Daviess County’s run at a state softball championship ended early, as they fell 10-1 against No. 2 Warren East and their ace pitcher Katie Higdon in Saturday’s semi-state game at Western Kentucky University.
The Lady Panthers (24-13) only managed two hits and struck out 12 times against Higdon, who helped her own cause with a pair of long homers and five RBIs at the plate.
The biggest opportunity for Daviess County was right out of the gate. Millie Roberts, Abby Newman and Savanah Northern drew three straight walks to load the bases with no outs, and Cameron Hamilton reached on an error that allowed the lone run to score.
Gardner then settled in for the Lady Raiders (34-2), striking out the side to limit the damage.
“I really like the way we came out and got some people on base and kind of set the tone a little bit,” said DC head coach John Biggs. “If we could have gotten a timely hit and put the ball, in play it might have been a different story.”
Warren East got a two-run home run from Gardner and scored one more on a single for a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Gardner crushed a three-run homer that bounced off the parking structure behind left field in the next inning.
Biggs knew it would be tough to play from behind against such a dominant pitcher and a potent Lady Raider offense.
“They’re good,” he said. “I knew coming in with their bullet in the circle there, Katie, it wasn’t going to take too many runs for us to have a hard time battling back. We tried to keep it to a minimum. I called a couple pitches I’d like to have back on Gardner where she turned on them and hit the home runs.”
Though Warren East continued to extend their lead, Biggs was happy that his team didn’t quit. They were in danger of being run-ruled as early as the fifth inning and were pushed to the edge in the sixth. DC pitcher Emily Stanley recorded her only strikeout with the bases loaded and two outs with the Lady Panthers down 10-1, allowing them one last chance at the plate.
“We competed until the very end there,” Biggs said. “They were right there on the verge of run ruling us. We got a big strikeout and had another shot.”
Biggs stressed to the team after the game that they should be proud of how far they went after struggling through the first part of the season. After starting 8-9, the Lady Panthers closed the year 16-4 with 9th District and 3rd Region championships in tow.
“What this group has done as a whole and throughout the year is just amazing,” Biggs said. “It’s a good group of young ladies. They came together and started playing for each other.”
Seven players will graduate from this year’s DC squad, but Biggs is hoping the younger players learned what it takes to win. He’s going to keep his expectations high for the Lady Panthers.
“I think it’s huge for them to sit back and see the older kids and the leadership they were able to provide,” he said. “They saw what it takes to get things going, and they’ve been here when things didn’t get going. They need to take that and take some cues and grow that. I told them there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in the mix every year to play here. That’s our goal.”
DCHS 100-000-0—1-2-0
WEHS 033-202-x—10-10-1
WP: Higdon. LP: Stanley. 2B: Bays (WE). HR: Gardner 2 (WE).
