For the first time since Ryle played in back-to-back state championship games in 2006 and 2007, a Ninth Region softball team will appear in the state semifinals.
Highlands came back to beat North Hardin, 3-2 in eight innings, on Saturday, June 6, at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington to punch a ticket to the season’s final weekend.
The Bluebirds overcame two crucial mental errors to win their 28th game in their last 29 tries and keep their best ever season alive.
“It’s a total credit to the group of seniors who have led this team for several years and they deserve all the credit,” Highlands head coach Milt Horner said.
It was another battle of two of the state’s top pitchers as neither Kaitlyn Dixon nor North Hardin’ ‘s Brooklyn Carmickle allowed a baserunner until the fourth inning. Dixon flinched first though, allowing a walk and a single in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Carmickle bounced a ball to Allie Meyers at third. She had a chance to tag the lead runner but then misfired across the diamond, allowing the Trojans to take a 2-0 lead.
Highlands answered right back in the bottom of the inning as Leyla Zepf walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Morgan Pompilio immediately singled her home to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
Meanwhile, Dixon kept North Hardin in check, allowing just one more hit and no walks. She finished with five strikeouts but induced weak contact that her defense corralled with ease.
“I’ll tell you what, the zone was awfully tight… A lot of the pitches that Kaitlyn usually gets called strikes were not called strikes. She ended up having to come over the middle of the plate more and (North Hardin), to their credit, made some contact, but I think they really only hit one ball hard,” Horner said.
Down to the final three outs, Highlands’ Kate Class led off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single. Allie Meyers laid down a sacrifice bunt that allowed Class to come all the way around to score when North Hardin committed a costly error trying to throw her out at third base. Over half of the runs the Trojans allowed this season were unearned, showing the importance of putting the ball in play against them.
“Obviously we needed to score that run in the seventh to tie it up, but the momentum certainly shifted to us. (North Hardin) figured they got the bottom of our lineup coming up, their pitcher was dealing, but sometimes things just fall your way,” Horner said.
The Bluebirds had a chance to walk it off in the seventh after Bailee Class singled to put runners on first and third with one out, but she was called out trying to advance to second base while the ball was in the pitcher’s circle.
More importantly, Highlands was able to roll the batting order over going to the bottom of the eighth. Payton Brown led off with a single to left field, her first state tournament hit, and narrowly stole second on the next pitch. On the pitch after that, Cam Markus lined the ball to right-center field and Brown scored standing up for the walk-off win.
“Since we were the home team, I’m probably sending her anyway, but that was an easy call,” Horner said.
Highlands will play the winner of South Warren (42-0) and Madison Central (27-8) at 3:30 p.m. on June 12. The Spartans are nationally ranked and have run-ruled almost every in-state opponent they’ve played. The Lady Indians are in the state tournament for the first time since 2002 and beat Lawrence County in the first round.
“That’s the reason you play the game,” Horner said. “Underdogs are still dogs and that’s the way we’re going to approach it.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Highlands softball walks off North Hardin to advance to state semifinals
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
