Courier-Journal's recap of the 1st round:
Fern Creek High School softball coach Rick Dotson figured it would be tough for his squad to pull off two upsets of powerhouse Mercy in the same season.
Jaguars coach Josh Bloomer "wasn't going to let that happen," Dotson said. "The first time I don't think they matched our intensity, and today they were better."
Mercy, the state runner-up the past two seasons, began its quest for a third straight Seventh Region Tournament title with a 6-0 quarterfinal victory over Fern Creek on Monday at Southern.
Mercy (29-8), ranked No. 4 in the state, lost 5-3 at Fern Creek on May 4 but is 14-1 since then.
"It was definitely a wake-up call," left fielder Brandi Ratterman said. "We just didn't go into that game ready to play, and we were taking what we had for granted."
Mercy advanced to face No. 1 Ballard in Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal at the University of Louisville's Ulmer Stadium. Ballard beat Christian Academy 4-2.
Eastern will face Male in Wednesday's 5:30 p.m. semifinal. Eastern beat Sacred Heart 7-2, and Male knocked off Assumption 8-3.
Mercy pitcher J.J. Francis (24-5) retired the first 12 Fern Creek batters and finished with a five-hitter, striking out 11.
"J.J. is one of the better pitchers in the state," Dotson said. "We had our chances in the last three innings but just couldn't pull the trigger."
Ratterman's two-out double gave Mercy a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and she later stole third and scored on a throwing error to make it 2-0.
"Brandi is right up there on the team with getting big two-out hits," Bloomer said.
The Jaguars scored twice in the fourth and took a 5-0 lead on Amanda Schumacher's homer to center in the fifth.
Fern Creek (17-16-2) had two runners reach base in each of the final three innings but couldn't score.
Ballard-Christian Academy: Alan Jones said his Lady Bruins are not the best team in the state, but with the No. 1 ranking comes added attention.
"Everybody's gunning for us," he said.
So Jones said he hasn't been surprised by the slim margins in his team's past two victories -- 3-2 over Sacred Heart in the 27th District final and Monday's two-run victory.
The Lady Bruins managed just four hits against CAL, but they were enough to back starting pitcher Kayla Fairley (24-3). She allowed just four hits and struck out nine.
"We're a young team, and to be 33-4 right now is pretty amazing," Jones said. "Kayla has done a great job and our defense has done a great job, but we have to get these bats going."
Megan McCreery's RBI single gave Ballard a 1-0 lead in the second, and Bailey Walker singled and scored on two CAL errors to make it 2-0 in the third.
The Lady Centurions (23-10-1) finished with five errors.
"Our defense let us down a little bit," CAL coach Kyle Mullin said.
Walker's two-run single made it 4-0 in the fifth before CAL rallied.
Eastern-Sacred Heart: Kelsey Patrick went 3 for4 with two doubles and five RBIs to lead the No. 22 Lady Eagles (25-12) over the Valkyries (23-16).
"She was huge," Eastern coach Dean Taylor said. "She's been hitting the ball well all year long."
Braelyn Johnson (3 for 4, two runs) and Katie Sutherland (2 for 4, two runs) also had big games as Eastern pounded 13 hits.
Sophomore Casey Smith (24-10) got the victory, allowing five hits and striking out three.
Male-Assumption: Alex Ginter went 3 for 3 with two RBIs to lead the No. 7 Lady Bulldogs (20-7) over the Rockets (24-10).
Jessica Wireman (2 for 3) and Sam Foust (2 for 4, RBI) also had big games at the plate for Male.
Carly Barrett's two-run homer to center pulled Assumption within 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Male broke it open with three runs in the seventh. Ginter had a two-run double to make it 7-3.
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