By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic’s baseball team blanked St. Henry, 12-0, in the 9th Region semifinals on Tuesday to give Bill Krumpelbeck his 1,000th career win as head coach of the Colonels.
Krumpelbeck, who took charge of the CovCath program 42 years ago, became the fourth Kentucky high school baseball coach to reach that milestone. He’d like to add to his impressive victory total Thursday when CovCath plays Highlands in the regional championship game at 7 p.m. at UC Health Stadium in Florence.
Highlands defeated Beechwood, 11-1, in the other semifinal game on Tuesday and advanced to the regional final for the fifth consecutive year. The Bluebirds won the last three regional championships.
The last time CovCath won a regional baseball title was 2005. The Colonels were regional runner-up in 2007, 2008 and 2009. This year’s team won two games against Highlands during the regular season and lost the third game, 5-2, on May 11.
CovCath competes in 12 sports. Six of its teams have won regional championships and three others have been regional runner-up during the 2017-18 school year. The football and basketball teams went on to win state titles.
In 10th Region semifinal games on Tuesday, Campbell County defeated Clark County, 6-2, and Montgomery County knocked off Brossart, 2-0. The winners will meet in the championship game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Campbell County.
9th REGION AT UC HEALTH STADIUM
Monday scores
Covington Catholic 4, Ryle 2
St. Henry 9, Newport Central Catholic 0
Beechwood 3, Cooper 2
Highlands 11, Dixie Heights 0
Tuesday
Covington Catholic 12, St. Henry 0
Highlands 11, Beechwood 1
Thursday
Championship: Covington Catholic (26-10) vs. Highlands (25-13), 7 p.m.
10th REGION AT CAMPBELL COUNTY
Monday scores
Clark County 15, Mason County 1
Campbell County 6, Nicholas County 2
Montgomery County 16, St. Patrick 0
Brossart 5, Harrison County 3
Tuesday
Campbell County 6, Clark County 2
Montgomery County 2, Brossart 0
Wednesday
Championship: Campbell County (20-11) vs. Montgomery County (19-11), 6 p.m.