Faith Harris did it for K.B.
In a battle between two of the top teams in the state, and one more befitting of a regional final, the Butler junior catcher’s RBI single in the third inning proved to be the difference as the Bearettes beat Bullitt East 1-0 in the Sixth Region Tournament quarterfinals Monday at Shively Park.
“It was a sweet victory, payback from last year,” said Harris, whose team lost 4-1 to the Chargers in last season’s regional quarterfinals.
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With the win Butler (25-6-1), which is No. 11 in the state coaches poll, will play No. 19 Holy Cross (26-10-1), which bombed Bullitt Central 11-1 Monday, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the region semifinals at the University of Louisville’s Ulmer Stadium.
Monday’s meeting marked the fifth straight year the Bearettes and Bullitt East had met in the region tournament. They’d split those previous four games. The rubber match was a battle between the two who toed the rubber – Butler junior ace Hailey Whitmer and Bullitt East sophomore Taylor Roby. Both allowed only two hits apiece.
Roby gave up a single in the bottom of the second before getting out of a 2-on, 1-out jam. She wasn’t as fortunate in the third, though.
Anna Greenwell, the Bearettes’ No. 9 hitter, drew a leadoff walk to begin the inning. The fleet-footed freshman moved to second on a sacrifice bunt then took third on a passed ball. After the latter, Butler coach Brittany Braun called Harris out of the batter’s box.
“The first thing I said was, ‘K.B.’” Braun recalled afterward. “She has a friend who died this year of cancer, and that’s what her initials were.”
Harris’ friend, Katie Buchanan, passed away in April. To honor her she wrote Buchanan’s initials on her batting gloves and inside her helmet.
“I touch them before every at-bat,” she said.
Possibly with a little help from her friend, Harris delivered the game’s biggest hit – grounding a single through the right side of the infield to score Greenwell.
“I knew that she (Roby) was coming in hard, she’d probably come in with a rise ball, so I waited on it a little longer,” Harris said.
That was just enough offense for Whitmer, who in addition to giving up a pair of two-out singles, struck out 10 and didn’t let a Chargers baserunner past second base. But No. 5 Bullitt East didn’t make it easy for her. It put runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings.
In the seventh Whitmer yielded a leadoff walk to Lindsey Renniesen, the Chargers’ cleanup hitter. She was erased moments later, though, when Harris threw her out as she tried to steal second.
“I was not expecting a steal, because he (Bullitt East coach Ricky Hoffman) hadn’t done it all game,” Harris said. “Then I heard that she was going, someone screamed it really loud, and I saw her start to move and I just popped up and threw it.”
From there Whitmer induced Hannah Dahl into a fly out to deep left field before making Krista Watts her 10th strikeout victim of the game.
“She had a few that were a little far in, or out, but she was definitely on today,” Harris said of Whitmer.
It was a difficult end of the season for Bullitt East (23-5), which won its first 16 games as well as six of its last eight in the regular season, but lost its last two. The Chargers were upset by Fern Creek, 2-0, in last week’s 24th District championship game before Monday’s loss to Butler.
“We had one hit (actually two), we lost, that’s it. That’s a good team,” Bullitt East coach Ricky Hoffman said.
* Holy Cross 11, Bullitt Central 1: Ally Klein was 3 for 3 with two doubles and four RBIs to lead No. 19 Holy Cross (26-10-1) past visiting Bullitt Central (11-21). Shelby Atzinger was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
* Fern Creek 10, Fairdale 0: Kayte Blandford went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs to lead the host Tigers (14-19) over the Bulldogs (9-12). Jessica Leonhardt (13-13) got the victory, allowing one hit and striking out eight in five innings.
* North Bullitt 18, Doss 0: Savannah Guelda homered and tripled to lead the host Eagles (10-20) over the Dragons (3-10-1). Katie Brewer tossed a three-inning no-hitter, struck out five and doubled.
BULLITT EAST 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
BUTLER 001 000 x – 1 2 1
WP – Hailey Whitmer (13-5). LP – Taylor Roby (N/A).
BULLITT CENTRAL 000 100 – 1 4 1
HOLY CROSS 112 403 – 11 15 1
WP – Allie Just (9-5). LP – Annabelle Leonard (N/A). 2B – Hodge (BC), Klein 2 (HC), Atzinger 2 (HC).
FAIRDALE 000 00 – 0 1 4
FERN CREEK 050 5x – 10 11 0
WP – Jessica Leonhardt (13-13). LP – Tiffany Price (8-9). 3B – Conforti (FC). 2B – Davidson (F), Blandford (FC).
DOSS 000 – 0 0 6
NORTH BULLITT 8(10)x – 18 14 0
WP – Katie Brewer. LP – Megan Kramer. HR – Guelda (NB). 3B – Guelda (NB), Brewer (NB). 2B – Knight (NB), Wayne (NB), Sizemore (NB).