05-30-2012, 12:01 AM
05-30-2012, 11:29 AM
Pulaski falls to Boyle County, 1-0
By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Danville — During the entire regular season, Boyle County and Mercer County were the top two teams in the entire 12th Region, as both clubs simply dominated their opponents all-year long.
Those same two teams will get a chance to battle for a regional championship banner this evening, as the pair of teams came away with victories last night in their semifinal match-ups at Millennium Park in Danville. Boyle County advanced to the finals with a 1-0 win over Pulaski County, while Mercer County breezed past Danville, 9-0.
Pulaski made things tough one the region’s toughest team in Boyle County, as the Lady Maroons went wire-to-wire before falling to the Lady Rebels by a lone run. The pesky Lady Maroons, coached by Scott Taylor, didn’t back down from Boyle County despite coming into the contest with 13 less wins than the Lady Rebels.
But with a one-run single from Heather Hasty in the bottom of the sixth inning and the sensational pitching of Hannah Miniard, the Lady Rebels were able to sneak past Pulaski with a 1-0 triumph to earn a spot in this evening’s title game.
“It was a good ballgame between two good teams,” began Taylor, who saw his club finish with a final record of 15-24. “It came down to whoever had the ability to score a run first. You’ve got to give Boyle County credit, Miniard did a wonderful job pitching, she kept us off balance all-night long. We didn’t come out and lay down, they beat us and you can live with that concept.”
“It’s a really disappointing loss, but I’m really proud of my team,” continued the veteran Pulaski softball coach. “A lot of people didn’t think that we would make it this far or even make it out of district. A lot of people said we would never win the first game of the region. Nobody gave us a chance to win tonight, but we came out and gave them all they wanted.”
The contest was a pitcher’s duel between Pulaski senior Brittany McKee and Boyle County’s Miniard, as both teams combined for a lone run on five hits. In fact, the ballgame was scoreless up until the bottom half of the sixth frame.
In that decisive sixth inning, the Lady Rebels would score the only run of the night thanks to a single from Hasty, who hit a ball to left field to allow Hannah Chadwell to score. Despite having two runners on the base paths with no outs, one run would be the only damage done thanks to pair of nice plays by the Lady Maroon defense and a strikeout from McKee.
In the top of the seventh frame, the Lady Maroons would go down, one-two-three, giving Boyle County the hard-fought victory.
Pulaski just couldn’t seem to get the offense going, as they had only two hits in the setback. The night before, in a 12-2 victory over Southwestern, the Lady Maroons banged out 14 hits. The Lady Maroons’ two hits on the night came from McKala Blevins and McKayla Bryant.
A lot of the Lady Maroons’ troubles had to do with the hot-hand of Miniard, who finished the shutout victory with 14 strikeouts. The junior gave up a pair of hits in the contest.
McKee, in her final game in a Lady Maroon uniform, gave up three hits and struck out four batters in the loss. The only run that was scored in the entire game was unearned.
This evening’s 12th Region Championship game between Mercer County and Boyle County will get underway at 7 p.m. at Millennium Park in Danville.
PC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 2
BC 0 0 0 0 0 1 X - 1 3 0
WP: Miniard (BC)
LP: McKee (PC)
RBI: Hasty (BC)
http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...County-1-0
By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Danville — During the entire regular season, Boyle County and Mercer County were the top two teams in the entire 12th Region, as both clubs simply dominated their opponents all-year long.
Those same two teams will get a chance to battle for a regional championship banner this evening, as the pair of teams came away with victories last night in their semifinal match-ups at Millennium Park in Danville. Boyle County advanced to the finals with a 1-0 win over Pulaski County, while Mercer County breezed past Danville, 9-0.
Pulaski made things tough one the region’s toughest team in Boyle County, as the Lady Maroons went wire-to-wire before falling to the Lady Rebels by a lone run. The pesky Lady Maroons, coached by Scott Taylor, didn’t back down from Boyle County despite coming into the contest with 13 less wins than the Lady Rebels.
But with a one-run single from Heather Hasty in the bottom of the sixth inning and the sensational pitching of Hannah Miniard, the Lady Rebels were able to sneak past Pulaski with a 1-0 triumph to earn a spot in this evening’s title game.
“It was a good ballgame between two good teams,” began Taylor, who saw his club finish with a final record of 15-24. “It came down to whoever had the ability to score a run first. You’ve got to give Boyle County credit, Miniard did a wonderful job pitching, she kept us off balance all-night long. We didn’t come out and lay down, they beat us and you can live with that concept.”
“It’s a really disappointing loss, but I’m really proud of my team,” continued the veteran Pulaski softball coach. “A lot of people didn’t think that we would make it this far or even make it out of district. A lot of people said we would never win the first game of the region. Nobody gave us a chance to win tonight, but we came out and gave them all they wanted.”
The contest was a pitcher’s duel between Pulaski senior Brittany McKee and Boyle County’s Miniard, as both teams combined for a lone run on five hits. In fact, the ballgame was scoreless up until the bottom half of the sixth frame.
In that decisive sixth inning, the Lady Rebels would score the only run of the night thanks to a single from Hasty, who hit a ball to left field to allow Hannah Chadwell to score. Despite having two runners on the base paths with no outs, one run would be the only damage done thanks to pair of nice plays by the Lady Maroon defense and a strikeout from McKee.
In the top of the seventh frame, the Lady Maroons would go down, one-two-three, giving Boyle County the hard-fought victory.
Pulaski just couldn’t seem to get the offense going, as they had only two hits in the setback. The night before, in a 12-2 victory over Southwestern, the Lady Maroons banged out 14 hits. The Lady Maroons’ two hits on the night came from McKala Blevins and McKayla Bryant.
A lot of the Lady Maroons’ troubles had to do with the hot-hand of Miniard, who finished the shutout victory with 14 strikeouts. The junior gave up a pair of hits in the contest.
McKee, in her final game in a Lady Maroon uniform, gave up three hits and struck out four batters in the loss. The only run that was scored in the entire game was unearned.
This evening’s 12th Region Championship game between Mercer County and Boyle County will get underway at 7 p.m. at Millennium Park in Danville.
PC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 2
BC 0 0 0 0 0 1 X - 1 3 0
WP: Miniard (BC)
LP: McKee (PC)
RBI: Hasty (BC)
http://somerset-kentucky.com/localsports...County-1-0
05-30-2012, 11:30 AM
Prep Softball: Boyle County edges Pulaski County 1-0 in the 12th Region Tournament semifinals
By HAL MORRIS
[email]hmorris@amnews.com[/email]
10:39 a.m. EDT, May 30, 2012
Nothing has come easy to Boyle County so far in the 12th Region Tournament.
And the Rebels found themselves in another squeaker Monday, getting an RBI single for Heather Hasty in the bottom of the sixth inning that stood for a 1-0 win over Pulaski County in the semifinals at Millennium Park.
Now all Boyle (29-11) has to do is beat a Mercer County team for the third time this season to claim its first regional title.
Boyle junior Hannah Miniard held the Maroons (15-24) to two hits and struck out 14 and walked one. She struck out at least two batters in six of the seven innings to earn the win.
“She pitched a fantastic game, and now we’ve got get ourselves ready to go for tomorrow,”¿Boyle coach Brian Deem said. “It’s going to be a tough one.”
Pulaski pitcher Brittany McKee kept Boyle off-balance all night until the Rebels were finally able to get to her in the sixth inning.
Hannah Chadwell, who made a diving catch in the top of the inning to take away a hit, slapped an opposite-field single to left on a 3-2 pitch. She came around to third when Lauren Richards’ bunt was thrown away at first.
Hasty then stepped up and with two strikes punched a hit into center to bring Chadwell home for a 1-0 lead with no outs, but Boyle was not able to push across another run.
“That last at-bat I just relaxed more,”¿Hasty said. “That is my problem, just being relaxed.”
McKee didn’t give Boyle a chance to relax, giving up just one hit until the sixth.
“We faced McKee in a scrimmage, our first scrimmage, and we put the bat on the ball,”¿Deem said. “But she did a good job of keeping the ball off the plate and did a really good job of staying disciplined. We chased a lot of bad pitches, but we were able to get a good pitch to hit with Hannah, and she was able to find a way to get on. Then Lauren executed a great bunt and were able to get ourselves in a good first and third.
“And Heather’s been fantastic for us this year, she’s had some big hits in the postseason and late in the year. And she was able to muscle on in there, it was a two-strike count, she shortened the swing, and that’s our whole purpose with two strikes just try to find something to get through the infield. And we did that, and that was big for her.”
That run gave Miniard just enough breathing room, then she slammed the door on the Maroons’ four, five and six hitters in the seventh.
She struck out McKala Blevins and Sarah Howard looking, then got Taylor Brock to ground out to third to end the game.
While Miniard dominated the Pulaski hitters, she did get some help in the field.
In the fourth, McKee walked, but courtesy runner Taylor Whitaker was thrown out by Hasty trying to steal second.
In the fifth, Brock hit a blooper over first that Lindsey Edwards dove to try and catch. She regrouped in time to get the ball and throw Brock out at first.
The biggest play may have come in the top of the sixth, however when Chadwell came running in on Kendra Hyden’s fly to short left and dove to make the catch to take away a sure single.
12th Region Tournament
At Millennium Park
Semfinals
Pulaski County 000 000 0 — 0 2 2
Boyle County 000 001 x — 1 3 0
Brittany McKee and McKala Blevins. Hannah Miniard and Heather Hasty. W—Miniard. L—McKee.
———
12th Region Tournament
At Millennium Park
Monday, May 28
First Round
Mercer County 7, McCreary Central 0
Danville 8, Somerset 3
Pulaski County 12, Southwestern 2, 5 innings
Boyle County 4, East Jessamine 3
Tuesday, May 29
Semifinals
Mercer County 9, Danville 0
Boyle County 1, Pulaski County 0
Wednesday, May 30
Championship
Mercer County (30-7) vs. Boyle County (29-11), 7 p.m.
By HAL MORRIS
[email]hmorris@amnews.com[/email]
10:39 a.m. EDT, May 30, 2012
Nothing has come easy to Boyle County so far in the 12th Region Tournament.
And the Rebels found themselves in another squeaker Monday, getting an RBI single for Heather Hasty in the bottom of the sixth inning that stood for a 1-0 win over Pulaski County in the semifinals at Millennium Park.
Now all Boyle (29-11) has to do is beat a Mercer County team for the third time this season to claim its first regional title.
Boyle junior Hannah Miniard held the Maroons (15-24) to two hits and struck out 14 and walked one. She struck out at least two batters in six of the seven innings to earn the win.
“She pitched a fantastic game, and now we’ve got get ourselves ready to go for tomorrow,”¿Boyle coach Brian Deem said. “It’s going to be a tough one.”
Pulaski pitcher Brittany McKee kept Boyle off-balance all night until the Rebels were finally able to get to her in the sixth inning.
Hannah Chadwell, who made a diving catch in the top of the inning to take away a hit, slapped an opposite-field single to left on a 3-2 pitch. She came around to third when Lauren Richards’ bunt was thrown away at first.
Hasty then stepped up and with two strikes punched a hit into center to bring Chadwell home for a 1-0 lead with no outs, but Boyle was not able to push across another run.
“That last at-bat I just relaxed more,”¿Hasty said. “That is my problem, just being relaxed.”
McKee didn’t give Boyle a chance to relax, giving up just one hit until the sixth.
“We faced McKee in a scrimmage, our first scrimmage, and we put the bat on the ball,”¿Deem said. “But she did a good job of keeping the ball off the plate and did a really good job of staying disciplined. We chased a lot of bad pitches, but we were able to get a good pitch to hit with Hannah, and she was able to find a way to get on. Then Lauren executed a great bunt and were able to get ourselves in a good first and third.
“And Heather’s been fantastic for us this year, she’s had some big hits in the postseason and late in the year. And she was able to muscle on in there, it was a two-strike count, she shortened the swing, and that’s our whole purpose with two strikes just try to find something to get through the infield. And we did that, and that was big for her.”
That run gave Miniard just enough breathing room, then she slammed the door on the Maroons’ four, five and six hitters in the seventh.
She struck out McKala Blevins and Sarah Howard looking, then got Taylor Brock to ground out to third to end the game.
While Miniard dominated the Pulaski hitters, she did get some help in the field.
In the fourth, McKee walked, but courtesy runner Taylor Whitaker was thrown out by Hasty trying to steal second.
In the fifth, Brock hit a blooper over first that Lindsey Edwards dove to try and catch. She regrouped in time to get the ball and throw Brock out at first.
The biggest play may have come in the top of the sixth, however when Chadwell came running in on Kendra Hyden’s fly to short left and dove to make the catch to take away a sure single.
12th Region Tournament
At Millennium Park
Semfinals
Pulaski County 000 000 0 — 0 2 2
Boyle County 000 001 x — 1 3 0
Brittany McKee and McKala Blevins. Hannah Miniard and Heather Hasty. W—Miniard. L—McKee.
———
12th Region Tournament
At Millennium Park
Monday, May 28
First Round
Mercer County 7, McCreary Central 0
Danville 8, Somerset 3
Pulaski County 12, Southwestern 2, 5 innings
Boyle County 4, East Jessamine 3
Tuesday, May 29
Semifinals
Mercer County 9, Danville 0
Boyle County 1, Pulaski County 0
Wednesday, May 30
Championship
Mercer County (30-7) vs. Boyle County (29-11), 7 p.m.