5th Region Baseball Tournament Preview
The 5th Region Baseball Tournament will begin play on Monday (Memorial Day) at Taylor County and the four matchups are very intriguing at best with several teams emerging as early favorites to win it on Championship Night Wednesday at 6:30.
LaRue County vs. Bethlehem (11:00 am) should start things off weather permitting and the Hawks are reigning Region champs with a slightly different look with new coach Chase Greenwell, who has put together a 22-12 record after losing multiple starters. Bethlehem (22-10) has been a pleasant surprise as coach Roger Robinson has built a contender with a team which has plenty of experience.
Central Hardin vs. Taylor County (1:30 pm) will pit two strong preseason favorites against each other in the stronger of the two two brackets. The Bruins (26-7) always seem to have plenty of arms and lots of bats as Todd Thompson will look to make another return trip to the Region final. Guys like Jack Bibb, Austin Heiderman and Tyler Wood to attack opposing pitchers and senior Skylar Lucas as an experienced arm in the rotation, Central Hardin shouls give the Cardinals (29-8) all they can handle. Taylor County has scored 349-runs and with DJ Goodin (9-wins) and Griffin Hall (7-wins), the second game should be the preimer match of the day.
Nelson County vs. Green County (4:00 pm) will feature a couple of below .500 teams against each other, but before you look past them just remember that the Cardinals (12-19) were the team which upset powerful Bardstown in the District Semi-finals. Coach David Sparrow will have plenty of arms to throw at the Dragons including Trent Swomley who leads the team with 5-wins. Barrett McGill leads the team with hits, runs and is second in RBI’s. Green County (16-20) under coach Ricky Davis has struggled at times, but behind pitcher Brody Bush (7-wins) has stayed in contention most of the season.
Finally, we have North Hardin vs. Marion County (6:30 pm) should finish things out and the Trojans are a strong favorite to reach the final. Amazingly, the Trojans (30-5) have scored 272-runs, but where they get it done is on defense (allowing a Region low 85) behind pitchers Kyle Collin, Andrew Henderson and Parker Estes. Those three and a strong batting lineup will give coach Ace Adcock the best chance to reach and contend for a state title since –well Adcock himself played for the Trojans in 2004. Also, North Hardin has faced five of the seven contenders this season and posted a 8-2 record. That should be quite a matchup against coach Patrick Campbell’s Knights (18-18), who have struggled through the season having graduated pretty much everyone from the Marion County team which made a deep run at the State Tourney two years ago.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Tuesday (5:30 and 7:45) and the Championship game will be Wednesday (6:30) with the first round of the State Tournament on Saturday in Louisville.
Which brings up another interesting point! Several Regions have chosen to begin Region Tournament play early (like say Saturday for the first round) because of the issue with weather. With the Sweet Sixteen of the Baseball State Tournament scheduled on the following Saturday, many other Regions may eventually have to make the same decision in the future. Case in point last year when the 5th Region Baseball tourney at John Hardin barely made it through two games on opening Day (Monday) and were unable to finish the Elizabethtown vs. LaRue County until that Friday Night. In fact, Round One wasn’t completely finished until Saturday Night as weather conditions forced it to be moved to LaRue County and then back to John Hardin. Campbellsville was forced to finish a rain delayed game Saturday Night and then play again that same night against LaRue County (losing 5-4) and the Championship game wasn’t played until Sunday. The 5th Region tournament took seven days to complete so the winner could be decided for next Thursday’s state game.
So, stay tuned.
