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ASHLAND (Ky.) —Wheelersburg’s softball team got a little unexpected work on defending a squeeze bunt on Saturday.
Ashland (Ky.) had to figure out how to respond to being down eight runs in its last at-bat.
And after the Kittens did so, Hurricane (W. Va.) got a real-world test of its ability to shut down a seventh-inning rally.
So did Lawrence County (Ky.), looking to finish off a signature victory against a highly-touted opponent from the big city.
That was the point of the ninth annual Tri-State Softball Showcase: teams putting themselves in adverse positions on purpose, to prepare for win-or-go-home games next month.
Or for the Pirates, as late as the opening week of June.
"I love the competition we get when we come to this tournament,” Wheelersburg coach Teresa Ruby said. “It's why we’ve come every year now, since the first one they had, and the idea is to play games like this and to find out who we are and what we still need to work on and what we’re doing well."
For the Pirates, that manifested itself in the bottom of the sixth inning against Male —of Louisville, Kentucky —on Saturday at Ashland.
Down two runs with a runner on third base and one out, the Bulldogs started Lily Jones early from third as Kaylee Brooks dropped a bunt.
Not something you see every day from a freshman.
Nor a catcher.
And not with two strikes.
Wheelersburg pitcher Kaylynn Carter tried to make the play at the plate, unsuccessfully.
Jones scored and Brooks reached base.
The Pirates hadn’t had to make a play like that yet this season with the chips down.
None of their five games before the weekend showcase had been decided by single digits.
That fits the pattern of Wheelersburg's typical domination of its regular slate.
The Pirates entered the season with a 146-game winning streak in Southern Ohio Conference games. (Not a misprint — that’s four games fewer than 150)
That amazing streak —with wins over Valley, Minford and West this season — is now at 149, as Ruby has overseen the last 144.
So Ruby didn’t mind the pop quiz on bunt defense.
“In that situation, I think you talk to Kaylynn, she’ll tell you, shouldn’t have gone home; should’ve got the out at first,” Ruby said. “We were ahead by two. We'll give you that run for the out and not let them continue to have people on base.
“But these are learning opportunities, and what we talked about is getting better every day.”
A couple of hours later on Saturday, it was Hurricane’s turn on the hot seat.
Host Ashland, down 11-3 heading to the home half of the seventh inning, got its first four runners across the dish.
The Kittens suddenly had the heart of the order up with no outs in the frame.
Hurricane, at the time ranked No. 2 in West Virginia’s Class AAAA in the MetroNews coaches poll, had to figure out how to stop it.
Hurricane is in Class AAAA Region 4 Section 1 with Cabell Midland and Spring Valley, as well as the same region as Parkersburg South.
All were top-10 teams last week.
That was as much on Hurricane coach Meghan Stevens’ mind on Saturday as putting away the Kittens.
Ashland coach Scott Ingram also took the long view, despite losses to Lawrence County, Hurricane and Notre Dame (15-1) in the showcase.
Earlier on Saturday, Lawrence County was in a similar position to Hurricane.
The Bulldogs took a 10-5 lead on Male on Emalynn Kitts’ round-tripper in the sixth inning.
Male then tallied twice in the seventh to get back within striking distance.
Lawrence County has a new coach — Sam Sparks, a longtime northeastern Kentucky sporting figure who was the athletic director at Russell when then-Red Devils coach Dave Wheeler co-founded the Tri-State Softball Showcase in 2016.
Nine years later, Sparks was coaching in it.
He is charged now with leading a Lawrence County club seeking to repeat as 15th Region tournament champion, but without five of the Bulldogs which played in 22 games or more last season.
The games Lawrence County played against Hurricane, Male and Ashland in the showcase accelerated the process of putting the new puzzle together, Sparks said.
Boyd County, another of the showcase’s five hosts, dropped its first two games in the event —to Winfield (W. Va.) and Bryan Station of Lexington.
The defending 16th Region tournament champion Lions rebounded in a rematch from last year’s state tournament with Mercy Academy, knocking off the visitors from Louisville, 10-8.
Even as Male went oh-fer in the event, falling to Lawrence County and Wheelersburg, coach Donald Murphy— a former Ashland and Boyd County assistant —had a similar perspective.
"It’s just a first-class event,” he said. “They do it right, and we’ll come back as long as I'm the coach here.”
Continue reading...
Ashland (Ky.) had to figure out how to respond to being down eight runs in its last at-bat.
And after the Kittens did so, Hurricane (W. Va.) got a real-world test of its ability to shut down a seventh-inning rally.
So did Lawrence County (Ky.), looking to finish off a signature victory against a highly-touted opponent from the big city.
That was the point of the ninth annual Tri-State Softball Showcase: teams putting themselves in adverse positions on purpose, to prepare for win-or-go-home games next month.
Or for the Pirates, as late as the opening week of June.
"I love the competition we get when we come to this tournament,” Wheelersburg coach Teresa Ruby said. “It's why we’ve come every year now, since the first one they had, and the idea is to play games like this and to find out who we are and what we still need to work on and what we’re doing well."
For the Pirates, that manifested itself in the bottom of the sixth inning against Male —of Louisville, Kentucky —on Saturday at Ashland.
Down two runs with a runner on third base and one out, the Bulldogs started Lily Jones early from third as Kaylee Brooks dropped a bunt.
Not something you see every day from a freshman.
Nor a catcher.
And not with two strikes.
Wheelersburg pitcher Kaylynn Carter tried to make the play at the plate, unsuccessfully.
Jones scored and Brooks reached base.
The Pirates hadn’t had to make a play like that yet this season with the chips down.
None of their five games before the weekend showcase had been decided by single digits.
That fits the pattern of Wheelersburg's typical domination of its regular slate.
The Pirates entered the season with a 146-game winning streak in Southern Ohio Conference games. (Not a misprint — that’s four games fewer than 150)
That amazing streak —with wins over Valley, Minford and West this season — is now at 149, as Ruby has overseen the last 144.
So Ruby didn’t mind the pop quiz on bunt defense.
“In that situation, I think you talk to Kaylynn, she’ll tell you, shouldn’t have gone home; should’ve got the out at first,” Ruby said. “We were ahead by two. We'll give you that run for the out and not let them continue to have people on base.
“But these are learning opportunities, and what we talked about is getting better every day.”
A couple of hours later on Saturday, it was Hurricane’s turn on the hot seat.
Host Ashland, down 11-3 heading to the home half of the seventh inning, got its first four runners across the dish.
The Kittens suddenly had the heart of the order up with no outs in the frame.
Hurricane, at the time ranked No. 2 in West Virginia’s Class AAAA in the MetroNews coaches poll, had to figure out how to stop it.
Hurricane is in Class AAAA Region 4 Section 1 with Cabell Midland and Spring Valley, as well as the same region as Parkersburg South.
All were top-10 teams last week.
That was as much on Hurricane coach Meghan Stevens’ mind on Saturday as putting away the Kittens.
Ashland coach Scott Ingram also took the long view, despite losses to Lawrence County, Hurricane and Notre Dame (15-1) in the showcase.
Earlier on Saturday, Lawrence County was in a similar position to Hurricane.
The Bulldogs took a 10-5 lead on Male on Emalynn Kitts’ round-tripper in the sixth inning.
Male then tallied twice in the seventh to get back within striking distance.
Lawrence County has a new coach — Sam Sparks, a longtime northeastern Kentucky sporting figure who was the athletic director at Russell when then-Red Devils coach Dave Wheeler co-founded the Tri-State Softball Showcase in 2016.
Nine years later, Sparks was coaching in it.
He is charged now with leading a Lawrence County club seeking to repeat as 15th Region tournament champion, but without five of the Bulldogs which played in 22 games or more last season.
The games Lawrence County played against Hurricane, Male and Ashland in the showcase accelerated the process of putting the new puzzle together, Sparks said.
Boyd County, another of the showcase’s five hosts, dropped its first two games in the event —to Winfield (W. Va.) and Bryan Station of Lexington.
The defending 16th Region tournament champion Lions rebounded in a rematch from last year’s state tournament with Mercy Academy, knocking off the visitors from Louisville, 10-8.
Even as Male went oh-fer in the event, falling to Lawrence County and Wheelersburg, coach Donald Murphy— a former Ashland and Boyd County assistant —had a similar perspective.
"It’s just a first-class event,” he said. “They do it right, and we’ll come back as long as I'm the coach here.”
Continue reading...
