(by Don Meador)
The Allen County-Scottsville Lady Patriot softball team will seek their first 2A Championships state title Friday and Saturday in Owensboro. AC-S opens the eight-team 2A state tournament at noon on Friday, April 17, against the Boyd County Lady Lions.
The Lady Patriots---the 2A Section 2 champions---began their quest against Section 6 champion Boyd County. The Lady Lions reached the state tournament with an 8-7 win over Bath County on Monday. The Lady Patriots claimed their sectional crown with semifinal and finals wins over Warren East and Franklin-Simpson on March 28.
AC-S has won five of their last seven games---pending the outcome of Tuesday’s District 15 match up at Warren East. Boyd County will come to Owensboro winners in three of the last four games. The teams have one common opponent this season in Bryan Station. The Lady Patriots dropped a 6-3 decision to the Lexington school last week while the Lady Lions fell by the same score to the Lady Defenders on March 18.
Through their first 16 games this season, AC-S is led in hitting by Brooklyn Oliver. The junior is batting .489, leads the team with hits (23), RBIs (25), doubles (8), and triples (2). Oliver shares the team lead in home runs with six. The Lady Patriots will be without the services of junior Payton Hopkins. The Carson-Newman commit will miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. In nine games before the injury, Hopkins was batting .441 and had hit four doubles and belted two home runs.
Not only is Oliver swinging a hot bat, the junior has been solid in the circle. Oliver has pitched in 14 games and currently has an ERA of 2.19. Oliver has worked 73.2 innings, allowed 33 runs, surrounded 65 hits, and recorded 87 strikeouts. Her overall pitching record is 10-2. She recently surpassed the 300 mark in career strikeouts.
Senior Addison Wheat stands second on the squad in hitting among players who have appeared in every game. Wheat bats .400, has 16 hits, six doubles, and six RBIs. Senior Addy Law---a Brescia University signee---is hitting .372. Law has 16 hits, seven TBIs, and three doubles. Sophomore Maddie Gray is hitting .354 with 17 hits, 18 RBIs, and six home runs.
Boyd County (9-6) is led at the plate by sophomore Emillee Bush. The youngster is batting .556. Senior Jaycie Goad brings a .449 batting average to the game while freshman Jadyn Goad is batting .393. In the circle, sophomore Brooke Jacobs has worked 66 innings and has an ERA of 2.33. Jacobs has struck out 41 batters in 13 games.
The softball 2A championship tournament differs from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) post season play. In the KHSAA state tournament, play is single elimination. This weekend’s 2A tournament is an eight-team bracket style tournament. Winners from the upper bracket quarterfinals games at noon Friday meet in semifinal action at 5:15 Friday afternoon. The winners of the semifinals play for the championship at 2 Saturday afternoon. Semifinal losers play for third place on Saturday at 12:15. First round losers drop to the consolation bracket and play at 3:30 Friday afternoon. The losers’ bracket plays out with a third game for all teams on Saturday at 10:30---games to determine fifth and seventh place.
AC-S and Boyd County are in the upper bracket along with Harrison County (14-4) and Casey County (9-3)---who play at the same time as AC-S. Lower bracket teams are Clay County (7-5), Trigg County (16-4), Lawrence County (10-3) and North Oldham (5-4).
All 2A games are at the multiple field complex at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro. The site hosted the 2011 KHSAA state championship when AC-S defeated Ballard to complete the double elimination tournament and claim the state championship.