The Daviess County Little League 9-10-year-old team recently won the District 1 tournament in Owensboro, and now is headed to state. The squad defeated Bowling Green East 4-2 in the championship.
Before defeating Bowling Green in the battle of the Natcher Parkway, they beat crosstown foe Owensboro Southern 3-0 in the semifinals. The young team dominated pool play earlier during the week, defeating Warren County North 4-0, Franklin Simpson 10-4, and Logan County 8-2.
Head coach Kyle Watkins said his roster of Justin Maxey, Jake Watkins, Bryar Stone, Luke Abbot, Owen Gaynor, Jaxen Bickett, Luke Howe, Carson Ashby, JP Hedges, Collin Swope, Bennett Mason, and Kaden Knott consistently exceeds his expectations.
“We have some great kids and solid ball players,” Watkins said. “They play hard, follow coaching, and are competitive. They get after it.”
Watkins added that he has great assistant coaches — David Goins and Jeff Gaynor — along with parent and family support.
Five athletes on the roster were on last year’s team.
“Everyone on our team plays regular season Little League, and most are on travel teams,” he said. “Our team is motivated, they work really hard, and they take this sport seriously. They’re motivated.”
In the district tournament, Howe led the team in batting average at .375, followed by Abbot at .364 and Watkins at .308 with two triples. Gaynor led the squad in on-base percentage, followed by Howe and Swope.
On the mound, Jake Watkins pitched 10 innings, recorded 17 strikeouts, allowed zero runs, walked zero batters, and only allowed five hits. Abbot fanned eight batters in eight innings pitched, allowed one unearned run, walked two, and gave up four hits. Watkins pitched a complete-game shutout against Southern in the semifinals, while Abbot earned the win in the championship.
The win marks the first time a Daviess County League team from any division has won district and advanced to state since 2011.
The Owensboro Southern 12-year-old team played well through the week, eventually falling in their championship game. Both Daviess County and Owensboro Southern fielded teams in all three divisions.
