State baseball tournament preview: ‘Give me two more weeks.’ LexCath among hopefuls.

Last season, Lexington Catholic entered the state baseball tournament as the No. 1-ranked team, but exited with a disappointing loss to Apollo in the quarterfinals.

This year, the No. 15 Knights’ expectations remain high after their second straight 11th Region title. The vision chart is the same.

“I made a checklist for them,” LexCath coach Scott Downs said. “It was win the first game of district just to get to the regionals. And then we go win regionals. And now we play.

“And I’ve told them, ‘Now, give me two more weeks.’ Right? That’s all that’s all we need. Give me two more weeks, and we can have a good ol’ time.”

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s state baseball tournament begins Thursday at Legends Field with two rounds of action over three days and then moves to Kentucky Proud Park next weekend for the semifinals and finals.

Lexington Catholic opens with surprising 10th Region champion Mason County at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Royals entered the postseason with a middling 16-14 record. Their 39th District championship game loss to Bracken County forced them into a matchup with perennial favorite Harrison County in their region opener. They beat Harrison 4-3 in eight innings, knocked off George Rogers Clark 6-3 in the semis and shut out Bourbon County 8-0 in last Friday’s finals for their first 10th Region crown in 30 years.

“It feels amazing. It feels surreal for sure, because, honestly, I didn’t think it was going to happen toward the middle of the season and a little bit before,” Mason County senior Landon Scilley told WKYT after the championship. “But we put the work in and came out on top.”

Lexington Catholic rides a seven-game win streak into the state tournament and has been winning games during that stretch by grinding out hits and runs from every part of its order while getting solid pitching from starters Brody Rogers (8-0, 1.07 ERA), Burkley Bounds (6-2, 1.81 ERA) and Pierre Kauffman (5-5, 3.50 ERA). Louisville commit Owen Jenkins leads the team in hitting with a .467 average.

Mason County has four hitters batting at least .340 led by Cray Fite who has a team-high seven home runs and 40 RBI. Fite is also one of the Royals’ top pitchers with a 5-1 record and a 2.92 ERA. Scilley hits .390 with a 5-5 record on the mound and a 2.29 ERA.

“We had a magical week this week,” Mason County coach Jason Butler said after the title game. “If you love baseball, this is something every kid dreams of, even their head coach, because all I’m thinking about is how can I get our team over the hump for the first time in 30 years.”

When Mason County last won its region in 1994, the state tournament format was split into sectionals and didn’t culminate at a single site until the state semifinals. Lexington Catholic was the team that knocked Mason County of the sectional semifinals that year.

Tournament notes

Top-ranked teams: Seven teams ranked in the final PrepBaseballReport.com coaches’ poll top 25 have made it to Lexington — No. 1 Trinity, No. 3 McCracken County, No. 5 Pleasure Ridge Park, No. 11 Owensboro Catholic, No. 15 Lexington Catholic, No. 16 West Jessamine and No. 17 Ryle.

Tournament history: Making baseball’s “state tournament” has meant different things over the KHSAA’s history, so tracking tournament appearances is difficult. Pleasure Ridge Park’s six state titles (1994, 1995, 1996, 2008, 2013, 2017) are the most of any program in the field. McCracken County’s 10 straight appearances as 1st Region champs is the longest streak. McCracken has not missed a state tournament since the school opened for the 2013-14 school year. Other past state champions in the field are Lexington Catholic (1999, 2006, 2009), East Carter (1984), Owensboro Catholic (1985), Trinity (2021) and West Jessamine (2015).

Big league connections: LexCath coach Scott Downs was the state’s Mr. Baseball for Pleasure Ridge Park’s 1994 state champions before embarking on a standout career at the University of Kentucky and a 14-year career in Major League Baseball. West Jessamine assistant coach Austin Kearns, a Lafayette grad, signed with the Cincinnati Reds out of high school. He made his Reds debut in 2002 and had 121 homers in his 11-year MLB career. His son Aubrey is the Colts’ leading hitter.

College commitments: A number of players in the tournament have announced their future athletic plans with Louisville raking in the most commitments among the declared, according to PrepBaseballReport.com:

▪ Trinity’s Caleb Ricks, Kyle Campbell, Jake Schweitzer (Louisville), Dane Morrow (Tennessee), Evan Boeckmann (Wright State), Baxter Tedesco and Trevor Watkins (Transylvania), Carson Waddle (Centre) and Paul Osting (Lincoln Trail).

▪ McCracken County’s Ross Aldridge (Louisville), Miller Green (Western Kentucky), Caleb Ehling (Wright State), Jude Farley (John A. Logan) and Weston Miller and Scout Moffatt (Kentucky Wesleyan).

▪ Lexington Catholic’s Owen Jenkins (Louisville), Connor Busson (Gardner-Webb), Zach Grigalis (Colorado Mesa) and Cole Mischel (Transylvania).

▪ Corbin’s Kade Elam (Louisville), Walker Landrum (Morehead State) and Bradric Helton (Lincoln Memorial).

▪ Hopkinsville’s Zach Moss (Kentucky) and JJ Thompson (Wright State).

▪ Mason County’s Landon Scilley (Liberty) and Eli Porter (John A. Logan).

▪ Owensboro Catholic’s Brady Atwell (Western Kentucky) and Deuce Sims (Kentucky Wesleyan).

▪ Simon Kenton’s Logan Cones and Chad Atchley (Thomas More).

▪ West Jessamine’s Landon Davis (Western Kentucky) and Aubrey Kearns (Morehead State).

▪ Pikeville’s Dylan Thompson (Wabash Valley).

▪ Pleasure Ridge Park’s Hank Burns (Asbury).

▪ Ryle’s Tate Cordrey (Ohio Northern).

Top offensive threats: AJ Curry, Ryle (.580 avg); Blake Hall, East Carter (11 HRs and 55 RBI); Adam Walters, Russell County (44 runs); Houston Flynn, Owensboro Catholic (38 steals).

Best on the mound: Jackson Thompson, Hopkinsville (0.78 ERA and 128 Ks); Logan Canes, Simon Kenton (10 wins).

Team batting average leaders: East Carter (.361); McCracken County (.338); Trinity (.326).

Team runs leaders: Russell County (346); Trinity (343); McCracken County (293).

Team homers: Corbin (29); Mason County (22), Lexington Catholic (14).

Team ERA: McCracken County (1.31); Hopkinsville (1.95); Trinity (2.13).

Baseball State Tournament

At Legends Field, Thursday-Saturday; At Kentucky Proud Park, June 14-15.

Tickets: gofan.co/app/school/KHSAA

Streaming video ($): KHSAA.tv

Streaming audio (free): khsaa2.mixlr.com/events

Thursday’s first round

10 a.m.: Russell County (30-10) vs. Simon Kenton (27-13)

1:30 p.m.: Trinity (Louisville) (36-4) vs. Pikeville (25-9)

5 p.m.: LaRue County (19-17) vs. Pleasure Ridge Park (36-3)

8:30 p.m.: Mason County (20-15) vs. Lexington Catholic (26-11)

Friday’s first round

10 a.m.: East Carter (22-6) vs. Ryle (31-9)

1:30 p.m.: McCracken County (31-9) vs. West Jessamine (29-8)

5 p.m.: Owensboro Catholic (29-7) vs. Corbin (30-10)

8:30 p.m.: Estill County (16-17) vs. Hopkinsville (22-9)

Saturday’s quarterfinals

10 a.m.: Russell County-Simon Kenton winner vs. Trinity-Pikeville winner

1:30 p.m.: McCracken County-West Jessamine winner vs. East Carter-Ryle winner

5 p.m.: Owensboro Catholic-Corbin winner vs. Estill County-Hopkinsville winner

8:30 p.m.: Mason County-Lexington Catholic winner vs. LaRue County-Pleasure Ridge Park winner

June 14 semifinals

10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.: Final four

June 15 finals

3:30 p.m.: Championship game

State softball tournament preview: LexCath opens vs. record-breaker from Montgomery County