St. Henry junior Sam Martin slides across home plate before Highlands catcher Mason Welsch can apply the tag in one of Saturday’s 9th Region semifinal games. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
By Blake Lehmann
NKyTribune sports reporter
St. Henry was able to outhit and outscore Highlands on its way to an 6-5 victory in a 9th Region baseball semifinal game on Saturday that put the Crusaders in the championship final for the first time in the history of their program.
St. Henry’s opponent in the region final will be two-time defending champion Beechwood at 3 p.m. Sunday at Thomas More Stadium in Florence. The Tigers defeated Newport Central Catholic, 15-4, in the second semifinal game Saturday night after edging Dixie Heights, 4-3, earlier in the day in a first-round game that was postponed twice by rain.
Beechwood (27-6) won both games it played against St. Henry (18-13) early in the season by scores of 11-1 and 4-1. The second win came in the 9th Region All “A” Classic championship game on April 10.
St. Henry senior pitcher Matt Miller hugs teammate Nick Browning after the final out in their team’s win over Highlands. (Photo by Dale Dawn)
The Crusaders lost five straight games at the end of April and four straight early in May when their record dipped to 13-12, but they have won five of their last six games.
“Early in the year, we weren’t dealing with the bad things that happen in baseball well when we were on our losing streak,” said St. Henry coach Greg Pass. “We had some injuries, and we weren’t dealing with the bad stuff well, we just let it snowball. Over the last three weeks, we’ve started to deal with it, and today we were able to compartmentalize and move forward, and I think that led to our big inning.”
In the fifth inning, St. Henry scored four runs off three hits and an error to take a 6-3 lead. Highlands got one run in the bottom of the fifth and another run in the seventh to make it 6-5 with one out.
That’s when Pass made a pitching change, putting senior Matt Miller on the mound.
After getting one out on an umpire’s interference call, Miller ended the game with a strikeout to put his team in the region final for the first time.
Both teams scored a run in the first inning. St. Henry took a 2-1 lead on an RBI single by Sam Martin in the second inning, but the Bluebirds went ahead, 3-2, in the bottom of the third on a two-run single by Ryan Wiseman.
The extra-base hits in St. Henry’s four-run fifth inning were a double by John Lubert and a run-scoring triple by Eli Meiman.
Beechwood ‘s winning pitcher in the second semifinal game was junior Matt Kappas, who gave up seven hits with six strikeouts and one walk. The Tigers scored eight runs in the first two innings and ended up with 15 runs on 16 hits.
Senior first baseman Tanner Jackson went 3-for-4 with five RBI for Beechwood. Senior outfielder Brett Holladay also had three hits and junior shortstop Ben Meier had a three-run triple in the second inning.
NewCath had five singles and two extra-base hits in the game. Junior outfielder Luke Runyon had a double and senior first baseman Luke Brockman drove in two runs with a triple.
Campbell County baseball team wins 10th Region championship game
In the first round of the 10th Region baseball tournament, George Rogers Clark and Campbell County won tense one-run games to stay in contention for the title. Both teams made it to the Saturday’s championship game and that one also came down to the wire.
The score was tied going into the sixth inning when Campbell County scored two runs on a wild pitch and bases loaded walk to take a 5-3 lead. The Camels nailed down the victory by holding the Cardinals scoreless in their final two at-bats.
Winning pitcher Max Lause was named the tournament’s most valuable player. In the final five innings, the junior allowed no runs on three hits with six strikeouts and no walks. The other Camels named to the all-tournament team were seniors Zack Riley, Caeleb James and Greg Vineyard, who hit a solo home run in the title game.
Campbell County (23-10) advances to the state tournament for the second consecutive year and fourth time in seven years under coach Scott Schweitzer. The Camels will play 15th Region champion Johnson Central (16-21) at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the University of Kentucky.
Campbell County, Brossart lose opening games in 10th Region softball
In the first two games of the 10th Region softball tournament, George Rogers Clark got past Campbell County, 14-9, in 10 innings and Bracken County blanked Brossart, 6-0, on Saturday in Mount Sterling.
Campbell County tied the score, 8-8, in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. Clark seventh-grader Lilliana Hall hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th to make it 11-8 and the Cardinals tacked on a three more runs before the inning ended.
Campbell County ends the season with a 16-11 record that includes a 6-5 win over Clark on April 22. The Camels have a 5-11 record in 11 consecutive region tournament appearances.
Bracken County pitcher Ella Johnson limited Brossart to three hits and had 14 strikeouts in the second game. She has now gone 31 consecutive innings without allowing a run. The Mustangs ended the season with a 12-18 record that includes a 3-2 win over Bracken County on May 5.
The opening round of the 9th Region softball tournament is set for Sunday with Villa Madonna at Highlands, Cooper at Notre Dame, Newport Central Catholic at Dixie Heights and Beechwood at Ryle. The game at Highlands will begin at noon and the others are scheduled for 1 p.m.
