Lady Royals crowned district champs

Following the Mason County/ Augusta semifinal matchup, the Lady Royals then took on the Bracken County Lady Bears in the 39th district championship game Tuesday night.

The Lady Bears have had an incredibly strong season throughout 2024, and were hoping to cap off the 39th district tournament with another win, as they gear up for the 10th region tournament coming up next week. Coming into the contest as the underdogs, Mason County head coach Brian Littleton said in order to beat a team like Bracken County, we need to believe we can.

In the top of the first, lead off batter for the Lady Royals Kenzie Gulley doubled into left field, and stole her way to third. A single from Reese Hardeman would then bring Gulley home to score, the Lady Royals leading 1-0 over Bracken County heading into the bottom half of the inning.

“Kenzie gets on base and she’ll turn a single into a triple with two pitches. We knew that was the key for us, we knew it would be a low scoring game, and Kenzie getting on base and making things happen with her speed, and you can’t teach that.” said coach Littleton.

Two fly outs from sisters Kyndall and Ella Johnson, and a strikeout from pitcher Olivia Hughes to Savannah Kelsch would make quick work of the Lady Bears in the bottom of the first, sending Mason County back to the batters’ box. Unfortunately for the Lady Royals, despite a single from Sydney Ullery, a fly out from Karleigh Thomas, and two strikeouts from record-breaking pitcher Ella Johnson would then end the top of the second, Bracken County hoping to re-gain control of the contest heading into the bottom half of the inning. Reese Hargett would single, but a fly out from Jordan Ahrens, and two ground outs at first from Whitney Lippert and Kamryn Gordley would keep the Lady Bears scoreless heading into the top of the third.

Back at the top of the lineup for Mason County, Kenzie Gulley would single, and immediately work her way to third. Another single from Turner would then bring Gulley home to score, the Lady Royals leading 2-0 over the Lady Bears heading into the bottom half of the inning.

“Anytime Kenzie’s on base, she’s more than likely gonna score.” said Lady Bears head coach, Jamie Johnson, “I think both times she was on she scored, the other time she popped up, she’s not on base and we put up another zero, that’s always the goal. I think our defense played well, I think we had two errors but they didn’t cost us, it was Kenzie getting on base and moving around.”

Both team’s defenses stayed strong throughout the rest of the contest, allowing no runs scored from either team. Bracken County continued put runners on, but were unable to bring them home to score, as Mason County continued to try to further their lead over the Lady Bears.

“We talked, and really worked on our defense hard throughout the last couple of years. I couldn’t tell you how many thousands of ground balls we’ve hit them inside the Straub Elementary gym, and to where you could tell them, I know it seems like we’re just doing the same thing over and over, but we are doing the same thing over and over, because the ground balls hit to you are the ones you’re gonna see in a game, and it might be a time where you need to make that play to help us win a district or a region.” said coach Littleton.

As the final few innings of the contest went by, Mason County continued to successfully hold off Bracken County’s offense, maintaining their two point lead throughout the bottom of the seventh.

“Mason County out played us. They made some dag-gone good plays in the field, they were able to generate some runs, and we couldn’t get enough base runners on to even generate runs, it’s only the second time we’ve been shut out all season. Just couldn’t get the bats going.” said coach Johnson.

Mason County took the contest 2-0, winning their first district championship since 2021.

“We told them before the game, we were an underdog. Bracken is picked to win, as they should, but all the years I’ve been around the game there has been a lot of underdogs win games.” said coach Littleton, “This is a big win, and I feel good because we just beat a great team in Bracken County, who’s far from done, they could do some damage. If I’m the winners in the region, that’s one team I don’t wanna draw the first round, and Ella Johnson’s not only a great basketball and softball player but a great person on and off the field and we wish her the best in her future endeavours. They’re just a great team and had another great year, but the underdog wins, and sometimes we like that underdog, don’t we?”