By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent 

The Henderson County Colonels faced off against the Harrison County Thorobreds in the Quarterfinals of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament in Lexington at Counter Clocks Field.

The Thorobreds would strike first in the bottom of the 2nd inning with a two out RBI triple by senior pitcher JD Kendall to give them a 1-0 lead over the Colonels heading into the top of the 3rd inning. 

To lead off the top of the 3rd inning, Colonels junior left fielder Caden Dotson hit a solo home run to tie the game at 1-1 heading to the bottom of the 3rd inning. 

The Thorobreds would score 1 run in the bottom of the 3rd inning and 1 run in the bottom of the 4th inning as they would extend their lead to 3-1 heading into the top of the 5th inning. 

The Thorobreds would score in the bottom of the 5th inning on a 2 out RBI single from senior right fielder Cameron White to extend their lead to 4-1 heading to the top of the 6th inning. 

The Colonels would score 2 runs in the top of the 6th to narrow the deficit to 4-3 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. Then in the top of the 7th inning with the season on the line, the Colonels would score 1 run on a sacrifice fly from sophomore third baseman Cooper Vowels, 1 run on a RBI single from senior pitcher Brennan Cates, and a 2 RBI double from sophomore right fielder Dax Wilson to give the Colonels a 7-4 lead over the Thorobreds heading into the bottom of the 7th inning. 

The Colonels wouldn’t allow but 1 hit in the bottom of the 7th inning but the Thorobreds didn’t score again as the Colonels would come away with a 7-4 win over the Harrison County Thorobreds to advance to the semifinals of the State Baseball Tournament. The Colonels improve their record to (20-17) on the season while the Thorobreds end their season with a (32-9) record.

Henderson County Colonel’s sophomore right fielder Dax Wilson was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI’s while senior pitcher baseman Brennan Cates was 2 for 3 with a homerun and 4 RBI’s on the night. 

Henderson County Colonels senior pitcher Brennan Cates went 5 innings allowing 6 hits and 4 runs while walking 2 batters and recording 2 strikeouts on the night. Junior relief pitcher Reed Rheinhardt came in for Cates and pitched 2 innings allowing 2 hits and 0 runs while walking 0 batters and recording 2 strikeouts.

 

As a team, the Colonels scored 7 runs and recorded 10 hits, 6 RBI’s, 1 homerun, 2 doubles, 0 errors, and 3 stolen bases on the night.

The Colonels will take on the 13th Region Champion, the Whitley County Colonels on Friday night, June 9th, at 5:30 P.M. in the Final 4 of the 2023 State Baseball Tournament in Lexington at Kentucky Proud Park.