KHSAA Eighth Region baseball championship: Shelby County beats Woodford County for title

Shelby County had plenty of chances to win the Eighth Region baseball championship Thursday, and they were finally able to cash one in.

Jaxson Carter’s one-out single in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Rockets (29-9) to a 4-3 victory over defending champion Woodford County in the title game at the University of Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium.

Shelby County, the No. 17 team in the PBR Kentucky/KHSBCA Power 25, will face No. 5 McCracken County in the first round of the KHSAA Clark’s Pump-N-Shop State Tournament. They’ll play at 10 a.m. at Counter Clocks Field in Lexington next Thursday.

The ninth did not start well for the Rockets. Catcher Foster Whisman singled for his third hit of the game to start the inning, but his courtesy runner was caught stealing when Hunter Cook could not execute the hit-and-run on a high pitch. He eventually walked. Isaac Voight replaced him and advanced on a passed ball and a balk by Kemp to get to third.

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After Myles Strong walked, Rockets coach Steve Kingsolver called for the squeeze play with Carter, who fouled off his two chances.

Kingsolver didn’t say anything to Carter after missing on the two bunt attempts.

“He’s just one of those guys,” the coach said. “He’s just kind of calm inside. You don’t really calm him down too much. He’s a good hitter. We tried to squeeze, it didn’t work, but I had complete faith in him.”

Two pitches later, that faith paid off.

On a 1-2 pitch from Cook, Carter lined a base hit into right center. Before reaching first base, the junior threw his helmet in the air as his teammates came out of the dugout to celebrate the school’s first trip to the state tournament in 13 years.

“I was like, ‘Well, just got to keep swinging,'” Carter said. “I noticed he was throwing a lot of fastballs, so I was just sitting on that.”

That perseverance is indicative of the team’s nature, Kingsolver said. They may make mistakes, but they move past them.

“We are a team, 100%,” he said. “We find ways to win based on how we attack the game. We don’t bunt a lot. We steal a lot of bases. We do a lot of hit-and-run. It’s every man’s job to make the next man’s job easier. That’s the way we go about it.”

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Kemper Whisman (2-for-4) made his team’s job easier. He pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk. He also struck out eight before giving way to Cook in the eighth, who retired all five batters he faced.

The only blemish for Whisman was a two-out, two-run double by Brayden Burton that tied the game at 3 in the top of the sixth.

Whisman, a senior, said he remained confident even after the Rockets missed out on opportunities to win.

“I really just tried to keep everyone up in the dugout,” he said. “We still got more opportunities to score, and I think everybody was fine. Everybody kept their attitude up.”

The ninth inning was the third opportunity the Rockets had in the game to walk it off against the No. 13 Yellow Jackets (26-12). Carter came up in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and the bases loaded, but Woodford County second baseman Justus Wertzler got to the slow roller up the middle to get the inning-ending out at first.

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Whisman, who had singled in his previous two at-bats, had a chance in the eighth with runners at second and third. But the senior hit a hard grounder to third base that Collin Kemp snagged diving to his left and threw out Whisman to keep the game going.

Cook, who earned tournament MVP honors, admitted some doubts crept in after the team failed to score in the eighth, but after missing on the hit-and-run, he looked to make up for it and drew the walk that ultimately led to the win.

“You can’t think of the negatives,” he said. “You’ve got to find some positive out of it, no matter if it’s your fault or not. That’s what I did.” WOODFORD COUNTY 001 002 000 – 3 8 1

SHELBY COUNTY 101 100 001 – 4 11 1

W: Hunter Cook (2-1). L: Collin Kemp (1-1). 2B: Brayden Burton (WC). 3B: Brandon Rankin (WC).

All-tournament team: Tyler Pedigo (Oldham County); Davis Gunn (South Oldham); Landon Isaacs (Henry County); Cameron Fitzgerald (Owen County); Logan Cones and Gavin Riley (Simon Kenton); Lance Coleman and Cayden Smithers (Walton-Verona); Collin Kemp, Taylor Penn and Brandon Rankin (Woodford County); Kemper Whisman, Carter White and Jack Wills (Shelby County).

Tournament MVP: Hunter Cook (Shelby County).