‘It’s exhilarating.’ Great Crossing, LexCath to collide for 11th Region softball title.

University of Kentucky softball signee Delani Sullivan doubled in the top of the seventh inning to drive home Ashtyn Holbrook and put the finishing touches on Great Crossing’s semifinal win over perennial power Lafayette in the 11th Region Tournament at Henry Clay High School on Tuesday night.

That RBI gave the Warhawks a 6-0 lead, a score that would hold up and secure Great Crossing’s place in Wednesday’s regional championship game, the winner of which advances to next week’s state tournament at UK.

“It feels so good, like I’m shaking,” Sullivan said. “It’s exhilarating. We’ve never been in the second round before, (and) won it, and so this is just so exciting.”

The bottom of the sixth brought some heat. The previously scoreless Generals demonstrated they weren’t going to accept defeat just yet, and put two runners on base with two outs. The five-run deficit provided a buffer, sure, but Lafayette is a team liable to match that.

The seventh-ranked Generals (25-5) made it to the semifinals, after all, with a 13-0 run-rule victory over Madison Southern in five innings the night before.

But Great Crossing pitcher Brenna Parker and the defense held strong, just as they’d done all game. And not only that, but they did it in style. With Lafayette’s Dani Brown on second and Kierstyn Kelley on first, Cumberlands signee Aniyah White stepped to the plate. She knocked a fly ball out to foul territory, and Great Crossing’s Ryann Livingston made a diving catch to end the inning.

For sixth-ranked Great Crossing (29-4), which picked up its seventh-consecutive victory, Tuesday’s semifinal was far more than a stop along the road.

“Lafayette, they hold not such a special place in our heart,” Great Crossing head coach Heath Sutton said. “They put us out of this tournament for the last two years in a row. And the tears shed on these fields in the postseason, you know, the girls turned that into fuel. And they told me when they got here, ‘Coach, it ain’t happening this year.’”

In addition to shutting out the Generals, Parker allowed just three hits and struck out four batters. Lafayette opened the game with Georgetown College signee Claire Cronan in the circle, but she was replaced by Transylvania signee Trinity Bridges after two innings. Bridges allowed three runs on two hits, in addition to walking a batter and striking out 11.

Great Crossing recorded eight hits and zero errors. Lafayette finished with four errors.

“We knew Brenna … she’s amazing,” Sullivan said. “She does it every single time, and she was ready for us. She trusted us. So it was a lot easier just knowing we had everybody’s back.”

Great Crossing was to take on Lexington Catholic in Wednesday night’s 11th Region championship game at Henry Clay. The schools did not meet during the regular season.

Lexington Catholic takes out Scott County

Tuesday night’s first 11th Region semifinal — a 4-0 shutout victory for Lexington Catholic (22-9) over Scott County (18-9) — featured an unusual play in the bottom of the third that nobody could stop talking about.

“How did they get two runs off that?” one onlooker said.

“Two more!” another laughed.

“Lucy, that was a great bunt,” a LexCath mom told catcher Lucy Nash after the game.

A bunt. Initially intended to progress Abby Hammond from first to second, the bunt from Nash resulted in both batters crossing home plate after a pair of Scott County errors prevented the Cardinals from securing an out.

“Abby gets on before me,” Nash explained. “We’re focused on scoring. So I do a job to, you know, score her in. So, Coach Em(ery Emmert) gives me the bunt sign, laid it down and just keep running until they stop you.”

Hammond couldn’t believe it, either.

“I was a little bit surprised that (Nash) got that sign,” Hammond laughed. “I mean, she does bunt quite a bit whenever I get on first, but, this time, she had a strike when she swung and I was like, ‘OK, she’s not bunting.’ And then I’m like, ‘Wait, he just called bunt!’ And then I just kept running because Coach Em was like, ‘Come on!’ It was kind of crazy!”

Outside of the two-run bunt, it was another strong showing for the Hammond-Nash connection. The duo combined for two runs and two hits in six at-bats, and anchored the Knights’ defense.

Hammond allowed just five hits over the course of seven innings. She walked zero batters and struck out seven: five more strikeouts than in Monday’s opening-round win over Madison Central.

“Abby struck out seven,” LexCath head coach Emmert said. “So we got 14 outs in the field. A few more strikeouts than last night, but the defense continues to play well. I’m just really happy. Abby’s gonna come out and do what she does every night. She’s a rock star.”

Emmert also appreciated the offensive fight shown by his ninth-ranked Knights, particularly with two outs.

The Knights scored with two outs in the first inning when Lydia Kennedy drove in Ava Emmert with a ground ball to left field.

In the sixth, it happened again. Kinley Willoughby got on base with two outs before being replaced by pinch runner Camden Perry, and Lauren Kelley tripled to send Perry home.

“There was a lot I loved about that game,” Emmert said. “Initially, I liked the fact that we scored first. There were two outs, and a lot of times teams will kind of put it away and just say ‘let’s go play defense’ when there’s two outs ... it’s just that fight with two outs. It didn’t matter how many outs there were, so that’s what I really liked. They were just focused the entire time.”

‘Playing for each other.’ Lexington Catholic shuts out Madison Central in region tourney.

‘Just a regular day.’ LexCath, Great Crossing keep calm, carry on in tense baseball semis.

‘It’s big.’ Great Crossing rallies from 5-0 deficit to grab its first region baseball win.