By Ryan Davenport, WSON Sports Correspondent 

The Henderson County Lady Colonels faced off against the Great Crossing Lady Warhawks in the Opening Round of the KHSAA FastPitch Softball State Tournament in Lexington.

Lady Colonels sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp would strike out 2 of the 3 batters she faced in the top of the 3rd inning. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Lady Colonels would get on the board first with a 2 out RBI single by senior second baseman Anna Willett to give the Lady Colonels a 1-0 lead heading into the top of the 4th inning. 

 

In the top of the 4th inning, the Lady Warhawks would get on the board with an RBI single by sophomore first baseman Emma Sutton to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the 4th inning. 

The Lady Colonels would have a big bottom of the 4th in which they would score on a 2 run RBI single by junior catcher Hallie McCracken, a RBI double by freshman Mackenzie Burczyk, and a RBI double by sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp as the Lady Colonels would score 4 runs out of those 3 plays and take a 5-1 lead heading into the top of the 5th inning. 

 

The Lady Warhawks would score on a 1 out RBI double by freshman right fielder Aubrey Green in the top of the 6th to narrow the Lady Colonel lead to 5-2 heading into the bottom of the 6th inning. 

The Lady Colonels scored in the bottom of the 6th inning on a RBI single by sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp to extend the Lady Colonels lead to 6-2 heading into the top of the 7th inning.

 

The Lady Colonels would not give up another run and go on to defeat the Lady Warhawks 6-2 to advance to the Elite 8 of the State Softball Tournament. The Lady Colonels improve their record to (31-5) on the season while the Great Crossing Lady Warhawks end their season with a (30-5).

 

Lady Colonel’s sophomore Anna Kemp was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI’s while freshman Mackenzie Burczyk was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles and 1 RBI on the night. 

 

Lady Colonels sophomore pitcher Anna Kemp pitched 7 innings while allowing 7 hits and 2 runs while only walking 2 batters and recording 12 strikeouts on the night. 

 

As a team, the Lady Colonels scored 6 runs and recorded 8 hits, 6 RBI’s, 3 doubles, 0 errors, and 1 stolen base on the night.

 

Henderson County Lady Colonels head coach Shannon Troutman talked about his team’s performance on his team’s win in the opening round of the State Tournament, “It was a great game. The kids played wonderful. Back half of my lineup carried us, the front half struggled a little bit tonight. I’ve said numerous times that I think that we’ve got the best lineup 1 through 9 and they proved it tonight. Anna Kemp pitched wonderfully again and she’s really putting the team on her back and I love it.” 

 

The Lady Colonels will take on the 5th Region Champion, the Central Hardin Lady Bruins on Saturday night, June 3rd, at 8:00 P.M. in the Quarterfinals of the 2023 State Softball Tournament in Lexington at John Cropp Stadium.