The Apollo softball team earned the No. 1 seed in the 9th District tournament for the second year in a row and will try to defend their title after losing only once in district play.
Like last season, the E-Gals will start the tournament Monday against No. 4 Owensboro, while No. 2 Owensboro Catholic faces No. 3 Daviess County on Tuesday. The championship will be played Wednesday, with all games beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Shifley Park.
The E-Gals have played in four of the last five 9th District title games, winning in 2014 and 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2015 and 2016. The Lady Panthers won each year from 2015-17 for their first district championships since 2001.
The Lady Aces lost in the championship each of the last two seasons after falling in the first round three years in a row, including a big upset loss to Owensboro in 2014 — the only tournament win for the Lady Devils in at least two decades. Catholic won seven titles in a row (2007-13) and 11 of 12 dating back to 2002.
This season, Apollo (14-12, 5-1 9th District) wrapped up the top seed with a convincing win over Daviess County in the final district game of the year. After hovering just below a .500 record against some tough competition through late April, the E-Gals strung together six consecutive victories to close out strong.
With the exception of two losses in the final week, Apollo locked down the opposition and held them to four runs or less in their last nine games.
The lone district loss came at home in a back-and-forth game that Owensboro Catholic won with a rally in the seventh inning.
The Lady Aces (15-11, 4-2), like last season, started district play 3-0 but couldn’t get the sweep of Apollo or Daviess County. With the E-Gals taking two from the Lady Panthers, Catholic was left with the No. 2 seed.
Starting with their back-to-back district losses, the offense struggled and it cost them in a handful of tight games. In their last six losses, Catholic lost by a total of 11 runs. They haven’t allowed more than seven runs all season, so when they do score well they usually win.
The Lady Panthers (19-12, 3-3), meanwhile, have been hot at the plate. Following their second loss to Apollo, Daviess County closed the season 5-1 and outscored opponents 60-28. Though they often limit the scoring of opponents, the Lady Panthers have been susceptible to big rallies and high scores at times.
The Lady Devils (5-23, 0-6) struggled to close out games throughout the season but were competitive in a fair number of contests. Errors and a lack of hitting have been a big factor, though Owensboro did close out the year with a pair of dominant wins over Fort Campbell.
