Following their matchup with the Lady Hornets, Head Coach Jeremy Phelps said Owensboro Catholic just wanted a chance. After a 6-0 victory over Hancock County on Sunday the Lady Aces will get just that, as they secured a spot in the 3rd Region Championship and will see a familiar foe once again.
Owensboro Catholic put pressure on the Lady Hornets right away, as junior Lilli Grant reached third after a walk and two straight balls. Senior Camille Conkright singled to left the following at-bat, giving the Lady Aces an early 1-0 lead.
Hancock County tried to respond swiftly by starting a rally with a one-out double from sophomore Emmalynn Higdon. However, she tried to stretch it into a triple and Conkright’s relay throw was on the money, killing the rally and sending things into the bottom of the second with Owensboro Catholic up 1-0.
It wasn’t until the top of the fourth that the Lady Hornets put together their first true scoring threat, quickly putting runners on second and third with a walk and a single to start the inning. After getting a big strikeout, Brooke Hamilton walked the following batter to load the bases for Higdon.
However, Brooke was able to bear down and get three strikeouts to work out of the jam and keep the Lady Aces in charge 1-0 going into the bottom of the fourth. Owensboro Catholic took advantage of the momentum they now had because of Brooke, putting runners in scoring position after a walk, single and then a sac bunt from junior Addison Tignor.
Sophomore Maci Merritt hit a two-run single the following at-bat, making it a 3-0 game. The courtesy runner would grab second and third on passed balls, before a walk put runners on first and second.
Another passed ball allowed the runner to score as the tag at the plate was late, while Dukate made it all the way to third. She scored on an RBI double from eighth grader Hannah Robbins, making it a 5-0 game. Lilli Grant followed it up with a bunt single and Conkright would line out to left, but a walk loaded the bases for Brooke with two down.
An error at short allowed a run to score to make it 6-0, leaving the bases loaded for freshman Tyranda Stuart with two down. She proceeded to strike out, but the damage had been done as the Lady Aces owned a 6-0 lead going into the fifth.
This was a turning point in the game for the Lady Aces, as Head Coach Jeremy Phelps saw and felt the team become more relaxed when the big fourth inning made surviving and advancing seem not so scary.
“Everybody’s like, one bad inning and we could be in trouble,” Phelps said. “One run changes the whole game, so I think that [fourth inning] was a big deal for momentum. You could just see it when they came back in [how relaxed they were].”
This was more than enough run support for Brooke Hamilton in the circle, as she mowed down Hancock County for the remainder of the game. She allowed three hits on the day, striking out 10 en route to the 6-0 shutout win.
“We knew coming in we were going to have to lay off her rise ball,” Lady Hornets Head Coach Dwayne Wroe said. “We probably swung at ball four with the bases loaded on a pitch up. She busted us in early in the game. We tried to make an adjustment and she’s a good pitcher. She moves it around… You gotta tip your cap to her.”
Brooke faced a little bit of adversity throughout the game, having allowed five walks on the day to help the Lady Hornets offense.
“A couple of them were unintentional, but intentional,” Phelps said. “You gotta be careful. Their three hole, four hole hitter are dangerous… We weren’t going to just throw it over… That was just one of those [situations where we said] ‘don’t give in,’ and we’ll get momentum.”
These walks gave Hancock County a few chances to create some scoring opportunities, but Brooke responded well with some mental toughness to work out of the jams time and time again while being backed up well by her defense.
“We tell them all the time, it’s pitching, defense and timely hitting,” Phelps said. “You gotta have two of them to win. You want that timely hit with runners on base, but if you don’t as long as your defense and your pitching is good you can still win.”
Wroe was pleased with his team’s effort, but said that their offense just continually fell short throughout each competition they had with Owensboro Catholic this season.
“We knew it was going to come down to being a game of who executed and made the plays you had to…” Wroe said. “We weren’t able to put some pressure on them. Twice we played them in All-A and then here where we haven’t put any pressure on them offensively.”
While Hancock County’s season came to a close with them owning a 24-9 overall record, the Lady Aces now find themselves in familiar territory with a matchup against Daviess County coming up.
Having faced each other three times this season and most recently in a 9-0 loss to the Lady Panthers in the 9th District Championship, Owensboro Catholic knows that they will have to dig deep to come away with some hardware.
“It’ll take everything,” Phelps said. “Because that team is good. We’re not guessing who’s playing the next game. We’re playing Daviess County. We got here last year and got beat by Hancock, so we really wanted that one… Now we’re right where we want to be, with a chance.”
