The 5th Region Tournaments produced two champions with totally different stories. One team won their championship blazing a path of destruction on their way and maybe just a little luck.
Softball- The Elizabethtown Softball team put together a 28-win season using a strong defense and the strength of their Superstar pitcher Taytum Spiers along with their timely hitting. The Lady Panthers were built on speed and defense, yet even though they were so dominate they never lost two straight during the season, they did have one big problem.
Bell’s Big Boom: Central Hardin had been a thorn in their side all season nabbing them with three losses, but fortunately for coach Jimmy Schmidt, that problem was taken care of by the other dominate team in the Regional Tournament, the LaRue County Lady Hawks. Although they didn’t have the pedigree of the Lady Bruins, coach Rocky Cundiff knew “The road through the Region goes through Central Hardin.” Cundiff needed a BIG game by his team and Isabelle Hayes gave him one. The Junior pitcher had been great all season as the Lady Hawks totaled 25-wins and against the powder blue Bruins, she got things started with a three-run homer in the first inning and added another RBI in the third as LaRue County put up 5-runs and Hayes did the rest on the circle as the Lady Hawks beat Central Hardin for the first time since 2005.
Walk Off WIN: Taylor County and Nelson County engaged in an extra inning thriller in the first round of the 5th Region Tournament. It was a wild contest where the Lady Cardinals looked to have it in hand until Taylor County tied things up in the sixth with two runs with two out. After that it was up to Hannah Gupton, who launched a shot to right field which cleared the wall for a walk off homer. Gupton’s blast came off Aubrey Robbins, who had pitched a fine game getting Nelson County out of several jams while throwing 117-pitches. Both Robbins and her counterpart Briley Edwards (who was removed after throwing her 100th pitch for Madelynn Yates) went at it in an old fashion pitching duel that only one would win in the end.
Making History: When Shaun Smith took the Banshee softball coaching job in 2012, the sport hadn’t been a major power player in the 5th Region. Since then, the Banshees have been in the Regional Tournament every year (not counting the lost 2020 season) except one. The closest they came to making a State Tournament appearance was 2022 season when they reached the semi-finals and lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Elizabethtown. Senior pitcher Kaityn Cissell, much like Spiers was lights out much of the season and threw a gem against the other Cinderella team in LaRue County in a 2-1 semi-final come-from-behind win as Bethlehem reached the Region Final for the first time in the team’s history. This set up another classic matchup between Smith’s Banshees and Schmidt’s Lady Panthers with history repeating itself again.
Walking to Victory: Alyssa Philpot has had quite a season as Spiers’ catcher and the calming influence while helping to keep everything together directing the defense. Still, she seemed to be the most unlikely hero on a team which manufactories runs yet while Cissell was mowing the Lady Panthers down for much of the game, the first two batters reached base and then Cissell fielded a grounder, but chose not to attempt a throw to third for a force out loading the bases with no-outs. Up stepped Philpot, who worked a 3-2 count and then walked on ball-four forcing in the only run Spiers would need. That was all Spiers would need as she finished off a marvelous Region Tourney with three straight shutouts to her credit and a total of seven runs scored. On the other side of the circle, Cissell, who had threw two straight gems allowing just two runs and still came out on the wrong side of a 1-0 loss deserved a better fate.
Baseball- If the Softball Tourney was a bit more predictable, thanks to Central Hardin’s early exit in the first round, then the Regional at Green County to decide a baseball representative for State was even more up in the air. Much like it’s softball counterpart, there hadn’t been a repeat champion for a much longer time (say 2016).
Looking Good: Well at least for one round, the Central Hardin Bruins looked to be the favorite going into round one. They may have had a new coach (Steven Delabar), but on the field, they still looked like a team which wanted to be playing in Lexington in June. The Bruins had won the most games coming into the Tourney (29), they outscored their competition in the District Tourney (22-2) and had one of the top pitchers in the state (Zak Spurrier) and they looked pretty dominate in their first round win against another top team in Campbellsville (11-6). With the Hawks up next, it would be a stark contrast in teams.
Getting Better at just the RIGHT Time: While the Bruins were cruising along, the reigning Region Champs were having a little trouble adjusting to 2024. After winning 22-games last season, the Hawks were struggling at times after losing a strong senior class. True, they were young and at one point lost ten straight regular season games in a row finishing 14-17 going into District Tourney play. However something started to happen as the playoffs came along, the Hawks would win two straight including a 7-6 nailbiter in the District Final against Green County. Coach Kellen Lobb credits to turnaround to maturity and the recovery of sophomore catcher Ryan Hughes, who came back from an injury suffered during tournament play last August. Hughes is one of the team captains and his presence was a big part of their late success.
All Most Perfect: As an eighth grader, pitcher Brayden Singleton had such potential that Lobb started him in the Hawks KHSAA State Tournament opener against Whitney County. A year later, he was the best pitcher on the team (not to mention the top hitter as well), so when it came time to decide on who to send up against Central Hardin in Round two of the Region Tournament, Lobb didn’t hesitate to call on the freshman. What he hoped for was a good performance against a great Bruin batting lineup. What he got was near perfection. Through six innings, Singleton retired the first eighteen batters he faced, had a perfect game going into the seventh and was doing it throwing only 66-pitches and would end up with 14-strikeouts and NO walks. He lost his No-hitter with one out when Reece Cowley singled to right field but followed that retiring the next two batters with a flyball and a strikeout. LaRue County gave Singleton plenty of backup with four-runs in the first and then five more in the third in an 11-0 win. Was Lobb surprised by the freshman’s performance? “I was not surprised with Singleton’s performance. He works harder than any kid around and has the mentality that you will not beat him.”
Commander Revolution: If LaRue County’s surprising resurgence caught everyone by surprise, then Washington County had plenty of people in the 18th District scratching their heads as well. Although not necessarily a major power player in the Region Baseball universe, the Commanders have made some noise in the past, but going into their District Tourney, they were saddled with a 10-14-1 record. However, when all the dust settled, they were still standing and moving on to the Regionals after outscoring both Bardstown and Nelson County 22-4. A huge game by Beau Baker, who hit two homers led to a 5-4 win over Elizabethtown in round one, then Baker blasted another one against Taylor County in round two as Cole McLean threw a two-hit shutout while striking out 10-Cardinals. Washington County scored eight runs on just 4-hits as the Commanders reached the Region Finals for the first time in recent history.
15-Innings of Tension: If anyone thought the 5th Region baseball Final @ Green County would be a quick read then they were badly mistaken. A game which began about 6:00 didn’t end until nearly 10:30 as both Washington County and LaRue County refused to lose and it took 15-innings to decide a winner. Even after the Hawks finally put two-runs on the board in the top of the 15th to break a 2-2 tie, the Commanders didn’t go down easily. With one out, Dylan Mattingly singled, then after Camden Abell was hit by a hit, Andrew Mackin singled scoring Mattingly to make the score 4-3. But Beau Baker, who went hitless, but walked three times popped out to second and then Blandford struckout to end the game. It was Macklin, whose RBI single in the bottom of the 7th tied the score at 2-2. Washington County. LaRue County was able to break the tie in the top of the 15th when an error scored one run then a single by Cole Miller extended it to 4-2. Brady Skaggs got the win going 5-innings allowing just one run and struck out four Commanders. Lance Coulter got the loss for Washington County. It was certainly the longest Region Tourney game in recent history and the longest by innings including regular season since May 17th, 2014 when Nelson County beat Bethlehem 3-1 in 16-innings.
