Lexington, Ky. — The Lawrence Co. Bulldog Softball team will be making appearance number three in the state tournament Friday night at John Cropp Stadium.
L to R Aleaha Gillispie, Leah Branham, Taylor Blevins, Ella Smith, Emalynn Kitts, Abby Maynard, Braylee Triplett, Millie Sammons, Addalyn Woods, Gracie Preece, Bree Jones, Addison Bowen, Baleigh Blackburn, Lexi Crum, Brinley Baisden, Madison Nix, Gracie Woods, Sophie Spillman, Jada Patton
The 15th Region champion Bulldogs are 24-7 on the year and will battle the 28-8 Marshall Co. Marshalls at 8:30 on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
The two programs have met one time previously in 2022 at Myrtle Beach with the Dawgs winning 2-1 behind Taylor Blevins in the circle.
The Bulldogs have won 9 games in a row including a 9-2 victory over 14th Region champion Letcher Co. Central who they could meet in the second round.
Freshman Emalynn Kitts has had a phenomenal year after missing last season, Kitts is the leader in batting average at .479 hits with 46, runs batted in with 44, doubles with 15, tied for the lead in homers with 5 and second in runs scored with 43 and stolen 18 bases and only been caught twice.
Back to back 15th region MVP Freshman Jada Patton is hitting .448 with 5 home runs, 43 hits, 40 runs scored, 13 doubles, 41 runs scored and stolen 19 bases and only been caught once.
Senior Bree Jones is the career hits leader in Bulldog history and is hitting .438 this year with 39 hits, team leader in runs scored with 46 and triples with 5, has 6 doubles, 16 runs batted in, 1 home run and is a perfect 22 for 22 in stolen bases.
Senior Gracie Preece who missed last year’s state tournament is hitting .384 with 3 home runs, 12 doubles, 33 hits, 32 runs batted in and 20 runs scored.
Freshman Addalyn Woods has battled a couple of injuries but is still hitting .376 scored 34 runs, 32 hits, 11 doubles, 2 homers, 28 runs batted in and 13 for 13 in the stolen base department.
Junior Ella Smith is batting .342 with 26 hits, 20 runs batted in, 23 runs scored, 2 doubles and 15 for 15 on stolen base attempts.
Senior Abby Maynard has done a great job behind the plate and manned a lot of responsibility and still had 20 hits, 11 runs batted in, 6 doubles, while hitting .238 on the year.
Sophomores Leah Branham and Millie Sammons, Freshman Lexi Crum and Aleaha Gillispie along with 7th Grader Brinley Baisden have all provided good performances this season.
Junior Taylor Blevins is 20-4 in the circle for the Bulldogs and is approaching 80 career wins. She has tossed 134 innings, 129 strikeouts, 45 earned runs, allowed 106 hits, walked 19 and has a ERA of 2.35 on the year.
Bulldog Head Coach Sam Sparks
“… We try to do everything we can to simulate what the game conditions will be in Lexington. The last few nights we have practiced at 8:30. It’s hard to tell if it helps or not but anything you can control we try and do that.”
“… It has sunk in since winning the region last Thursday. We had a huge emotional win and I don’t care if your the favorite or not it’s hard to win one of those. The girls really stepped up late in the game to get the job done. We had a lot going on around here with graduation Friday and grad stuff all weekend so we took a few days off and got back at Monday to get ready for Marshall County.”
“…Region 1 is kinda the birthplace of fast pitch softball 30 to 35 years ago and Marshall Co. McCrackan Co. Graves Co. and Ballard Memorial all those teams can play. They started 10 to 15 years before this part of the state. So who ever comes out of there can catch it, hit it and pitch it.”
“… We met back in 2022 at the Beach and there best player was a freshman in Allicen Harris and Taylor ( Blevins ) pitched for us in a 2-1 victory we also had a couple other kids on this team that was on that team. I think me and Kenny ( Horn ) were the only ones that realized how big a win it was. Probably not a lot of carry over from the day but we know they can play and they know we can play as well.”
“… We are leaving on Thursday because we don’t want to travel and play on the same day. Eat lunch and go over and watch Rowan Co. at 5:30 and let some the girls that weren’t here last year see the stadium were our dugout will be and kinda get acclimated then on Friday practice at Frederick Douglass have a late lunch then late them up and play some ball.”
