The Best Seat in the House

Mercer’s Souder leads Kentucky All-Stars into weekend series

Mike Marsee — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:35:12 +0000

Mercer County girls basketball coach Chris Souder will coach in two of the biggest games of his career this weekend when he leads the Kentucky All-Star girls team in its annual series against Indiana.

It’s a major coaching milestone for Souder, who has been an all-star assistant for the past two series. His team will play the opener of the girls-boys doubleheader tonight at Freedom Hall in Louisville and again Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Kentucky girls swept Indiana last year and have won four of six games over the last three years. Souder will lead a very good, very athletic Kentucky team against a very good, very big Indiana team. Both rosters are stocked with Division I signees; Kentucky has 11 on its 12-person roster, led by Miss Basketball Makayla Epps of Marion County.

Spring sports all-state, all-stars

Mike Marsee — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:34:56 +0000

With the spring sports season closed, it’s time to recognize those who have been named to all-state and statewide all-star teams.

Baseball

Micah Miniard of Boyle County was named to the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association all-state third team.

Softball

Hannah Miniard of Boyle County was named the 12th Region Player of the Year and was named to the Class 2A all-state first team by the Kentucky Softball Coaches Association.

Miniard and Boyle teammate Lauren Richards will play in the Kentucky East-West All-Star series Saturday at Ballard, Miniard for the East seniors and Richards for the East juniors.

Track and Field

These athletes and relay teams were named to Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association all-state teams:

Class A girls: First team, Meagan Smith, Danville, 1,600 and 3,200; Liz Marcinek, Burgin, long jump.

Class AA boys: First team, Mercer County, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay; Clint Hellyer, Boyle County, 300 hurdles; Micah Smith, Casey County, high jump; second team, Landon Souder, Mercer County, 400; Cole Grecco, Garrard County, 1,600; Mercer County, 800 relay.

Class AA girls: First team, Boyle County, 1,600 relay and 3,200 relay; Shelby Stringer, Casey County, pole vault; Rachel Wesley, Boyle County, pole vault; Tabitha Evans, Boyle County, triple jump; second team, Shannon Murray, Mercer County, 400.

Mercer returns to state baseball tournament

Mike Marsee — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 05:36:45 +0000

Mercer County will make its third consecutive appearance in the state baseball tournament Monday morning when the 13th-ranked Titans face No. 16 Apollo in an 11 a.m. first-round game at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington.

The Titans and Eagles will meet in the opening game of the tournament in an intriguing matchup between two of the 12 top-25 teams in the 16-team field.

Apollo is back in the state tournament for the second time in three years and has an ace on the hill in Tanner Edge, a Murray State signee who is 9-0 with a 1.28 earned-run average. He was the winning pitcher in the Eagles’ 1-0 victory over Meade County in the 3rd Region Tournament championship. The Eagles scored the only run of the game on an error on a seemingly throw back to the pitcher.

Rosters and statistics for both teams (and every other team in the tournament), a link to live pitch-by-pitch stats and more can be found at this KHSAA link.

I’ll be tweeting frequent updates on the game as it unfolds at the Advocate’s sports Twitter feed, @amnewssports.

2014 KHSAA hall of fame class announced

Mike Marsee — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 05:07:12 +0000

Eleven former high school coaches, athletes, officials, administrators and contributors make up the 2014 class of the Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame announced today.

The group includes familiar names such as football stars Jeff Brohm, Sonny Collins and Derek Homer Jr., basketball star Ukari Figgs and longtime sports writer Mike Fields. The class will be inducted at a ceremony April 27 in Lexington.

Read the KHSAA news release on the inductees.

12th Region baseball, softball pairings

Mike Marsee — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:20:44 +0000

Pairings were drawn this morning for the 12th Region baseball and softball tournaments, both of which will be played at Rockcastle County next week.

The Mercer County baseball team and Boyle County softball team are the defending champions.

Here are the schedules:

BASEBALL

At Rockcastle County

Monday, May 27

First Round

Boyle County (18-13) vs. Mercer County (24-9), 11 a.m.

Somerset (23-11) vs. Wayne County (25-10), 1:30 p.m.

West Jessamine (24-10) vs. Danville (24-14), 4 p.m.

Southwestern (25-8) vs. Pulaski County (20-12), 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 27

Semifinals

Boyle County-Mercer County winner vs. Somerset-Wayne County winner, 5:30 p.m.

West Jessamine-Danville winner vs. Southwestern-Pulaski County winner, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 28

Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

* * *

SOFTBALL

At Rockcastle County

Monday, May 27

First Round

Southwestern (26-8) vs. Garrard County (25-13), 11:30 a.m.

East Jessamine (24-9) vs. Casey County (9-18), 1:30 p.m.

Boyle County (26-8) vs. McCreary Central (17-13), 4 p.m.

Rockcastle County (7-25) vs. West Jessamine (13-22), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, May 27

Semifinals

Southwestern-Garrard County winner vs. East Jessamine-Casey County winner, 6 p.m.

Boyle County-McCreary Central winner vs. Rockcastle County-West Jessamine winner, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 28

Championship

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

Regional baseball, softball draws pushed back

Mike Marsee — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:34:42 +0000

Because two district softball finals were rained out Tuesday, the draws for pairings for the 12th Region baseball and softball tournaments will not be held today.

The draws are now scheduled for Friday morning at Rockcastle County, which will host both tournaments. If the remaining softball games aren’t completed by then, the baseball draw will be held Friday and the softball draw will be held after all district tournaments are done.

Both tournaments will begin Monday.

Regional baseball, softball fields filled

Mike Marsee — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:11:02 +0000

Thanks to an unprecedented attempt by coaches and athletic directors around the 12th Region to get their district tournaments played as soon as possible this week, we already know the eight baseball teams and eight softball teams that will play in next week’s 12th Region tournaments.

Semifinal games were played in all eight district tourneys Monday, and all eight championship games will be played tonight if the weather allows. That’s a good thing, because the weather forecast only gets worse for the next couple of days.

If all eight baseball and softball finals are played tonight as scheduled, the drawings for the two regional tournaments will be held Wednesday, not Friday as originally scheduled. Whenever they’re held, pairings will be posted here.

Both the baseball and softball regionals will be played at Rockcastle County, and first-round games in both tournaments are expected to be played Monday. Here’s who’ll be playing:

Baseball

45th District: Boyle County, Danville
46th District: Mercer County, West Jessamine
47th District: Pulaski County, Somerset
48th District: Southwestern, Wayne County

Softball

45th District: Boyle County, Garrard County
46th District: East Jessamine, West Jessamine
47th District: Casey County, Rockcastle County
48th District: McCreary Central, Southwestern

District baseball, softball tournaments begin today

Mike Marsee — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:35:25 +0000

Every area baseball and softball team will play an elimination game today as postseason play begins with the start of district tournaments.

All six Advocate-area district baseball and softball tournaments get under way today with semifinal doubleheaders. Five of them are scheduled to conclude Tuesday, with one carrying over to Wednesday.

The top two teams in each district advance to the 12th Region tournaments.

Both the baseball and softball regionals will be played at Rockcastle County next week. Pairings will be drawn Friday.

Area District Tournament Schedules
BASEBALL
45th District
At Danville
Monday, May 20

Boyle County (16-13) vs. Lincoln County (10-22), 5:30 p.m.
Danville (23-13) vs. Garrard County (15-16), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Championship, 7 p.m.

46th District
At Mercer County
Monday, May 20

Mercer County (23-8) vs. East Jessamine (22-11), 6 p.m.
West Jessamine (22-10) vs. Burgin (0-16), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Championship, 6:30 p.m.

47th District
At Somerset
Monday, May 20

Somerset (21-11) vs. Casey County (5-21-1), 6 p.m.
Pulaski County (19-11) vs. Rockcastle County (18-13), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Championship, 6 p.m.

SOFTBALL
45th District
At Centre College
Monday, May 20

Boyle County (24-8) vs. Danville (8-20), 6 p.m.
Garrard County (24-12) vs. Lincoln County (11-16), 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Championship, 6 p.m.

46th District
At Mercer County
Monday, May 20

Mercer County (11-15) vs. West Jessamine (12-21), 6 p.m.
East Jessamine (22-9) vs. Burgin (2-16), 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 22

Championship, 6:30 p.m.

47th District
At Somerset
Monday, May 20

Pulaski County (16-16-1) vs. Casey County (8-17), 6 p.m.
Somerset (22-13-1) vs. Rockcastle County (5-25), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 21

Championship, 7 p.m.

State track and field meet this weekend

Mike Marsee — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:20:05 +0000

Athletes from around the area are headed for Louisville to compete in the state track and field championships today and Saturday at Owsley Frazier Cardinal Park.

A number of them are serious contenders for championships in their respective classes, while many more will compete for medals that go to the top eight finishers in each event.

The meet begins at 2:30 p.m. today with the Class AA section, which includes athletes from Boyle County, Casey County, Garrard County and Mercer County.

The Class A section, which includes Burgin and Danville, is at 8 a.m. Saturday, and the Class AAA section, which includes Lincoln County, is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Lane assignments for the meet can be found at this link. Significant results for local teams and athletes will be on Twitter at @amnewssports, with more detailed information to follow at amnews.com and in Sunday’s Advocate.

Locals to compete in state tennis tourney

Mike Marsee — Thu, 16 May 2013 04:35:26 +0000

The high school sports year starts to finish Thursday when 20 Advocate-area tennis players take their swings in the opening round of the state tennis championships, the first of four spring sports championships to be contested in the coming weeks.

First- and second-round matches will be played Thursday in Lexington at the University of Kentucky’s Boone-Downing Tennis Complex, where most of the tournament will take place, and at Shillito Park, where the first two rounds of boys matches will be played.

Here are the local athletes in the brackets, with their first-round opponents:

Boys singles: Hunter Pierce, Casey County (vs. co-No. 9 seed David Hess, duPont Manual); Jacob Crowell, Mercer County (vs. co-No. 9 seed Ryo Takeda, Henry Clay).
Boys doubles: Taylor Leigh-Skyler Wright, Casey County (vs. co-No. 9 seeds Ryan Cunningham-Scott Drees, Covington Catholic); Spencer Anderson-Ethan Smith, Garrard County (vs. Zach Jones-Mitch Reynolds, Rose Hill Christian); J.T. Henderson-Ben Kendrick, Boyle County (vs. Amrit Avula-Joe Newland, Greenwood).
Girls singles: Haley Owens, Casey County (vs. No. 1 seed Kennedy Womack, Fairview); Tylyn Leigh, Casey County (vs. Lauren Fazenbaker, Ashland Blazer); Erin Pigman, Mercer County (vs. co-No. 9 seed Shea Henry, Henry Clay); Emily Major, Garrard County (vs. Catherine Crawford, Corbin).
Girls doubles: Anna Duncan-Nikol Pluess, Boyle County (vs. Rachel Mahbubani-Chelsea Moore, Male); Christy Ingram-Kyleigh Murray, Mercer County (vs. Channing Everidge-Jackie Henderson, June Buchanan); Sara Coffman-Chelsey Lynn, Casey County (vs. Courtney Eaton-Caroline Will, Male); Madison Lee-Allie Tinsley, Casey County (vs. Sydney Back-Ashley Collins, Letcher County Central).