11th Region softball quarterfinals: Lafayette outduels Station; LexCath escapes Douglass

Lafayette senior shortstop Jenna Wells led the Generals’ charge in their 4-2 victory at Bryan Station in the 11th Region softball tournament quarterfinals Monday night.

Wells delivered two runs on two hits in four at-bats, a well-timed lift by Lafayette’s trusty leadoff hitter. Wells, who said she’d been off her game ahead of the 11th Region Tournament, had just one thing on her mind — “just get on base.”

“It’s my primary job to get on base as leadoff hitter,” Wells said. “And I’ve been struggling, but my teammates have been there to back me up. So that was really helpful.”

Wells put the (Generals 20-15) on the board first in a rather unique manner, opening the game with a successful bunt to third and reaching first base. She was brought home three batters later, when freshman Addison Combs nailed a line drive to right field. Wells scored again in the third, courtesy of a Brynna Harris RBI single. Again, it was a bunt that got Wells on base; this time, however, that bunt to open the third inning resulted in Wells’ advancing to third due to a Bryan Station error.

“She was amazing. She’s got a lot of speed, but also a lot of skill,” Lafayette head coach Dan Grantz said. “So her ability to lay down bunts and get on base for us meant a lot. It gave the rest of the team confidence because that was a good pitcher (Bryan Station’s Karsyn Rockvoan); we didn’t get a lot of hits against her tonight. But Jenna just kept trucking and then taking advantage of mistakes if they made any, like turning a could’ve-been-an-out to a triple, now we end up scoring a run.”

Wells and Rockvoan go way back.

“I would say (Rockvoan) knows me really well,” Wells said. “I mean, we’ve played in the past, we grew up playing. She knows exactly what I can hit and what I can’t hit, so on pitchers like this, when I have bunting in my arsenal, I just kind of keep that out there.”

Rockvoan pitched the entire game, striking out nine batters and allowing four runs on six hits. She threw 100 pitches in total, with 72 of those called strikes; the Generals had to be strategic, and that strategy was baked into their approach — attack on offense when possible, and execute defensively.

“Man, so many plays, we had a couple of double plays, got lead runners out when we needed them and held them to two runs,” Grantz said. “That’s a good offensive team. To only hold them to two runs is very difficult to do. Their pitcher kept us off balance the whole game, so we had to use some small ball to mix it in and use our speed to our advantage and it worked. But I want to give my hat’s off to coach (Hector) Urbaneja. He’s done a fantastic job with this team. They’ve come a long way. I hate that we had to end their season because I know how far they’ve come. But nobody expected us to be here, even though we’ve been here in the past. So we’re not done.”

Sophomore Lyla Hould and junior Rylan Music split time in the circle for Lafayette, with Hould allowing just two runs on six hits through six innings. Hould held Bryan Station (18-12) scoreless through three innings, maintaining the Generals’ 3-0 lead built by Wells and Harris, who crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly RBI from Combs in the top of the third.

After a two-run home run from Bryan Station’s Kynedi Birdsong pulled the Defenders within one run in the fourth, Hould held strong. She didn’t allow Bryan Station to come any closer, even stranding two Defenders on base in the bottom of the fifth.

An error in the top of the seventh following a Harris grounder gave the Generals some more insurance, with catcher Skylar Davis coming home to put Lafayette up 4-2.

When the Defenders stepped up to bat in the bottom of the seventh, they zeroed in with nothing to lose. Brooke Weathers and DeAsya Lewis strung together singles, causing Grantz to pause the action and make a pitching change.

With Defenders on first and second and no outs, Music took over and retook the momentum; she immediately struck out a batter. Ten of Music’s 15 pitches were called strikes. The Lafayette defense stood tough behind her, recording a pair of groundouts to punch the team’s ticket to the semifinals, which were to be played on the Generals’ home field.

“I think that we jumped on them early and our bats came around,” Music said of the win. “And then our defense was on fire the whole time. … Playing at home, we definitely have the home-field advantage and it means a lot.”

Monday’s other quarterfinals

Lexington Catholic 3, Frederick Douglass 2: A wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning kept 43rd District champion Lexington Catholic’s season alive at home.

Lauren Moore scored on the bases-loaded miscue to secure Lexington Catholic a spot in Tuesday’s semifinals. The tying run came in the bottom of the sixth, when Aevea Mosley-Franklin scored from second base on an error.

The Knights (24-2) were first on the board. Sydney Ford scored when Ava Emmert walked with the bases loaded in the second.

Frederick Douglass scored its runs in the third, with Savannah Wombles coming home on an Aaliyah Long RBI before Long scored on a Catholic error.

Lexington Catholic ace and UK commit Abby Hammond struck out 12 and allowed one hit and two runs in seven innings. Haley McGuire struck out eight and allowed three runs on two hits for Frederick Douglass (17-15).

Great Crossing 14, Madison Southern 4: The host Warhawks (25-8) secured their fourth straight 11th Region Tournament semifinals appearance.

Great Crossing won in a five-inning rout, picking up three runs on three hits from Alivia Matusik, and two runs on two hits from both Ashtyn Holbrook and Ryann Livingston. Aubrey Green drove in four runs on three hits, and scored two runs of her own, including a home run to center in the second inning.

The Warhawks scored five runs in the first, courtesy of an Emma Sutton RBI and singles from Matusik, Kendall Meade and Green. Great Crossing added seven more runs in the second with singles from Livingston and pitcher Brenna Parker, a triple from Matusik and Green’s three-run homer. Its final two runs came in the fourth on a two-run homer from Meade.

Madison Southern (18-16) scored all four of its runs in the fourth, thanks to singles from Anna Kate Cress and Lexie Keener.

Madison Central 1, Western Hills 0: Andrea Linton’s second-inning home run proved to be the difference for the host Indians (23-5).

Senior Cassidy Gentry anchored the circle for Madison Central, striking out three and allowing just two hits in seven innings, throwing 82 pitches.

Addison Watson allowed one run on three hits in 86 pitches for Western Hills (19-13).

11th Region Tournament

At Lafayette

Tuesday

5:30 p.m.: Great Crossing (25-8) vs. Lexington Catholic (24-2)

8 p.m.: Lafayette (20-15) vs. Madison Central (23-5)

Wednesday

6:30 p.m.: Championship game

11th Region baseball quarterfinals: Three close calls and one major upset