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LEXINGTON — If you told Great Crossing softball players and coach Heath Sutton ahead of time that they would keep the most prolific home run hitting team in the state between the fences Friday evening, GC would have liked its chances to take care of Henderson County.
Unfortunately for the Warhawks, the Colonels spent one very loud inning showing that they were just as dangerous depositing pitches from their wheelhouse into the gap and off that wall at John Cropp Stadium.
Henderson County broke open a tie game with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the strength of three loud shots into the lush, green outfield grass and hammered out a 6-2 win in the opening round of the KHSAA tournament.
“Had a rough inning. That happens. That’s the game, right?” Sutton said. “I didn’t feel like we were out of this one, and they didn’t either. That’s kind of been their persona all year. They’re never out of it until that last pitch is thrown. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose.”
Never out of a game all season — a trend punctuated by a seventh-inning rally and extra-inning victory in the 11th Region title game nine days earlier — Great Crossing (30-5) had more sporadic chances to roar back against Henderson County (32-5).
The Warhawks left seven on base in all, including Delani Sullivan after her second chalk-hugging double of the night with two out in the fifth, and then both Emma Sutton (walk) and Aubrey Green (double) in scoring position an inning later.
Anna Kemp retired the final five Great Crossing batters, capped by a 1-2-3 seventh that required only nine pitches.
In a battle of resilient sophomores with GC’s Brenna Parker, Kemp scattered seven hits, struck out a dozen and walked only two. She backed it up with a two-hit shutout of Central Hardin in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“Couldn’t string ’em together,” Heath Sutton said. “She pitched a good game. Little more rise ball than we were expecting. I think we were chasing some high stuff out of the zone. Some days it ain’t your day, right?”
In addition to Sullivan’s twin two-baggers, Green and Emma Sutton each had a hit and an RBI. Camryn Lookadoo added a double for GC. Kendall Meade and Ryann Livingston rounded out the hit ledger.
Center fielder Sullivan and shortstop Lookadoo will play next year at the same University of the Kentucky facility where the tournament is contested. Left fielder Riley McCallister is the only other senior on the roster.
“They bought in, and if they didn’t buy in, they’d tell me they didn’t. They had a huge part of this season not just on the field but off the field getting ready for this,” Sutton said. “My hat’s off to them. Two of them are coming here and we’ll be able to go watch. The other one’s going to Arkansas, a little bit further away, but super proud of ’em.”
Mackenzie Burczyk and Kemp were the only repeat hitters for Henderson County. Their back-to-back doubles punctuated the Colonels’ getaway inning after a tie-breaking, two-run single by Hallie McCracken.
Consecutive walks by Kendal Hargrove and JaMaya Byrum set up the heavy hitters in the bottom third of the Colonels’ lineup. A wild pitch and passed ball complicated matters while Parker wrestled with a variable strike zone.
“I’m not gonna say we were squeezed a little bit. The umpires did a good job,” Sutton said. “But we got deep into some counts, and when you get deep in the count it forces the ball over the middle, and against that team right there, they’re a solid hitting team one through nine. We knew that coming into it.”
Parker squirmed herself out of that trying fourth inning after another walk to Maggie Grogan. She handled a sacrifice bunt by Alyse Rollings, then struck out Anna Willett looking before getting Taylor Troutman on a pop out to Livingston at second base.
Great Crossing’s defense bounced back from a couple of early errors, its first in 28 innings, and helped Parker’s cause.
After singles by Grogan and Rawlings in the third, Livingston atoned for a miscue on her exchange from glove to bare hand — it would have been an RBI groundout for Willett, anyhow — and immediately turned an inning-ending double play at Troutman’s expense.
Meade threw to Livingston and struck down Byrum’s attempted steal after a walk in the fifth. Lookadoo shut down the sixth with her diving stab of a line drive.
“I think they’re leading the state in home runs. They’re a huge hitting team,” Sutton said. “Keep it in the fence and the defense will take care of the rest, and the balls that were playable, the defense did take care of ’em. Ryann had a couple big plays there. Lookadoo came up with a big play.”
Troutman hit Henderson County’s state-leading 67th round-tripper in the 7-0 win over Central Hardin. She was one of three Colonels to enter the tournament with double-digit dingers.
Parker, MVP of the region tournament and a 20-game winner with an ERA just north of two, kept them off balance. She offset her four walks with three strikeouts and matched Kemp with seven hits allowed.
“Brenna did her job. Yeah it was a tough inning, but she got herself out of that, and look at all the innings that she did pitch,” Sutton said. “These kids have no reason have no reason at all to hang their head when they walk out of here. I’m so proud of ’em.”
Great Crossing went down in order to start the game, and Parker countered by pitching around an error with two ground balls and a strikeout to close the first.
Meade’s leadoff single ignited the GC second, and Livingston took a pitch in the rib cage to put two aboard with one out. Kemp otherwise struck out the side to keep it scoreless.
Lookadoo doubled with one out in the third but was caught in an attempted steal of third. Parker didn’t give up a hit until Grogan’s single in the bottom of that frame, also with one out.
Green’s RBI double to right scored Emma Sutton all the way from first after a leadoff walk in the sixth to make it 5-2.
“There’s no panic in the dugout,” Heath Sutton said. “Through the year we’ve tried to put those younger ones in that situation. That way when the situation comes up and it’s big, it’s no surprise to ’em.”
Henderson County quickly reclaimed that insurance run on a Burczyk double and Kemp RBI single to start its portion of the sixth.
It was only the second time all season that GC didn’t repay a team that handed the Warhawks a loss last spring.
Henderson County will take on East Jessamine in this Friday’s semifinals, while defending champion Ballard takes on Rowan County. Great Crossing beat both Ballard and East Jessamine during the regular season.
“It’s not the outcome we wanted, but the main thing I wanted these girls to know is look at the season you put together,” Sutton said. “Coming out of that 11th Region, district championship into the region championship, we had a tough road to get here. So we don’t need to hang our head on one game. Look at what you did.”
