By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
A line drive that climbed over the second baseman’s outstretched glove and dropped into center field scored the run that Highlands needed to make history on Saturday.
The Bluebirds became the first 9th Region softball team to reach the final four in a single-elimination state tournament on that run-scoring single by senior outfielder Cam Markus in the eighth inning of a 3-2 win over North Hardin in the quarterfinals at the University of Kentucky.
Highlands (35-6) will play top-ranked South Warren (43-0) in a semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. Friday with the winner returning for the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The first single-elimination state softball tournament was played in 2019 and 9th Region teams had a 0-6 record in first-round games under that format until this year. There was no state tournament in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The last Northern Kentucky team that made it to the winner’s bracket semifinals in a double-elimination state tournament was Ryle in 2012.
In Saturday’s game, North Hardin scored two unearned runs off throwing errors on the same play in the fourth inning. But Highlands cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning when sophomore shortstop Layla Zepf came home on a bunt single by senior second baseman Morgan Pompilio.
After failing to score in the fifth and sixth innings, the Bluebirds had the bottom of their batting order coming up in the bottom of the seventh and the first two players saved the season.
Sophomore outfielder Kate Class got a leadoff single and scored the tying run on a throwing error when junior third baseman Allison Meyers laid down a sacrifice bunt.
Highlands senior catcher Payton Brown led off the eighth inning with a single and then stole second base. That set up the game-winning line drive by Marcus, who has a team-leading .475 batting average.
Highlands senior pitcher Kaitlyn Dixon gave up only two hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Both of North Hardin’s runs were unearned so her ERA dropped to .066.
The Bluebirds got nine singles from eight players in their lineup. Pompilio and Marcus each drove in a run for the second straight game. Sophomore first baseman Katherine Heilman went 2-for-3.
South Warren scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to get past Madison Central, 4-3, in their state quarterfinal thriller. The Spartans came in averaging 12.9 runs per game and most of their previous victories lasted five innings or less because they had double-digit leads.
This is the third time in five years that South Warren has made it to the state semifinals. The Spartans lost to Henderson County, 2-0, in 2024 and lost to Louisville Ballard, 11-0 in 2022.
NORTH HARDIN 000 200 00 — 2 2 1
HIGHLANDS 000 100 11 — 3 9 1
WP — Kaitlyn Dixon (5 Ks). LP — Brooklyn Carmickle (8 Ks).
HITTING LEADERS: H — Katherine Heilman 2-3, Cam Markus game-winning RBI. RECORDS: Highlands 35-6, North Hardin 26-13.