Owensboro Catholic got its first district win of the season, defeating the Lady Devils 10-2 with an offensive showcase and a strong performance from junior Alexis Hatchett.
After a scoreless first, it was Lilli Grant who got things going for the Lady Aces in the second with a one-out triple. Junior Addison Tignor followed with a single, giving Owensboro Catholic a 1-0 lead.
Shutting down Owensboro 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning, the Lady Aces offense added some insurance runs in the third and fourth inning. After singles from juniors Ashten Tignor and Bailey Hamilton, a home run to left by Lilli Grant followed a sacrifice bunt to make it a 4-0 game.
It was Lilli Grant who came through again in the fourth, following up a two-run double from Bailey Hamilton with another three-run home run to give Owensboro Catholic a 9-0 lead.
After three hitless innings, the Lady Devils finally got to Hatchett in the circle. They strung together a trio of hits in the bottom half of the inning, with a single from freshman Kirsten Tindle and a triple from freshman Ellington Embry to cut it to 9-2 going into the fifth.
However, this was all Owensboro could muster offensively, as the Lady Aces added one more run before closing the door on a 10-2 district win on the road.
“It started a little slow, but Alexis was a lot better pitching today,” Phelps said. “Focus was a lot better. Pitching keeps you in the game right there and then the offense gets going.”
Following a tough comeback loss in its first district game against Apollo last week, Owensboro Catholic was thrilled to get its first 9th District win of the season.
“Every one of them is tough,” Phelps said. “Record aside just like the other night. Because it’s this district—this district here is not easy, it never is—when you get one under your belt you get a little confidence and we needed that right there… Them seeing that success, especially some of the young ones, seeing that success early makes a big difference.”
Lilli Grant led the way on the day with her two home runs that amassed six RBIs on the day, while Bailey Hamilton followed close behind with three RBIs and a 4-5 day at the plate. Addison Tignor was the only other player with an RBI for the Lady Aces.
This was a breakout game for Lilli Grant, as Phelps and company have been waiting for her to show the potential she has as a leader for Owensboro Catholic this year.
“You never know who it’s going to be on offense,” Phelps said. “That’s a nice spark right there. I’d seen it in practice and I knew it was coming eventually. Didn’t know when it was going to be here, but she’s had a couple of games like that. She led us in the preseason in our scrimmage games.”
In the circle for the Lady Aces, after giving up the two runs Hatchett buckled down and finished the day strong by only allowing the three hits and striking out 10. Hatchett had struggled lately, but Phelps said that her work outside of the game helped her gain some confidence and it showed throughout the game.
“That’s been our biggest focus,” Phelps said. “We didn’t have success changing speeds and hitting our spots and she came in and she really worked on it before the game. She had a little confidence throwing it early in the game and it keeps them off.”
For Owensboro senior Brooklyn Keller, the start didn’t go as planned as she gave up nine earned on 10 hits in three innings. However, Tindle entered the circle in relief and allowed just one run in three innings herself, striking out three while allowing six hits.
Moorman has been very pleased with Tindle’s outings in the circle as of late and feels as though she can be a big weapon for Owensboro this season and in the future.
“We threw a new pitcher,” Moorman said. “She did pitch for us last game, but we brought her in there and she shut them down. She pitched her heart out and she shut them down. We’re probably going to rely on her a lot down the stretch.”
Tindle had a nice day at the plate as well, as she and Embry both recorded an RBI each for the Lady Devils. Freshman Addison Hill was the only other player to record a hit for Owensboro.
Moorman said that the game could’ve ended much differently if they didn’t have the rough fourth inning, but is proud of the program for the growth they’ve shown in recent years. While they still don’t like the result, the Lady Devils coaching staff wants the team to know that they can compete in this tough 9th District.
“That’s part of the game,” Moorman said. “We’re young. We’ve got a lot of work to do still and we’re heading in the right direction. I was just bragging to the girls on how far they’ve come… I looked up the stats for our matchups going all the way back to 2000 and we haven’t beat a district opponent but like one time in 16 years or something like that… Obviously you don’t want to lose, but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Following the loss Owensboro sits at 1-4 overall and will look to turn things around when they host Breckinridge County at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
For the Lady Aces, they now sit at 5-3 overall and will look to grab back-to-back road wins in a matchup with Evansville Mater Dei at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
