The Henry County softball team split its opening two games — both 31st District outings — and its three games at the Queen of the Bluegrass at Fairdale this past weekend will most likely not count because the tournament provided illegal umpires not certified by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association.
The Lady Cats beat Carroll County last Tuesday night, 11-2, and lost to Gallatin County on Thursday, 8-1, in two road games. They then played three games in the Queen of the Bluegrass over the weekend, but coach Matt Wright announced on Monday that the games will probably not count due to the officiating issues.
“We’re waiting to see which games will count, if any,” said Wright, whose team played Spencer County, Atherton and Fairdale. “The games probably won’t count for or against us. Basically it all goes on the host school.”
As of now, Henry is 1-1 overall and 1-1 in district play. The Lady Cats lost one district game last season, to Owen County, before finishing the season at 7-1 against district teams en route to winning a fifth consecutive district championship. Making it six straight and contending for an 8th Region title are the team’s priorities this season.
The Lady Cats jumped on Carroll early and stretched out to the 11-2 win on Tuesday, then two nights later took the 8-1 loss to Gallatin in a game Wright said his team could have won. “It’s a motivation factor now,” the team’s second-year head coach said. “Our girls were definitely upset after the game. They realized they let one slip away.”
At Carroll in the opener, the Lady Cats scored four runs in the opening two innings, Carroll scored two runs to make it 4-2, and the Cats used a big seven-run fifth inning to put the game out of reach. Krista DeBurger came up with a two-run homer when she smacked the ball over the fence, and later in the inning Taylor Clark hit the ball to the top of the fence, with bases loaded, in what was almost a grand slam.
Instead, the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced back in play, three runs crossed home plate, and the Lady Cats continued to pull away. DeBurger pitched most of the game for Henry, with Aly Stanley throwing the final inning. At Gallatin just two days later, DeBurger was out sick, and Jessica Booher was moved into the pitcher’s circle for the first time since a back injury kept her away from pitching toward the end of the last season. Wright said said Booher, Henry’s go-to pitcher when healthy, is still not 100-percent. “She’s not there yet,” Wright said of the senior. “She’s had a long break from pitching and is still recovering from her injury. Still, she got the ball across home plate for strikes. She just didn’t get much help behind her.” The Lady Cats found ways to get on base all night with 17 base runners, but only one crossed home plate in a game where lots of girls were stranded after third outs. And on defense, they committed five errors. Gallatin was ahead 5-0 before Henry scored its only run, then added three more.
The two teams play again, this time on Henry’s field, April 12. “Execution was the reason we lost that game,” Wright explained. “I will say Gallatin is a much better team this year, they are the front runner in the district right now, but we could had won this one. What’s done is done. We’ll get our chance again.”
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