By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Six of the nine starters on Simon Kenton’s baseball team are seniors who graduated on Wednesday and led the Pioneers to victory in the 8th Region championship game on Saturday.
“We kind of told them high school might be over but baseball season is not, so let’s hang on to this as long as we can,” said Simon Kenton coach Troy Roberts.
The Pioneers defeated Woodford County, 5-2, in Saturday’s region final at the University of Louisville to take the title for the first time since 2017. They had a 1-5 record in the last five region tournaments.
Simon Kenton’s winning pitcher was senior Logan Cones, who also had a run-scoring single. Senior outfielder Bailey Rump had two hits and two RBI. The Pioneers’ other two runs scored on an error.
Woodford County had bases loaded with nobody out in the seventh inning. One run scored on a double-play, but the next batter flied out to end the game.
It was Cones’ second win in the region tournament. He’s the first Simon Kenton pitcher to win 10 games in one season and he’ll likely be on the mound at 10 a.m. Thursday when the Pioneers face Russell County in the opening game of state tournament at Legends Field in Lexington.
“He’s our bulldog,” coach Roberts said. “When he’s on the mound, we’ve got confidence in getting the win.”
In the region final, Cones went six inning, giving up one run on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. The one run came on a triple by Woodford County’ junior Jonah Branham in the second inning.
“That’s a good hitting team,” Roberts said. “But we had a plan and (Cones) executed it perfectly, just hitting the spots and committing to pitches we called (from the dugout). He did a great job executing the plan.”
Simon Kenton players named to the region all-tournament team were Cones, Rump, senior Chad Atchley and junior Tyler Ruete. They accounted for five of their team’s seven hits in the title game.
“That was a fun bus ride home (from Louisville),” Roberts said. “Obviously, we talked about this all year long as being our goal. They were all very excited, to say the least.”
Ryle seniors end track and field careers as Class 3A state champions
Ryle had three seniors win events in their final Class 3A state track and field meet on Saturday. One of them should have received a Purple Heart along with her gold medal.
Viktoriya Emelianova broke bones in her foot late in the regular season, but she had the perseverance to come back and win the girls shot put event for the second consecutive year with a throw of 40 feet, 2.5 inches.
Ryle’s other two event winners were Tiger Bartlett in the boys 1600 run (4:14.25) and Evan Smith in the boys 800 run (1:54.40). Both of them had the second-best state qualifying times, but they crossed the finish line first in those races.
The other local girls who won Class 3A state titles were Simon Kenton sophomore Alexis Howard in the long jump (18-0) and Dixie Heights freshman Ari Carter in the discus (122-0).
Howard also placed second in the girls triple jump. The other second-place finishers in girls events included Conner senior Isabella VonLehman in the 100 dash, Campbell County junior Olivia Holbrook in the 800 run, Campbell County’s 4×800 relay team and Notre Dame’s 4×400 relay team.
In the boys state meet, silver medals went to Campbell County sophomore Branton Koroly in the 300 hurdles, Conner senior Joey Carroll in the 3200 run and Simon Kenton junior Breyden Polly in the long jump.
The Class 3A state champion teams were Louisville St. Xavier boys and Louisville Manual girls. In the final standings, Ryle boys placed fifth and Dixie Heights girls placed ninth.
CovCath, Notre Dame in first state tournaments for tennis teams
Covington Catholic and Notre Dame are the 9th Region boys and girls tennis champions that will compete in Kentucky’s first state tournaments for teams that begin Monday.
The bracket in each tournament includes teams from 16 regions. In each round, opposing teams will play three singles and two doubles matches. The team that wins three of the five matches advances to the next round.
On Monday, the girls state tournament gets underway at 9 a.m. with Notre Dame vs. Ashland Blazer at Berea College. CovCath will play Lexington Dunbar in the opening round of the boys state tournament at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the University of Kentucky.
The winners of those matches will play at 2 p.m. Monday at both locations. On Tuesday, the semifinal and championship rounds for boys and girls will be at the University of Kentucky