By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Highlands continued its impressive late season run with a 3-1 win over Johnson Central in the final opening round game of the state high school baseball tournament on Friday night at Whitaker Bank Park in Lexington.
The Bluebirds claimed their eighth consecutive victory behind a strong pitching performance by senior Ethan Doty. He gave up only two hits and had 12 strikeouts in seven innings against Johnson Central (31-9), a team that was ranked No. 8 in the final statewide coaches poll.
Highlands (27-12) will try to pull off another upset when it faces Pleasure Ridge Park (38-5) in a state quarterfinal game at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The Panthers were ranked No. 3 in the final statewide coaches poll.
In Friday’s game, the Bluebirds scored three runs on four hits off Johnson Central starting pitcher Braxton Kelly and reliever Tate Meade.
The first two runs in the fourth inning were unearned. After a throwing error put runners on second and third base, Highlands designated hitter Bryce Ziegler laid down a bunt that scored pinch runner Cooper Schwalbach and an interference call on a rundown allowed pinch runner Grant Summers to cross the plate.
The Bluebirds extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Kelly walked the first batter and was replaced by Meade, who gave up a walk and a single to load the bases. Doty then hit a sacrifice fly down the right field line that scored his team’s third run.
Johnson Central got its lone run in the top of the sixth inning. Geordon Blanton led off with a triple and scored on a throwing error. In the seventh, Doty gave up his first walk with two outs and then ended the game with a strikeout.
This is the third consecutive year that Highland has gone to the state tournament as the 9th Region champion. The Bluebirds were state runner-up in 2015 and lost to Johnson Central in the first round last year.
JOHNSON CENTRAL 000 001 0 — 1 2 3
HIGHLANDS 000 210 x — 3 4 2
WP — Doty (12 ks). LP — Kelly. HITTING LEADERS: JC — Blanton 3B. H — Ziegler 2-3. RECORDS: Highlands 27-12, Johnson Central 31-9.
STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT GAMES
Saturday
SIMON KENTON vs. Muhlenberg County, 11 a.m.
Marion County vs. Knox Central, 1:30 p.m.
McCracken County vs. Scott County, 6 p.m.
HIGHLANDS vs. Pleasure Ridge Park, 8:30 p.m.
Friday, June 16
Semifinal games, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 17
Championship game, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame eliminated in state softball tournament
After scoring 16 runs in their first game of the state softball tournament on Thursday, Notre Dame players struggled at the plate in back-to-back losses on Friday that ended their season.
Notre Dame (21-10) lost to Owensboro Catholic, 8-0, in a quarterfinal game on Friday morning and dropped to the losers bracket. Later that day, Central Hardin beat Notre Dame, 9-1, in an elimination game.
The Pandas fell behind 3-0 and 5-0 in the first inning of those two games. They were limited to three hits in the loss to Owensboro Catholic and six hits in the season-ending loss to Central Hardin.
Notre Dame had a total of 21 hits in three games. The team leaders were freshman Maddie Prospero, junior Lindsey Meier and senior Kennedy Baugh with four hits each. Six of the nine players in the Pandas’ starting lineup were underclassmen.