The Henderson County Lady Colonels won their sixth straight softball district championship on Thursday night, defeating the Union County Bravettes by a score of 12-5. Similarly, they will look to make their sixth consecutive trip to state when regional tournament play begins on Monday.
The Lady Cols put two runs on the board in the bottom of the first after Saniya Shields reached on an error and then stole second and third before coming around to score on a Maggie Grogan single. Grogan would then steal second and cross home plate following a Braylin Risley base hit.
Four straight singles by Jersey Gardner, Shields, Ayden Bennett, and Grogan along with a sacrifice fly by Risley led to four more runs in the bottom of the second inning, extending the Henderson lead to 6-0 after two.
The Bravettes finally got on the scoreboard with a solo home run by Ellie Hancock in the top of the third inning.
After being held scoreless in the third, HCHS threatened to end the game early, adding four more runs in the fourth inning. Ayden Bennett reached on a single and stole second base before Grogan sent a fly ball over the center field fence for a two-run home run. Risley collected a base hit and then advanced to third after a steal and error before being driven home on a ground out by Macy Claybrook. Back-to-back doubles by Jacelyn Wallace and Lilly Bennett helped the Lady Cols open up a 10-1 lead after four.
Things got off to a rough start in the top of the fifth as Kamryn Timmons walked the first two Union County batters and the third reached on an error by Ayden Bennett. Audrey Staley scored on a passed ball. Then, Miley Mendoza sent a three-run homer over the right field wall to bring the Bravettes within 10-5. Kenley Evans replaced Timmons at pitcher and struck out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Timmons struck out nine over 4.1 innings allowing five runs on two hits and seven walks.
The Lady Cols added on two more in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, Wallace doubled and came in to score on a single by Lilly Bennett. Bennett then scored on a single from Shields, capping the scoring at 12-5.
Evans closed the game with a scoreless seventh inning. She ended the game throwing 2.2 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and two walks. Grogan was the hitter of the game going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI, as well as three steals.
Ayden Bennett, Grogan, Shields, and Timmons were named to the All-District team.
“We did what we needed to do. We didn’t play great. I kind of wanted to play a little bit better than that going into the region tournament, but sometimes you just have to figure out how to win ugly,” Head Coach Shannon Troutman said. “We’re trying to make sure our heads are on right before the start of the region tournament.”
The Lady Cols will enter the regional tournament with a 24-8 record, having won 11 of their last 12 games. The only loss in that span came to an undefeated South Warren team which is ranked in the top five nationally.
HCHS will look to ride its strong pitching to yet another appearance in the state tournament. Leading the way for the Lady Colonels is the hard-throwing junior Kamryn Timmons who owns a 12-3 record with a 2.67 ERA and 149 strikeouts over 89 innings. Timmons is finally back to full health after dealing with back issues around the middle of the season. Her absence from the circle allowed two young pitchers to step up and prove their worth.
“I’ve got three quality pitchers. As long as we’re not missing over the middle of the plate, I think we’ll be fine,” Troutman said of his pitching depth.
Sophomore Lilly Bennett started eight games, finishing the season 5-3 with a 2.11 ERA, striking out 55 over 56.1 innings pitched. She also recorded nine saves on the season. Seventh-grader Kenley Evans was also a pleasant surprise this year. She posted a 6-1 record with a 2.28 ERA over eight starts, while throwing 46 innings and striking out 43.
“Evans is starting to come into her own pitching-wise. She’s been very steady for me the last few times I’ve thrown her. She’s got good velocity and good movement,” Troutman stated.
At the top of the list of things Troutman would like to see improved at the region tournament are quality at-bats. He mentioned looking for better at-bats and not making it easy on any pitchers. He’s not been pleased with the amount of strikeouts his team has collected this season, but feels that his hitters have started to get better at that.
Junior Saniya Shields is the team leader with a .459 batting average, collecting 51 hits, 11 doubles, 30 RBI, and 34 steals, all team highs.
The Lady Cols will begin region tournament play on Monday against Caldwell County. The Lady Tigers have a 12-16 record and were the runners-up in the Seventh District, losing to Madisonville-North Hopkins, 12-0, in the championship game. HCHS defeated Caldwell County earlier this season, 11-0, in five innings.
Should they advance, the Lady Cols will face the winner of Christian County and host Lyon County. The other half of the bracket features a matchup between Crittenden County and Union County, as well as Madisonville against Fort Campbell. Madisonville boasts a freshman pitcher in Sadie Kirk, who owns the ninth-best ERA in the state at a miniscule 0.98. She’s also hitting .487 at the plate and could be a formidable opponent should the Lady Cols face her in the region championship.
Weather could also play a major factor in the upcoming region tournament, as there currently appears to be a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms each day next week. The Lady Cols and Lady Tigers will open play at 11 a.m. at Lee S. Jones Park in Eddyville.
