Christian County will make their first appearance in the state softball tournament Thursday when they play Marshall County for a second time this year.
The Lady Colonels (35-3) will play the First Region champs at 7:30 at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro.
Christian County is making their first appearance in the state tournament since 2012. The Lady Colonels went unbeaten against Kentucky schools, getting wins over eight schools ranked in the final coaches’ Top 25 rankings. One of those wins was a 4-3 victory over Marshall County on March 27.
The Lady Colonels are batting .374 as a team and average over nine runs a game. Sophomore Hope Jones leads the Lady Colonels with a .446 average. She hit five homers and had 37 RBIs.
Murray State commit Tyler Shemwell was the hero of the Second Region championship with a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to beat Caldwell County. The junior outfielder hit 12 homers and had 56 RBIs.
Senior Lexie O’Daniel (.425) and junior Emmy Blane (.420) are also batting over .400 for the Lady Colonels. O’Daniel has 13 homers and 43 RBIs, and Blane has smacked 15 over the fence and driven in 65 runs.
Senior Regan Hancock leads the team with 16 pitching wins. She has an ERA of 1.51. O’Daniel has seen her innings limited down the stretch. She is 14-2 with a 1.53 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 96 innings.
The Lady Colonel pitchers will be tasked with slowing down a Marshall County offense that is hitting .346 and averaging over six runs a game.
Like Christian County, the Lady Marshals (28-8) only have three seniors on their roster. One of those seniors is region player of the year Aubree Jo Kemp, who is 20-3 in the circle with a 2.46 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 134 innings pitched. She gave up five hits and three runs in five innings against the Lady Colonels in March.
Marshall County’s underclassmen are responsible for most of their offensive numbers. Freshman Sarena Tomassi leads the Lady Marshals with a .438 average. She has a pair of home runs and 15 runs batted in.
Junior Addie Young is batting .418 and also has a pair of home runs. Junior Gracey Murt leads the Lady Marshals with five home runs and 36 RBIs.
Marshall County is making only their second state tourney appearance and first since 2009.
Christian County has a 23-14 career record in the state tournament and will be making their ninth trip to the state tournament.
This year marks the final year the KHSAA will use the double elimination format at the state softball tournament.
