Bluebirds soar back to state, defeat Ryle for 9th Region Championship

To win a region softball tournament, you need 63 outs.

When you have Kaitlyn Dixon on your side, it makes getting those 63 outs a lot easier.

The Highlands senior pitcher struck out 44 batters in three games as the Bluebirds won their fourth 9th Region title in the last five years with a 9-2 victory over Ryle.

Dixon, the tournament MVP, struck out 15 in Friday’s affair at Thomas More University. What she does in the circle is a far cry from what she does for the program as a whole.

“I’ve seen a lot of pitchers who are a little bit selfish,” Bluebirds coach Milt Horner said. “Kaitlyn is the farthest thing from being selfish. She absolutely loves her teammates, she’s the girl who shows up at all the freshman games, all the JV games and cheers on the seventh graders and they appreciate that. Everybody appreciates her, respects her and loves her just because of who she is.”

Dixon was two outs shy of a perfect game in Thursday’s 6-0 semifinal victory over Notre Dame. On Monday, she fanned 15 in a 3-1 quarterfinal victory over Conner.

“It just feels like it’s a testament to how much work I put in outside of practices with the team and outside of just this season,” Dixon said. “I put in a lot of work in the off season, so it’s nice to see it pay off.”

Friday’s victory was a year in the waiting for Highlands after getting shocked by Holy Cross in the region final a season ago. The target was squarely on them all season and they responded by going 15-0 in region play in just utter dominance. They earned run rule victories in 10 of those contests. Horner knew this team had the makings of being dominant.

“We worked really hard,” Horner said. “These girls bought into everything so we could eliminate the mistakes, not make it close. They bought into lifting weights twice a week. We had the toughest weightlifting program we’ve ever had and they all bought in, all the way down to the seventh graders. They bought into two day a week offseason workouts and skills, they bought into the toughest schedule we’ve ever played to get us here.”

PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Will Jones

Payton Brown led Highlands at the plate on Friday with two doubles and three RBI. She also gets a front row seat to Dixon’s excellence as the primary catcher.

“It’s really amazing to have a pitcher who hits her spots, because it’s really easy for me to set up and frame really well,” Brown said. “So, it’s just we’re like a power duo. It’s awesome.”

Highlands jumped on Ryle early with five runs in the second, who got here with some magic of their own with two walk-off hits in five postseason games.

The Bluebirds collected nine hits, drew six walks and were hit by three pitches as they put 20 runners on base in the contest. They added a run in the fourth on Brown’s second double and third RBI of the game. Three more runs in the fifth left no doubt to get it to 9-2. Ryle’s two runs came on an error as Brooklyn Roland reached and scored Emily Gehring and Korlin Rechtin.

Kate Class and Katherine Heilman also had two hits for Highlands, who will now look to do something they weren’t able to in their three previous trips to the state tournament from 2022-24, win a game in Lexington.

“We are so motivated, never winning a game at state,” Brown said. “We’re so ready. It’s gonna take everything. It’s gonna take our dugout, it’s gonna take our coaches, our players, our fans. The whole school.”

They’ll face the 13th Region winner South Laurel on Thursday at 10 a.m., the first game of the KHSAA state tournament at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington. Brown and Kate Class were also All-Tournament team selections.

Ryle’s season comes to a close at 22-12, reaching their first region final since 2018 when they were 9th Region champs. Their 22 wins also includes a second straight 33rd District title under David Meier and have a bright future with just four seniors on the roster.

Ryle had lost five straight coming into the postseason, but turned things around quickly with a walk-off hit from Makenna Hirshey in the 33rd District semifinals and then took down Conner for a district title. After run-ruling Newport Central Catholic in the region quarterfinals, Hirshey worked her magic again with another walk-off hit against Dixie Heights in the semifinals.

“This team’s been resilient from the beginning,” Raiders coach David Meier said. “Even going back to last year, my first year, we’ve had many comebacks, we’ve been down as much as 10 nothing in the first inning and come back and we’ve had probably six or seven coming back and a handful of walk-offs each of the past two years. So this team is very resilient and does a good job passing the baton and trying to extend the game and give us a chance.”

On Friday, they met their match, however.

“When you’re facing Dixon, your chances are very little. You run into her and hats off to Highlands. They did everything fundamentally right and girls that have been starting varsity for close to six years. The cohesiveness is amazing,” Meier said. “But proud of our girls. If it didn’t hurt so much, it didn’t mean so much and they were upset. When something like this comes to an end, it’s just when it means so much, it hurts.”

All-Tournament Team

All-Tournament Team selections: Emma Kevill (Newport Central Catholic), Bre Meredith (Conner, not pictured), Cam Kratzer (Villa Madonna, not pictured), Zoey Baker (Holy Cross), Sydney Schumacher (Dixie Heights), Lucy Dillon (Notre Dame, not pictured), Kiley Patterson (Ryle), Brooklyn Roland (Ryle), Kate Class (Highlands), Payton Brown (Highlands) and tournament MVP Kaitlyn Dixon (Highlands).

HIGHLANDS 9, RYLE 2