[Stardust]

Walton-Verona will play for a second consecutive Eighth Region softball title after beating Gallatin County 5-3 Wednesday at South Oldham High School.
The Bearcats (30-9) will face Oldham County (33-6) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for a berth in the state tournament. Oldham County beat Anderson County 8-1 in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
Senior Kelsey Mosier drove in three runs and Walton-Verona played errorless defense to help sophomore pitcher Hannah Thacker earn her 23rd victory of the season. Gallatin County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning but Mosier’s two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the inning gave Walton-Verona a lead it wouldn’t give back.
“She got a real big hit for us,” said Walton-Verona coach John Anderson. “After getting down 1-0 to come back and get a two-out hit like that was a big up-lifter for us.”
Walton-Verona, ranked No. 4 in the Enquirer’s final Northern Kentucky coaches’ poll, had beaten Gallatin County (22-10) twice in the regular season, 6-1 and 5-1. The Bearcats increased their lead to 4-1 in the third inning with an RBI double by senior shortstop Jenalee Ginn and a fielder’s choice groundball by Mosier.
Gallatin County scored a run in the top of the fourth but Ginn hit her ninth home run of the season in the fifth inning to regain a three-run advantage for the Bearcats.
Thacker struck out six batters as Walton-Verona won for the seventh time in its last eight games.
Walton-Verona lost at Oldham County 4-3 on April 2. The Bearcats had a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh of that game before Oldham County rallied in its final at-bat. Oldham County has won 17 games in a row.
“It should be a really good matchup,” said Anderson. “We just couldn’t hang on that day. We expect it to be another nice game. Hopefully we’ve got one more run than they do.”http://preps.cincinnati.com/nky