[Stardust]

The final Enquirer Northern Kentucky baseball coaches’ poll ended with a clear-cut No. 1 team, while the final softball coaches’ poll ended with a bit of a surprise No. 1 team.

Covington Catholic was the unanimous No. 1 selection in the baseball poll after rolling through the regular season with a 31-5 record, including going 18-3 against Ninth Region teams.

The final softball poll ended with perennial Ninth Region power Ryle at No. 1 despite the fact it lost to No. 3 St. Henry 4-1 in the only matchup between the teams this season. St. Henry finished 20-1 against Ninth Region teams.

CovCath, which outscored opponents 226-74 and has a team ERA under 2.00, earned all eight first-place votes from the coaches to outdistance No. 2 Holy Cross (24-10) by 18 points.

The two teams faced each other three times this season with CovCath winning all three meetings, by scores of 6-3, 4-1 and 11-2.

Ryle (24-11-1) finished third thanks in part to ending the season with a five-game winning streak that included a 6-5 win over CovCath last week.

Dixie Heights (24-10) was fourth, followed by Boone County (25-10-1) and defending Ninth Region champion Newport Central Catholic (20-15-1), which tied for fifth, Bishop Brossart (20-12), last year’s Ninth Region runner-up Conner (15-19-1), Scott (21-13) and St. Henry (19-13).http://nky.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...305210129/