With the top of the lineup up in the seventh inning of a one run game – Apollo softball couldn’t find the necessary late game magic – falling to North Hardin 4-3 to end their KHSAA 2026 Softball State Tournament run.
“We outhit them, we just didn’t score more than them,” Apollo Head Coach Stephen Julian said. “The board only shows one error, but there are a couple of other plays in there. We just didn’t play sharp.”
Apollo seemed on the verge of striking first in the opening inning, but North Hardin’s Brooklyn Carmickle got Tyler Hall to fly out and struck out Liza Page to strand two. The Trojans struck first in the bottom of the first when Jacie Cain singled to score two. Cain quickly attempted to steal second but was thrown out, allowing Tylar Craig to score from third.
Unfazed, the E-Gals struck back in the top of the third, sparked by an Arianna Ramirez leadoff single. After North Hardin recorded two quick outs, Hall singled and quickly scored on Page’s two-run double. Julian flew out to end the inning, but Apollo tied the game in the fourth on a Ramirez RBI single.
“They came right back and tied it,” Julian said. “We had a potential inning-ending double play, and we missed it and gave up one run for them to go ahead. I really thought we were going to get it in the seventh with the top of the lineup up. Their pitcher did a really good job.”
With runners on first and second in the bottom of the fourth, Mollie Julian induced a ground ball, but an error on a potential double-play attempt allowed the eventual game-winning run to score.
From there, Carmickle found her stride, striking out three and holding Apollo to one hit over the final three innings. The strikeout leader in the state entering the tournament, Carmickle struck out seven over seven innings, allowing two earned runs.
“We didn’t want to chase anything,” Stephen Julian said. “…She spins it well and she beat us today. Hats off to her.”
Julian finished with six strikeouts over six innings, three of which came in the final frame. Annsley Hall finished 2-2, and Ramirez was 2-4.
Despite the loss, Apollo ended the season 24-13 and snapped a 3rd Region title drought of eight years. The E-Gals are losing three girls to graduation in Ramirez, Page, and Hannah Holder.
“I think they knew this year we had the potential to do it, but today just wasn’t their day,” Julian said. “They got us here and you can’t take anything away from them for doing that.”
