other team.
“She’s always been a girl who can hit anything off of anybody,” Perry said. “She’s a big part of what we do and her energy affects all of us.”
Feebeck smashed a team-best eight home runs and five triples last season with nine doubles and led the Camels with 35 RBIs and 38 runs scored. She was a perfect 28-for-28 on stolen base attempts. If opponents let her run wild, she will.
“I’ve always loved to set that table and set the tone and give my team even more confidence,” said Feebeck, an Akron University commit. “I like figuring the pitcher out, figuring out what the ball is doing and telling my teammates so everybody can hit a little better.”
Right field belongs to junior Addy Propes, first base to freshman Addy Coplen, and the bench includes two players Kitchen trusts: junior Raegan Neises and eighth grader Jolie Feebeck. It’s a deep, flexible roster, the kind that can survive a long season and still have legs left in late May.
The hitting, as always, is the program’s calling card. The Camels don’t just swing well — they swing with a fieldhouse full of video angles and a hitting coach who treats mechanics like a graduate-level science.
“Our hitting improves because we get a lot of reps in our fieldhouse,” Kitchen said. “My husband, our hitting coach Bob Kitchen, is very particular on putting together fundamentally sound skills from the ground up. The girls video themselves to try and tweak any flaw that could hamper their timing. It is certainly a science, and it all starts with your core muscles.”
That’s the secret: volume, precision, and a willingness to treat hitting like a puzzle that never quite stays solved. It’s why the Camels can dream big, even with Harrison County around. It’s why they can look at Holy Cross beating favored multi-winner Highlands in last year’s Ninth Region final and think, why not us? All it takes is an ace, timely hitting, and maybe a close contest late — and the Camels have shown they can live in that kind of game.
“Obviously, the big goal is winning the region championship and winning it this year,” Hamilton said. “But before that, we have to win district, get a good record and build up our younger players.”
Kitchen’s coaching makes a difference
Sandi Kitchen’s coaching philosophy is simple, but not easy: build confidence, cohesion, and players who believe they can reach their potential. She’s been doing it long enough to know that softball is a sport where a 2‑for‑4 day means a hitter failed twice, and the real work is teaching kids how to bounce back from the failures, not celebrate the hits.
“My goal is to help the players work together, nurture their confidence and help them improve,” Kitchen said.
That’s why she’s still here. That’s why she still loves it.
“I have enjoyed the duration of my career because I’m a competitor,” she said. “And I love the challenges each season to put together a team and to help each player reach their potential to attain a team goal.”
The goals this year are straightforward: a ninth straight district title, a first regional championship, and a first trip to the state tournament. All of it is on the table, and none of it is guaranteed — not with Harrison County reloading and not with Mason County improving. There’s also pesky Bracken County and Montgomery County, and Bishop Brossart and Scott looming in the district.
But the Camels have the seniors. They have the ace. They have the bats. And they have a coach who believes this group has the right mix to make history.
“Our coach always puts us first and she really listens to her seniors,” Hamilton said. “All of us are close.”
They’ve been close enough, long enough, that belief isn’t a slogan anymore — it’s muscle memory. If the Camels finally break through, no one will be surprised — not even the door they’ve been knocking on.