Russell, Ky — Louisa Middle wins their first ever OVC softball championship with a 3-0 victory over Johnson Co. on Thursday evening.
LMS Lady Dawgs Win OVC Championship
L to R bottom Maddison Nix, Blaire Cantrell, Brook McCoy, Addison Bowen, Aleaha Gillispie, Jules Sisca, Shannon Marcum, Shylah Muncy
L to R top Gracie Woods, Skyler Horn, Claire Wells, Sophie Spillman, Laila Dolen, Brinley Baisden, Anna Compton, Kimber Stacy, Jenna Vanhoose
Coaches
Matt Baisden
Amber Triplett
Shane Bowen
Junior Salyer
Bobby Baisden Bookkeeper
Louisa went 4-0 in the single elimination tournament this year, with hard fought wins over Lewis County 3-1, beat Greenup County 8-4 ousted Fleming Co. 7-6 and then JC in the title game.
The Dawgs finished their season with a 16-5 record and won 9 of their last 10 games. The one loss in the stretch coming at JC on April 20th 6-5 in walk-off fashion.
Aleaha Gillispie started in the circle on Thursday and pitched a complete game shut out for the Dawgs without walking a single batter.
LMS scored one in the first inning when Gracie Woods singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Gillispie and Sophie Spillman both hit singles to start the 4th and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Brooklyn McCoy.
Woods, Brinley Baisden, Gillispie, Anna Compton, Spillman, and Shannon Marcum each collected hits for the Dawgs.
In the field, the Lady Dawgs played spectacular. JC threatened in the bottom of the 4th but the inning ended on an amazing play at the plate by 3rd baseman Addison Bowen, and catcher Sophie Spillman. They threatened again in the bottom of the 5th but the inning ended with fly outs to RF Madison Nix and CF Anna Compton.
COACHES COMMENTS
“… We couldn’t be more proud of these girls after defeating four really good teams to bring home the championship. JC has a really good team and hit the ball better than any other team throughout the tournament. But Gillispie, who pitched awesome the entire tournament, really showed up to play in the championship game. She was hitting her spots perfectly and generating the kind of hits that we wanted. She was backed up by some amazing defense the entire game. We continually preached to the girls to come out hot and steal the momentum from the get go and that’s exactly what they did scoring 10 runs in the 1st inning of our 4 games. The future looks bright for Lawrence County Softball.”