Apollo and Trinity went toe-to-toe for seven innings with the E-gals coming out on top Thursday, while Owensboro had a strong offensive showing en route to a win and the Lady Aces struggled in that area in their respective loss on the day.
Owensboro Catholic vs. Henderson County
The Lady Aces had their losing streak extended to three games on Thursday, as they were limited to two hits and Henderson County picked up steam offensively to grab a 4-1 win.
Owensboro Catholic took advantage of some defensive miscues in the top of the first, as a pair of dropped third strikes brought runners on and led to junior Lilli Grant scoring on a wild pitch to make it a 1-0 game.
The Lady Colonels weren’t able to break through until the bottom of the third, as back-to-back one-out walks led to a three-run home run from senior Julianna Hibbs to take a 3-1 lead. They added one more in the bottom of the fourth, as junior Anna Willett delivered an RBI groundout to take a 4-1 lead into the fifth.
And with back-to-back innings of solid run support, freshman Anna Kemp kept dealing for Henderson County. She held the Lady Aces scoreless for the last six innings of the game, allowing just one run on two hits, while walking four and striking out 12 en route to the 4-1 win.
No players had an RBI for Owensboro Catholic, while junior Brooke Hamilton and sophomore Kailey Hamilton had the only hits for the team. Hamilton tossed all six innings for the Lady Aces, allowing four earned runs on eight hits, while walking and striking out five.
Owensboro Catholic falls to 21-12 overall with the loss, as they will look to close out the regular season strong against Jasper at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Owensboro vs. McLean County
The Lady Devils offense was clicking on all cylinders on Thursday, as a monster first inning propelled them to a 17-4 win over McLean County.
The Lady Cougars opened up the game with a bang, grabbing four runs to take the lead in the top of the first. However, Owensboro responded tremendously.
After back-to-back errors and a hit by pitch, a walk plated the first run of the game for the Lady Devils before a third error scored two to make it a 4-3 game. Following a run scoring on a passed ball, eighth grader Kierstin Hughes delivered a fielder’s choice that gave Owensboro its first lead of the game at 5-4.
But the two-out rally didn’t stop there, as sophomore Emmi Connor slashed a two-run single to center and after an error sophomore Sophie Moorman sent a two-run single to right to make it 9-4. Following a hit by pitch, McLean County’s fifth error of the inning allowed another run to score to cap off a 10-run bottom of the first for the Lady Devils to take a 10-4 lead.
Owensboro never let up either, grabbing seven runs across the third and fourth inning of the day after a scoreless second to build a 17-4 lead. This allowed senior Brooklyn Keller to shut the Lady Cougars down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, securing the dominant win for the Lady Devils.
After a rough start for Kierstin Hughes, Keller tossed four scoreless innings in relief, not allowing a single hit, while walking three and striking out seven en route to the win. Offensively Owensboro was led by Connor and Moorman, as they had three and two RBIs on the day respectively.
The Lady Devils improve to 10-18 overall with the win, as they will close out the regular season with weekend tournament games against Thomas Nelson and Hart County at 10:30 a.m. and noon respectively on Saturday.
Apollo vs. Trinity (Whitesville)
Junior Emmie Bullington came up big in relief on Thursday, holding the Lady Raiders to one run in the final five innings of play to grab a 9-8 win for Apollo.
The E-gals looked to set the tone for the game in the top of the first, as RBI doubles from eighth grader Arianna Ramirez and junior Morgan Frizzell and an RBI single from junior K’Asia Palmer gave them a 3-0 lead. However, Trinity (Whitesville) responded well in the bottom of the first.
Senior Cassidy Morris opened up the scoring with an RBI double to lead off the bottom half of the inning and senior Kat Hibbitt followed with an RBI double of her own the following at-bat to make it a 3-2 game. After back-to-back walks Hibbitt scored on a passed ball to knot it up at 3-3, before an RBI groundout from junior Allie Graham gave the Lady Raiders a 4-3 lead.
But the lead didn’t stay with them long, as the E-gals got a two-out RBI single from junior Morgan Julian to tie the game, before Ramirez sent a two-run homer to left to go up 6-4 going into the bottom of the second. Trinity didn’t allow this to stifle them offensively, as they quickly tied the game at 6-6 once again with back-to-back RBI singles from Morris and Hibbitt.
Freshman Raylee Higdon followed the upperclassmen with an RBI groundout the following at-bat, taking a 7-6 lead going into the third. This marked the end of Palmer’s start in the circle for Apollo, as she allowed six earned runs on four hits, walked four and struck out one in two innings.
Bullington took over responsibilities in the circle in the third and was welcomed with ample run support. Senior Olivia Crawford started the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the third to knot the game up at 7-7, but it was a two-run single from senior Courtney Hagan that put them back out in front at 9-7.
With this support from her offense, Bullington locked in. The Lady Raiders were able to get a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from junior Allie Barnett, but the E-gals righty was able to battle through the bottom of the seventh and close out a 9-8 win.
Bullington tossed five innings of relief, allowing just one run on seven hits, while walking three and striking out three en route to the win. Graham had a solid outing in relief with three scoreless innings, while Barnett allowed seven earned runs on 12 hits in four innings of work in her start.
Five players had an RBI for Trinity on Thursday, while Apollo was led by Ramirez and Hagan who had three and two RBIs on the day respectively.
The E-gals improve to 14-13 with the win, as they now turn their attention to a weekend tournament with matchups against Franklin-Simpson at 7 p.m. on Friday and Great Crossing at noon on Saturday to close out the regular season. Trinity on the other hand falls to 17-10 overall, as they now have some time off before they start postseason play.
