The Best Seat in the House

J.T. Long hit a walk-off home run to give Mercer County a dramatic win in the regional title game Thursday night and send the Titans to the state baseball tournament for the second consecutive year.

Long’s two-run homer gave Mercer a 7-5 victory over Danville in the title game at Admiral Field.

Mercer (23-12) will play the 7th Region champion — St. Xavier and Male are playing for that title tonight — in the first round of the state tournament at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Whitaker Bank Ballpark in Lexington, where the Titans made a memorable run to the state finals a year ago.

One-out singles by Alex Guay and John Ingram set the stage for a four-run seventh inning after Danville (31-10) had scored once in the top of the inning to take a 5-3 lead.

Seth Heath slipped a single into right field, and Guay scored on the hit and pinch-runner Chris Goodman scored on a throwing error to tie the game. Long jumped on the next pitch from Danville’s Andrew Lasure, launching it well beyond the fence to the right of the scoreboard in left-center field.

The win set off a wild celebration by the Titans, who lost eight seniors from last year’s title team, then repeated by reinventing themselves, changing from a team that scored runs in bunches to one that relied on pitching and defense.

Return to amnews.com or pick up the Advocate on Friday for expanded coverage of tonight’s game.

Boyle County won its first regional softball championship tonight, beating Mercer County 8-5 in the 12th Region Tournament final at Millennium Park.

The Lady Rebels’ third win over Mercer County this season gave them their first title in either fast-pitch or slow-pitch and a spot in next week’s state tournament in Owensboro.

Boyle will play the 8th Region champion — Walton-Verona and Oldham County will play for that title tonight in Buckner — on June 7 at Jack C. Fisher Park. First-round game times have not been set.

Win or lose, the Lady Rebels will play again the following day in the double-elimination tournament, which continues through June 9.

The 12th Region baseball tournament semifinals scheduled for tonight at Admiral Field have been postponed due to rain.

The Mercer County-Somerset game and the West Jessamine-Danville game have been pushed back to Wednesday at 5:30 and 8 p.m., respectively The championship is now set for Thursday.

Danville coach Paul Morse said the decision to call off the games was made at about 3 p.m. after Danville officials concluded they could not get the field ready for play by game time and could not rule out more rain that might prevent both games from being completed after play began.

“We got a pretty good shower this morning and got hit hard (in the early afternoon),” Morse said.

Pairings for the 12th Region baseball and softball tournaments were drawn this morning. The baseball tournament will be played at Danville’s Admiral Field, which is behind Bate Middle School; the softball tournament is at Millennium Park in Danville.

Here are the schedules for both, followed by some notes for spectators:

BASEBALL
At Admiral Field, Danville

Monday, May 28
First Round

Wayne County (18-14) vs. Mercer County (20-12), 10 a.m.
Somerset (24-11) vs. Lincoln County (20-17), 1 p.m.
West Jessamine (31-5) vs. Pulaski County (23-14), 4 p.m.
Danville (29-9) vs. Southwestern (25-13), 7 p.m.

Tuesday, May 29
Semifinals

Wayne County-Mercer County winner vs. Somerset-Lincoln County winner, 5:30 p.m.
West Jessamine-Pulaski County winner vs. Danville-Southwestern winner, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 30
Championship

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

SOFTBALL
At Millennium Park, Danville

Monday, May 28
First Round

Mercer County (28-7) vs. McCreary Central (17-20), 5:30 p.m.
Southwestern (16-10) vs. Pulaski County (14-23), 6 p.m.
Somerset (18-20) vs. Danville (17-17), 7:30 p.m.
Boyle County (27-11) vs. East Jessamine (18-19), 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 29
Semifinals

Mercer County-McCreary Central winner vs. Somerset-Danville winner, 6 p.m.
Southwestern-Pulaski County winner vs. Boyle County-East Jessamine winner, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, May 30
Championship

Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.

Notes for spectators:

• Fans attending the baseball tournament will not be permitted to park along the driveway that runs alongside Admiral Field. Parking will be at Admiral Stadium or at Bate Middle School. Fans are advised to park at the stadium; there is much more space available in the stadium parking areas than at the school.
• Baseball admission is $6.
• First-round games in the softball tournament will be played on two adjacent fields. Upper-bracket games (Mercer-McCreary and Somerset-Danville) will play on Panasonic Field, which is closest to the softball parking area; lower-bracket games (Southwestern-Pulaski and Boyle-East Jessamine) will play on the Centre College Field. The two semifinal games will be played on a single field.

The fields are set — but not the pairings! — for next week’s 12th Region baseball and softball tournaments in Danville.

Both tournaments will get under way Monday — that’s mandated by the KHSAA now — with baseball playing at Danville’s Admiral Field and softball at Millennium Park.

Here’s who’ll be playing, with champions, then runners-up listed in districts that have been decided:

Baseball

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

Softball

• 45th District: Boyle County, Danville (district final tonight)
• 46th District: Mercer County, East Jessamine
• 47th District: Somerset, Pulaski County
• 48th District: Southwestern, McCreary Central

The draw for the baseball tournament will be Saturday morning; the softball draw is Sunday afternoon. Check back here this weekend for schedules for both tourneys.

With this year’s early end to the tennis and track and field seasons, there are only two high school sports still to complete their seasons: baseball and softball. Postseason play begins in both sports today with the start of district tournaments.

The winner and runner-up from each district will advance to regional tournaments next week. Danville hosts the 12th Region baseball tournament, while Boyle County will host the 12th Region softball tournament at Millennium Park. Both regionals begin on Memorial Day.

Here are the schedules for Advocate-area district tournaments:

BASEBALL

45th District

At Lincoln County

• Monday: Danville (27-9) vs. Garrard County (13-22), 5:30 p.m.; Boyle County (19-14) vs. Lincoln County (19-16), 8 p.m.
• Wednesday: Championship, 6 p.m.

46th District

At Mercer County

• Monday: Mercer County (19-11) vs. Burgin (5-18), 5 p.m.; West Jessamine (29-5) vs. East Jessamine (13-23), 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday: Championship, 6 p.m.

47th District

At Casey County

• Monday: Somerset (22-11) vs. Casey County (7-25), 5:30 p.m.; Pulaski County (22-13) vs. Rockcastle County (17-16), 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday: Championship, 7 p.m.

SOFTBALL

45th District

At Millennium Park

• Tuesday: Danville (16-16) vs. Lincoln County (18-16), 6 p.m.; Boyle County (25-11) vs. Garrard County (2-25), 8 p.m.
• Thursday: Championship, 7 p.m.

46th District

At Burgin

• Monday: Mercer County (26-7) vs. Burgin (2-14), 6 p.m.
• Tuesday: East Jessamine (17-18) vs. West Jessamine (8-27), 6 p.m.
• Wednesday: Championship, 6 p.m.

47th District

At Casey County

• Monday: Pulaski County (13-22) vs. Casey County (3-18), 5:30 p.m.; Rockcastle County (13-22) vs. Somerset (16-20), 6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday: Championship, 5:30 p.m.

Advocate-area athletes won a total of three championships last week at the KHSAA State Track & Field Championships.

The winners:

• Kaitlin Snapp, Danville, Class A girls 1,600-meter run.
• Alex Bosse, Matthew Gammon, Dean Tyler and Landon Souder, Mercer County, Class 2A boys 3,200 relay.
• Cody Coffey, Lloyd Hall, Tommy Hastings and Nick Love, Boyle County, Class 2A boys 400 relay.

The best local team finishes belonged to the Boyle girls and Mercer boys, who were fourth and sixth, respectively, in their Class 2A divisions; and the Danville girls, who were sixth in their Class A division.

Mercer County has named former Boyle County coach and current Campbellsville University offensive coordinator Chris Pardue as its new football coach, according to a report from WKYT-TV in Lexington.

Pardue spent 16 years as an assistant coach or head coach at Boyle. He was 22-15 in three seasons as head coach, and he was the offensive coordinator for all five of Boyle’s championship teams from 1999-2003. He was inducted into Boyle’s football hall of fame last fall.

He continued to live in Perryville even as he spent the last four seasons at Campbellsville, where he helped lead the Tigers’ resurgence under head coach Perry Thomas.

Pardue becomes the fourth coach in five seasons at Mercer. He replaces Paul Rains, who resigned after a single 5-7 season to take the job at Letcher County Central.

On a side note, it seldom fails that whenever I take a couple of mental health days, I miss some news, and it’s happened again. Even so, I’ve come to realize more and more how much the mental health days matter. The rat race goes on even when you sit out a couple of laps now and then.

Regional track and field meets are being contested across the state this week, including the three meets that feature Advocate-area teams.

The regionals of local interest began Thursday with the Class AAA, Region 7 meet in Richmond, where six Lincoln County athletes won championships.

Two more regional meets will be held Saturday:

• Class A, Region 5 at Admiral Stadium: Includes Burgin, Danville. Begins 10 a.m.
• Class AA, Region 5 at Corbin: Includes Boyle County, Casey County, Garrard County, Mercer County. Begins 10 a.m.

Look for coverage of both meets in Sunday’s Advocate and at amnews.com.

Emily Fox of Lincoln County has been named to the Kentucky Junior All-Star basketball squad as part of a new format debuting this summer.

Fox won her spot at a tryout earlier this month. She is on one of two teams that will scrimmage the Kentucky All-Stars, who will be preparing for their summer series against the Indiana All-Stars. Her 12-person team will play June 6 in Louisville, two days after six of those girls and six other girls play another scrimmage in Lexington.

Following those games, 12 of the 18 players will be chose for scrimmages against the Indiana juniors June 15 in Indianapolis and June 16 in Goshen.