Lewis County’s Sarah Paige Weddington crosses home plate during the Lady Lions 10-6 victory over Wolfe County at the KHSAA semi-state tournament at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington. (Chris Leach)

Lewis County’s Sarah Paige Weddington crosses home plate during the Lady Lions 10-6 victory over Wolfe County at the KHSAA semi-state tournament at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington. (Chris Leach)

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

LEXINGTON — It had been 727 days since the last time a state tournament softball game was played in Kentucky prior to Friday’s KHSAA semi-state matchup between Lewis County and Wolfe County. The stands at John Cropp Stadium were packed with hundreds of fans from both counties and were eager for action after the cancellation of last year’s tournament.

It did not take long for that thirst to be quenched.

An eight-run third inning was the deciding factor in the Lady Lions’ 10-6 victory over the Lady Wolves on Friday. The win advances Lewis to the quarterfinals of the state tournament, which will take place on June 18.

“We’re happy to be advancing to the next round. To be in the final eight is a statement in itself. Really happy for the girls,” Lady Lions coach Joe Hampton said after the game.

The 10 runs marks the 10th time this season and the second time this postseason that the Lady Lions reached the double-digit run mark in a game. Collectively they recorded 20 hits, with every batter in the starting lineup registering at least one hit.

Kayla Sullivan and Alanna Puente led the way with three base hits. Sullivan brought in the most runs with four while Puente was right behind her teammate with three.

“It seems like our bats are kind of hot and cold and I never know which one we’re going to get but I was excited when they came out swinging like that,” Hampton said. “I thought Kayla started us off on the right foot right out the gate.”

Wolfe jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning but that would be its only lead of the game after the eight-run third from the Lady Lions. Alanna Puente got the scoring started in the inning with a two-RBI double, which gave the Lady Lions a 2-1 lead.

The momentum did not stop there, as Lewis eventually loaded the bases, leading to a bases-clearing triple from Kayla Sullivan that brought in three runs and extended its lead to 6-1.

“I was super nervous because I was wanting to drive all the runs in and it was an outside pitch and I just hit it how I was supposed to,” Sullivan said.

Maddie Johnson, Sarah Weddington and Madison Liles also brought in runs in the inning to cap off the eight-run frame.

Wolfe responded with a run in the bottom of the inning before a nearly two-hour weather delay paused all action on the field. The Lady Lions killed the time by mostly talking according to Sullivan while also staying focused on the task at hand.

After the delay and a quick at-bat by Lewis, its ace Emily Cole struck out two batters in the bottom of the fourth inning to help quickly end the inning. She finished the game with nine strikeouts, six of which came after the weather delay, while giving up 12 hits, six runs and four walks in a complete game performance.

“This is a big setting for her. She’s on the spotlight. She knows it. She knows a lot of people are here watching her so you can imagine that she’s going to have some nerves she doesn’t have in a normal game, even in a normal postseason game,” Hampton said. “This setting and so forth is tough to play in and I thought she did extremely well.”

The loss for the Lady Wolves ends their season with a 23-10 record. It was their second consecutive season-ending loss in the semi-state round after a 3-0 loss to Clay County in 2019.

“We had an up and down regular season but the kids turned it on during the postseason. A lot of people didn’t give us a chance to come out of the 14th Region and our kids fought and fought and got better as the year gone on and pulled it out,” Lady Wolf Head Coach Benny Campbell said. “We held around today, battled. We had one bad inning, kind of cost us the game but our kids never quit. That’s all you can ask out of your kids.”

Lewis will be back in action in one week when it faces either Johnson Central or Boyle County in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. The Lady Lions played Johnson Central earlier in the season on April 8 and lost 4-1.

A start time for June 18’s game has not been announced yet.

“We’re really excited. I’m really confident that we’ll get the win,” Sullivan said.