Four Owensboro Cal Ripken squads and both Babe Ruth teams are still in contention for state titles after picking up wins in their respective Western Kentucky Sate Tournaments in Saturday’s elimination rounds.
The Owensboro Western 9U Cal Ripken team and the Owensboro Daviess County 13U Babe Ruth teams have each advanced all the way to the championship games that will be played Sunday.
Teams starting Sunday with a semifinal matchup and hoping to play later in the day for a title are Western 6U, Western 10U, Owensboro Eastern 11U and ODC 14U.
Four teams were eliminated from state title contention with losses during bracket play Saturday: Western 7U, Eastern 8U, Western 8U and Eastern 10U.
Recaps of Saturday’s action and details on Sunday’s games can be found below.
CAL RIPKEN
6U
Owensboro Western 12, Spencer County 6
By winning their quarterfinal game, No. 1 seed Western advanced to a Sunday semifinal against No. 1 seed Okolona. The winner will play the victor of No. 2 seed Jeffersontown and No. 1 Elizabethtown.
7U
Mount Washington 15, Owensboro Western 10
The season comes to an end for No. 2 seed Western with the loss to No. 3 seed Mount Washington. Rishaad Cason and Jaymin Watson each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Liam Carlson and Jaxon Roderick each added two hits, while Garrett Creager and Brantley Osburn drove in two each.
8U
Owensboro Western 17, Owensboro Eastern 1
Barren County 13, Owensboro Western 12
After topping No. 3 seed Eastern in the opener, No. 2 seed Western was edged in the final inning by No. 1 Barren County in the quarterfinals.
9U
Owensboro Western 17, Allen County 2
Owensboro Western 15, Muhlenberg County 5
No. 2 seed Western will play for the state championship against No. 1 seed LaRue County on Sunday after a pair of wins Saturday. Western picked up a quarterfinal win over No. 3 seed Allen County and a semifinal victory over No. 1 seed Muhlenberg County.
10U
Owensboro Western 11, Ohio County 0
Owensboro Western 15, Henderson County 6
Henderson County 11, Owensboro Eastern 9
With a pair of victories, No. 3 seed Western is moving on to Sunday’s semifinals. No. 2 seed Henderson County topped No. 4 seed Eastern in the opener before falling to Western in the quarterfinals. Western plays No. 5 seed Green County in the semifinals and with a win would play the victor of No. 1 seed Grayson County vs. No. 4 seed Barren County.
Against Ohio County, Colin B. and Brandon G. each had two hits, three RBIs and a run. Kayden G. and Brayden M. each add two hits, two runs and an RBI a piece. Weston P. pitched the entire game, allowing a single hit while striking out six. He threw 31 pitches, with 26 going for strikes.
Against Henderson County, Western’s Colin B. went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs. Kayden G., Ty D. and Dre’Mail C. each added two hits, two runs and an RBI. Ten of Western’s 17 hits went for extra bases. Four pitchers combined in the win, with Brandon G. striking out four batters and Kamdyn U. striking out five.
11U
Owensboro Eastern 11, Prairie Village 1
Byron Slaton had an inside-the-park home run the first inning and Carson Sowders hit a two-run homer in the third as No. 2 seed Eastern recorded 10 hits and stole 15 bases in the win over No. 3 seed Prairie Village. Slaton went 3-for-3 and Corbin Martin went 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs.
Christian Snyder recorded four strikeouts and gave up four hits with no walks in 39 pitches. Eastern recorded 10 hits, including a two-run homer by
Eastern advanced to Sunday’s semifinal against No. 1 seed Grayson County. The winner will play in the championship against either No. 1 seed Germantown or No. 2 Jeffersontown.
BABE RUTH
13U
Owensboro Daviess County 16, Okolona 1
Owensboro Daviess County 12, Jeffersontown 2
No. 2 seed ODC rolled to victory over both No. 3 seed Okolona and No. 1 seed Jeffersontown, earning them a spot in the title game. ODC will play No. 3 seed Germantown in Sunday’s championship.
Against Okolona, five different players finished with two hits each. Will Strode and Michael Chaney scored three times a piece, and Sam Holder drove in four runs. Trevor Cecil and Noah Cook each had two runs and two RBIs. Cayden Crabtree pitched the entire game and allowed four hits with six strikeouts.
Against Jeffersontown, offensive leaders were Crabtree (3-for-4, 2 RBI), Eli Blair (2-for-2, 2 runs, 2 RBI), Chaney (2 runs, 2 RBI) and Cecil (2-for-3, 2 RBI). Cook pitched the full game and allowed two hits with four strikeouts.
14U
Owensboro Daviess County 11, Okolona 9
No. 2 seed ODC won their quarterfinal meeting with No. 3 Okolona in the opener of bracket play. ODC will face No. 1 seed West Louisville Sports in the semifinals, and with a victory would then play the winner of No. 1 seed Jefferson town vs. No. 3 Franklin-Simpson.
