May 16—MT. VERNON — Fueled by an upset victory over 12th Region top contender East Jessamine on Saturday, the Somerset Lady Jumpers began their postseason journey at Rockcastle County on Monday evening. The Jumpers were the number one seed in the 47th District Tournament and were set to face a Casey County team that they had beat both times they played in the regular season.

However, Somerset was in for a much tougher game than they expected, as the Lady Rebels stayed right with them for a majority of the evening's contest. After a stern challenge, the Lady Jumpers prevailed, making it past the Rebels by a score of 8-5.

Casey County sophomore Kennedy Neat had a single with one out that was followed by a double from Aslan Wethington in the top of the first. The Lady Rebels scored the first runs of the game as eighth grader Harmony Meece hit a shot to center field to give herself a two RBI double. An error allowed freshman Elizabeth Forbes to reach safely and also gave Casey a 3-0 lead after the top of the first.

A walk on Jazlynn Shadoan, a single with one out from Mollie Lucas and another walk on Carly Cain loaded the bases up quickly for Somerset in the bottom of the first. A two RBI single from Emme Goforth brought the Casey County lead down to just 3-2 before the frame came to a close.

After a quick top of the second that saw Cain grab her first strikeout on the mound, Kayleigh Bartley singled to begin the bottom of the inning. Two more singles from Maddie Lynn and Shadoan with one out gave Somerset another quick chance to score. Bartley scored on a passed ball to tie the game up before a pop out from Emry Pyles gave Somerset a 4-3 lead. Meece grabbed her second strikeout of the inning to retire the side.

Somerset added to their lead in the bottom of the third, as Cain jumped on the first pitch she seen, smoking it to deep left field for the home run to make it 5-3 for the Jumpers.

It didn't take long for the Lady Rebels to get that run back, as Forbes found great contact on the first pitch she seen for a lead-off home run as well, making it 5-4. A single from junior Gaeda Gertler was followed soon after by an error that allowed freshman Mia Price to reach base. A sacrifice fly RBI from junior Hannah Means tied the game up at 5-5. Shadoan also left the game due to injury after colliding with another defender. Best wishes to her on a speedy recovery.

Lynn led off the bottom of the fourth with a big hit to center field for a triple and soon found her way home after a ground out from Kylie Spencer to make the score 6-5 for Somerset. Two singles from Pyles and Lucas were followed by Goforth reaching after getting hit by a pitch, loaded up the bases. A walk on Grace Prichard scored the seventh run of the evening for Somerset before an RBI single from Bartley made the score 8-5 in favor of the Lady Jumpers.

Casey County threatened in the top of the fifth after a double from senior Macie Lee and a walk on Forbes, but a strikeout from Cain got the Jumpers out of the jam.

The Jumpers had a chance to score again in the bottom of the fifth, as following a walk on Spencer, a double from Lucas and an intentional walk on Cain, the bases were loaded with two outs on the scoreboard. All the runners were stranded following another strikeout from Meece, however.

A bunt single from Kennadi Asher was all the Jumpers could do in the bottom of the sixth, as Casey was now down to their final three outs. A single from Neat was followed by a single from Meece with one out already secured, bringing the game-tying run to the plate. A fly out to Prichard in right and a pop out to Lynn at first base retired the side soon after, giving Somerset an 8-5 victory.

The Lady Jumpers were led by two RBI's from Goforth, with Spencer, Pyles, Cain, Prichard and Bartley all adding one RBI each. Cain also had a home run and struck out two on the mound. Casey County was led by two RBI's from Meece.

Somerset will advance to the 47th District championship game, where they will square off against the Rockcastle County Lady Rockets.

Jacob Pratt is the Sports Editor of the Commonwealth Journal and can be reached at jpratt@somerset-kentucky.com. You can follow him on Twitter @PrattTheNation