By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent 

The Henderson County Lady Colonels faced off against the Louisville Ballard Lady Bruins in the Championship Game of the KHSAA FastPitch Softball State Tournament in Lexington at John Cropp Stadium.

The Lady Bruins would get on the board first with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, scoring on an error and a sacrifice fly to give the Lady Bruins a early 2-0 lead over the Lady Colonels heading to the top of the 2nd inning. 

The Lady Bruins would score 3 runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, 1 on an RBI single by senior center fielder Emory Donaldson, and 2 runs on an error to give them a 5-0 lead over the Lady Colonels heading into the top of the 3rd inning. 

The Lady Colonels would get on the board in the top of the 3rd inning by scoring 4 runs, 1 run on a RBI single by 8th grade third baseman Maggie Grogan, 2 runs on a sacrifice fly by junior center fielder Taylor Troutman, and 1 run on a wild pitch to narrow the deficit to 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 3rd.

A RBI single by Lady Bruins junior shortstop Mikayla Milby in the bottom of the 4th inning extended the Lady Bruins lead to 6-4 heading into the top of the 5th inning. 

The Lady Bruins would score 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning, 1 run scoring on an RBI triple, 1 run on a fielder’s choice, a 3 run RBI double, and a RBI single to give the Lady Bruins a 12-4 lead heading into the top of the 7th inning. 

The Lady Colonels couldn’t score another run in the top of the 7th as their season would end with a 12-4 loss against the Ballard Lady Bruins in the State Championship Game. The Lady Colonels season ends with a (33-6) record finishing as State Runner Ups while the Lady Bruins win the State Championship and end the season with a (36-1) record. 

4 different Lady Colonel players would get 1 hit each in the game(Rollings, Hargrove, Kemp, and Grogan).

Lady Colonels sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp pitched 5 and ⅓  innings while allowing 10 hits and 12 runs(9 earned runs) while walking 4 batters and recording 2 strikeouts on the night. Freshman pitcher Mackenzie Burczyk relieved Kemp. Burczyk pitched ⅔ innings while allowing 1 hit while walking 1 batter and recording 1 strikeout. 

 

As a team, the Lady Colonels scored 4 runs and recorded 4 hits, 2 RBI’s, 2 doubles, and 4 errors on the night.

The Lady Colonels had 3 players named to the All State Tournament team: junior catcher Hallie McCracken, sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp, and senior first baseman Kendal Hargrove as pictured above.