It was a pair of home runs from junior Jessie Daniels and senior Hattie Newman and absolute resiliency from junior Raylee Roby in the circle that got the job done, as the Lady Aces comeback efforts fell short and Daviess County grabbed its third straight 3rd Region Championship with a 6-3 win.
It was an all-out pitcher’s duel through three innings on Monday, as juniors Brooke Hamilton and Raylee Roby were on fire. Brooke had struck out six, while Roby had struck out four as both teams were hitless going into the fourth.
Brooke’s efforts in the circle were a huge factor in Owensboro Catholic having a strong start to the game, as she’s been a leader for them with her play and her vocality late in the season.
“Brooke, I call her a bulldog mentality [type of player],” Phelps said. “You’ve gotta have that mentality and she has got it. They’re going to play hard for her and she demands that and is one of the leaders.”
Senior Millie Roberts was the one who finally delivered for the Lady Panthers, hitting a line that took a tough hop to third for an infield single. Junior Jessie Daniels wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, leaving no doubt to the crowd with a two-run bomb to left to make it a 2-0 game with no outs.
“Inside, inside, inside,” Daniels said. “They kept jamming me inside… Then they threw me a changeup so I jumped on that.”
Nothing more would come of the inning, but Owensboro Catholic’s luck didn’t change. Roby sat the Lady Aces down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth, keeping them hitless and owning five strikeouts going into the fifth.
Daviess County continued to give Roby support in the top of the fifth, as a two-out walk from senior Seanna Leibfried set things up for senior Hattie Newman. Sitting pretty with a 2-0 count, Hattie sent the ball over the left fence in a hurry to give the Lady Panthers a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
After junior Brooke Hamilton flied out to the warning track in left to leadoff the bottom of the fifth, eighth grader Hannah Robbins lined one to left for Owensboro Catholic’s first hit of the day. Two walks eventually loaded the bases with two outs for junior Abbie Dukate, but Roby got a big fly out to short and kept them out in front 4-0 going into the sixth.
Daviess County’s offense returned the favor in the top of the sixth, as eighth grader Annie Newman delivered a two-out double to left with runners on first and second to make it a 5-0 game. This left runners in scoring position and two down for senior Sophie Simone, but after a near 10-pitch at-bat she fouled another pitch off but stepped on the plate to get called out and end the top of the sixth.
The Lady Aces tried to get another late rally going in the bottom of the sixth, getting a leadoff single to left from senior Camille Conkright before Bailey Hamilton was hit to put runners on first and second with one down. Brooke Hamilton was able to finally give Owensboro Catholic a big hit in the clutch, sending a three-run shot over the left field fence to make it a 5-3 ballgame.
Roby was able to work out of the inning following the home run, getting a strikeout and a line out to keep Daviess County in front 5-3 going into the top of the seventh. Despite the offensive outburst from the Lady Aces, the Lady Panthers had the answer once again.
Roberts grounded one to third with two outs to start the rally, reaching first because Bailey Hamilton couldn’t scoop the throw from Stuart. Daniels was intentionally walked, setting up senior Katie Mewes to single to left and make it a 6-3 game.
However, the throw home was cut off by Brooke Hamilton and she cut down Daniels at third to send things into the bottom of the 7th. But Owensboro Catholic wasn’t going down easy, getting a one-out walk and single from sophomore Maci Merritt to put runners on first and second with one down for junior Lilli Grant.
Roby fell behind 2-0, which prompted a visit to the circle by Head Coach John Biggs. Roby, Roberts and Biggs wanted to discuss their approach on how to handle what was the biggest moment of the game to this point.
“I wanted to see what she was thinking,” Biggs said. “So we got together and even Millie had some input on where they were standing in the box. So we just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. I’m not a dictator. So we all have input and we’re going to try and figure out what we all can come up with and what’s going to be the best pitch to put us in the best possible position.”
The message was heard, as Roby got Grant to fly out to left to make it two down in the inning. However, Conkright kept the Lady Aces alive, singling to short as Annie Newman made a sliding stop to keep it on the infield.
This left the bases loaded and two down for Bailey Hamilton, who worked her way to a full 2-2 count before Roby sat her down looking to give Daviess County the 6-3 win to secure the 3rd Region Championship once again.
“On that last batter I knew that I just had to go outside on her, because we’ve been going inside on them,” Roby said. “They just know what I’m throwing now because we’ve faced them four times.”
Roby closed out the game facing some major adversity over the last three innings finishing with three runs being allowed on five hits and three walks, while striking out nine. Brooke Hamilton had some struggles halfway through the game, but with a lineup as tough as the Lady Panthers they knew it was going to be a battle—but it was one that Phelps was extremely proud of.
“This team, they could’ve laid down when they got down 4-0…” Phelps said. “This team they’ve come together and we talked about the word compete, because I wasn’t sure about this team early in the year if they knew how to compete… These girls are pretty close. They’ve gotten a lot closer throughout the year.”
A key leader in building that chemistry and resiliency within the team was senior Camille Conkright, someone who has been with the Lady Aces for five years. Phelps and Conkright have been together as a coach and player duo for much longer, making this loss a tough one for Phelps to swallow.
“I’ve been lucky enough to coach Camille since she was six years old with my travel ball team,” Phelps said. “So as an eighth grader she made the starting lineup, which at Owensboro Catholic is not heard of… She’s been doing it ever since then. She’s made all-tournament teams at second base, now she moves over to shortstop. She’s just an athlete… You can’t replace players like that [that lead by example].”
While being proud of his team’s fight, Phelps couldn’t help but tip his cap to the two-time defending 3rd Region Champions who had bested them for the fourth time in the 2022 campaign.
“You gotta give them a lot of credit because they are very good,” Phelps said. “They’re a very good team… Hats off. They’ve got a tremendous lineup, they’ve got speed, they’ve got power and they’ve got an incredible pitcher. Hats off to them, they play awesome right there.”
Daniels and Hattie Newman were the leaders offensively, chipping in two RBIs each as their lone hits of the day were two-run home runs. The corner infielders have been key to Daviess County’s offensive production late in the season, but Biggs has been especially proud of the leap Hattie Newman has taken in her game.
“Hattie’s kind of come on the scene here in the last couple of years,” Biggs said. “She hasn’t played a lot of travel ball or she doesn’t play travel ball, but she’s understood and has dedicated herself to put in that extra time in the offseason… I think the big difference between Hattie this year and last year was that she’s increased her softball IQ. And that’s not only in the field, but that’s at the plate too.”
At the beginning of the season—despite many of the players’ hopes—Biggs wanted the ultimate goal this season from day one to be to just get better everyday. It’s safe to say that the Lady Panthers have done that, despite having a target on their back all season long.
“The amount of pressure that they faced from day one when they stepped on the field and had that No. 1 ranking [was immense]…” Biggs said. “They carried that all year with them and I thought they handled it extremely well. I told them we’ve never had a group that has become this close as a group in such a short period of time. And that was the key. I knew coming into this season we had talent, we were going to work hard, we were going to have a challenging schedule. But when we came together as a group [we thrive] and our seniors made that happen. They really did.”
Daniels said that the players definitely want to make a deep postseason run for a chance at a state championship, but they have to be mentally ready day in and day out starting now in order to get the job done one game at a time.
“We have to keep our energy up,” Daniels said. “If our energy’s up then we can pretty much battle with anyone. If we walk into games thinking we’re beat or we can beat the crap out of them, then we’re probably going to get beat. So I think if we just have the right mindset [we can do it].”
