Lexington, Ky In the first round of the KHSAA State Tournament it was Madison Central defeating Lawrence County 7-1 on Thursday at John Cropp Stadium.
#4 Brinley Baisden fields a groundball and throws to #34 Aleaha Gillispie for the third out.
Highlights from the State Tournament game below.
The Indians got on the board in the first inning on a bunt, stolen base, ground out and a perfectly placed base hit that alluded second baseman Brinley Baisden. They added two more runs in the second and a single run in the third to lead 4-0.
After a shutdown inning by Taylor Blevins the Dawgs picked up their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on a triple from Jada Patton and then cut the lead to 4-1 on a Brinley Baisden single of the middle with two outs.
Madison Central put the game away in the top of the seventh inning with three runs on only one hit. The Bulldogs put two runners on in the seventh but couldn’t push any across.
#41 Jada Patton awaits the pitch in the State Tournament.
Patton tripled and scored a run, Baisden singled and drove in a run, Taylor Blevins was hit by a pitch, Emalynn Kitts walked.
Taylor Blevins was tagged with the loss going seven innings in her final career appearance as a Bulldog, struck out three, allowed no walks, gave up 13 hits and five earned runs.
#3 Taylor Blevins focuses in on the hitter as #8 Addalyn Woods gets ready to field.
The Bulldogs will end the season with a 23-13 record, a Class 2A Section title, another 58th District title and the third straight 15th Region title.
Madison Central ( 27-8 ) will now face the #1 team in the state South Warren ( 42-0 ) on Saturday at 1:00 after the Spartans beat Oldham County 12-0 in the final game of the day.
Bulldog Head Coach Sam Sparks
“ They are a legitimate team, if you come out of the 11th Region you’re one the better teams in the state. The 11th Region tournament is probably better than some of these games down here. The pitcher is legit and they got hitters up and down the lineup. Throw away those junk runs in the seventh, it should have been 4-1 coming to our final at bat we had two on and then you never know..”
“ Our girls battled all game and I thought once Taylor got in a groove we would settle in and make a comeback. Any time you can finish your season in June at John Cropp Stadium you’ve had a good year and this program has done that three years in a row. Hopefully we can build on this for next year.”
“ Braylee Triplett is a legacy player, the last of three sisters that has given a lot to our program. Ella Smith is one the nicest human beings you will ever meet and one the best student-athletes I’ve ever coached, I would like to have two dozen of her, she is going to missed tremendously. And there isn’t much I can say about Taylor that I haven’t already said. She has set records that will never be broken, a great leader for our program on and off the field, and she has to be in the conversation for best player in school history.”
