Fresh off their ground-shaking 2-1 win over Daviess County in the 3rd Region Championship game, Apollo softball is set to make their return to the State Tournament for the first time in eight years. Awaiting them are North Hardin, who boasts one of the top strikeout artists in the state in Brooklyn Carmickle.
“They are a really solid team with a really good pitcher. So, we’ll just have to go do what we do and try and score more runs than they do,” Apollo Head Coach Stephen Julian said. “With that many strikeouts, she throws it well. We will just have to go up there, hopefully figure it out pretty early, and see what we can do against her.”
The E-Gals will have their hands full with Carmickle who leads the state in strikeouts with 364 and per KHSAA is 29th in ERA with a 1.58. Apollo is no stranger to elite pitching, having recently over come Trinity (Whitesville’s) Ella Morris (1.18 ERA) and Daviess County’s Storey Hume (1.06 ERA) in the 3rd Region tournament.
Hitting .323 as a team, Apollo’s Arianna Ramirez leads the way at the top of the lineup. She leads the team in hits (55), doubles (18), and batting average (.447), and has shown no signs of slowing down since being moved into the leadoff spot. Tyler Hall leads the team with 39 RBIs and 12 homers, while Keelan Wettstain, Emersyn Bullington, and Julian are all hitting over .300.
“Up and down the lineup for us all year has been somebody different that steps up for us,” Julian said. “So, you just hope that they all keep doing their thing and stay confident. It will be really nice if all nine or ten of them go off in the same game.”
Apollo also boasts one of the top pitchers in the state in Mollie Julian (1.71 ERA, 198 Ks), who is ramping up at the right time. The junior went 3-0 in the 3rd Region Tournament, allowing one earned run over 18 innings.
“I want to see her come out and throw strikes,” Julian said. “Do not give any freebies away and just let her defense work behind her.”
Julian will be tested by a Trojans offense that is hitting .290. Having hit 18 homers on the year, they don’t need to rely on the long ball, instead, they are very efficient at hurting teams with extra base hits, having recorded 71 doubles and 14 triples.
Haylee Martin, Jacie Cain, and Carmickle are all hitting over .300 and have combined for 125 of the team’s 290 hits. North Hardin is extremely dangerous on the basepaths, haven stolen 146 bags in 158 attempts.
“We have a good catcher in Liza and Keelan if she has to catch,” Julian said. “So hopefully they can throw somebody out or limit their chances on base defensively.”
