By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The first four games in the 9th Region softball tournament were all won by 10 runs or more, but there was a lot more suspense in the semifinal doubleheader on Monday when Highlands edged Cooper, 3-1, and Dixie Heights got past Ryle, 2-0, at Notre Dame Academy.
The winners will face each other in the region championship game at 5 p.m. Tuesday with a berth in the state tournament on the line. Eleven days ago, Dixie Heights defeated Highlands, 5-2, in the final week of the regular season.
Highlands junior pitcher Kennedy Baioni (Photo from Facebook)
Highlands (25-14) won two district and one region playoff game without giving up a run. The Bluebirds came close to posting another shutout in the region semifinals, but Cooper (25-11) scored a run in the final inning off winning pitcher Kennedy Baioni.
Cooper had nine hits, compared to just three for Highlands. The Bluebirds scored three unearned runs in the first two innings and Baioni protected the lead with the help of her teammates. Cooper left seven runners on base during the game.
A two-run single by Highlands junior Carley Cramer in the first inning got the scoring started. The Bluebirds made it 3-0 on a run-scoring single by eighth-grader Cam Markus in the second inning.
Cooper junior pitcher Kendall Blau gave up only one hit in the last four innings, but the Jaguars weren’t able to get a run until the seventh.
The second semifinal game was a pitcher’s duel with Dixie Heights sophomore Riley Hopkins getting the win in her team’s fourth consecutive shutout. Hopkins was in the circle for three of those shutouts and senior Bri Pastel pitched in the other one.
The Colonels scored both of their runs off Ryle sophomore pitcher Maddie Goddard in the sixth inning. The first one came after a throwing error and sophomore Taylor Ingram’s double drove in the second run.
Dixie Heights (23-6) had eight hits with Pastel going 3-for-3, including a double. Ryle (19-15) finished with six hits and was shut out for only the fifth time in 34 games this season.
