Owensboro Catholic got it done in extra innings and the Lady Devils dominated en route to their first win of the season on Thursday, while Apollo was outmatched by Madisonville-North Hopkins offense en route to a loss.
Apollo vs. Madisonville-North Hopkins
The E-gals couldn’t silence the Lady Maroons bats on Thursday, as a late offensive outburst secured an 14-4 short-game victory for Madisonville-North Hopkins.
Neither team was able to make any damage through the first inning, but a late two-out rally in the bottom of the second got the Lady Maroons going. Just as it seemed like Apollo would get out of the inning after back-to-back ground outs, a walk led to an RBI double by junior Kennedy Justice and gave Madisonville-North Hopkins a 1-0 lead.
Some fireworks helped the Lady Maroons expand their lead in the third, getting solo shots from junior Brenna Sherman and senior Amber Osborne to make it 3-0. Following Osborne’s homer, a single and a double put runners on second and third with two outs.
Junior Kaydence Seragant singled to make it a 5-0 game, but they were unable to bring any more home as a ground out ended the inning two at-bats later.
The E-gals looked to be putting together a strong response in the top of the fourth, loading the bases after a strikeout to start the inning with a walk, hit by pitch and single from eighth grader Arianna Ramirez. However, an infield fly and a strikeout quickly killed all momentum and left them trailing Madisonville-North Hopkins 5-0.
Apollo was able to slowly inch back in the game, grabbing four runs over the course of the fifth and top of the sixth to make it a 7-4 game. However, the Lady Maroons offense caught fire in the bottom of the sixth.
Madisonville-North Hopkins had the bases loaded with no outs thanks to back-to-back singles and an error, but a second straight error let a run come in to make it 9-4. A fielder’s choice brought another run in, and a groundout left a runner on second with two outs and a score of 11-4.
An RBI double from Sherman made it 12-4 and the third E-gals error in the inning put runners on the corners with two outs. The following at-bat Osborne lined one to center, scoring two runs and ending the game with a Lady Maroons win at 14-4 in six innings.
Junior K’Asia Palmer and Ramirez were the only Apollo players to record more than one hit, finishing with three and two respectively. Meanwhile, Madisonville-North Hopkins registered 16 hits as a team.
Apollo sits at 0-2 with the loss, as it has a day off to regroup before its first home game of the season against Lyon County at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 19.
Owensboro vs. Hopkins County Central
The Lady Devils offense would not be denied on Thursday, piling it on in the first four innings to earn a 16-4 victory over Hopkins County Central to grab their first win of the season.
After shutting down the Lady Storm 1-2-3, Owensboro went right to work in the bottom of the first. With a runner on second and one out, sophomore Sophie Moorman singled to put the Lady Devils on the board.
An RBI double from junior Lindsey Gibson followed, as well as a two-run bomb from freshman Ellington Embry to give Owensboro a 4-0 lead going into the second inning.
The Lady Devils expanded their lead in the bottom half of the second, with sophomore Emmi Connor opening the scoring with an RBI single. Embry struck again shortly after, hitting a three-run inside-the-park home run with two outs to give them an 8-0 lead going into the third.
Owensboro didn’t take its foot of the gas either, quickly loading the bases in the third thanks to a pair of singles and an error. A second straight error brought home two for the Lady Devils, making it 10-0.
Gibson then slashed an RBI double to left to plate one and after a walk senior Brooklyn Keller singled to left as well to make it 12-0. But they weren’t done there, as Owensboro scored two more runs in the inning on an RBI single from freshman Kirsten Tindle and an RBI groundout from freshman Keeley Harris to send them into the fourth up 14-0.
Hopkins County Central was able to score four runs over the fourth and fifth inning, but a two-run bottom of the fourth helped the Lady Devils wrap up a 16-4 victory at home.
Embry stole the show with a whopping five RBIs with her pair of homers on the day, while Moorman had three and Gibson had two. Connor, Keller, Tindle, Harris and freshman Catie Jewell all had one as well. Keller also had a strong day on the mound, striking out six and giving up three hits in three innings pitched.
Owensboro now sits at 1-1 overall and has a quick turnaround, as they are set to hit the road to take on Webster County at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Owensboro Catholic vs. Union County
After eight scoreless innings of softball, it was Owensboro Catholic who was able to get the bats going late and grabbed an 8-4 win over Union County.
Both junior Brooke Hamilton and Peyton Jenkins went the distance in the game, but they had managed to keep the opposing teams off the board until the top of the ninth.
With a runner placed on second, the Lady Aces immediately sacrifice bunted to move junior Abbie Dukate to third. Senior Camille Conkright then bunted again surprisingly, bringing home Dukate to take a 1-0 lead.
Junior Lilli Grant then doubled to left during the next at-bat to bring in a run, followed by an RBI single from junior Bailey Hamilton who made it a 3-0 game. However, the Bravettes weren’t going away.
After a strikeout to start the top of the ninth, an error put runners on the corners before a walk loaded the bases. A run proceeded to score on a wild pitch, before Union County opted to sac bunt to put runners in scoring position with two outs.
Following another walk, the second Owensboro Catholic error of the inning allowed two runs to score, thus sending the game into the 10th inning tied at 3-3. After both teams grabbed a run apiece in the 10th, the game went into the 11th tied at 4-4.
The Lady Aces offense didn’t skip a beat to start the inning, putting runners on first and third after a single from Grant with no outs. Bailey Hamilton followed that up a two-run single to make it a 6-4 game, before an error and back-to-back RBI singles from sophomore Maci Merritt and Abbie Dukate later in the inning made it 8-4.
With a new lead, Brooke Hamilton locked back in and closed the door. Striking out two in the inning, Brooke shut Union County down 1-2-3 and earned an 8-4 extra-inning win for Owensboro Catholic.
The Lady Aces recorded 12 hits as a team, with Dukate, Merritt, Grant, Conkright all getting two each and Bailey getting three. Dukate and Bailey led the way in RBIs with two each.
Now sitting at 2-0, Owensboro Catholic will return to Owensboro for its first home game of the year against Christian County at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
