OWENSBORO, Ky. – Sitting pretty after back-to-back wins to open the state tournament, the Male High School softball team ultimately ran into a pair of fellow powerhouses and was sent home.
A 2-0 loss to No. 3-ranked Scott County sent the Bulldogs to the consolation bracket and they were eliminated Friday night in an 8-2 loss to No. 1 McCracken County at Jack C. Fisher Park.
No. 7 Male finished 31-10 and tied with East Carter for fifth place in the tournament.
“It was a great season, and I love my team,” Bulldogs coach Josh Bloomer said. “They fought, they grew and they’re fun to be around. Too many people say if you don’t win a state championship, it’s a failure. Getting to state is quite an accomplishment, and we lost to the No. 3 team and the No. 1 team.”
McCracken County (40-3) won four games Saturday and advanced to face No. 10 Daviess County (35-8) at 10 a.m. EDT Saturday in the consolation bracket. No. 2 Madisonville-North Hopkins (36-3) and Scott County (34-2) will meet in the 10 a.m. winners bracket final. The championship game is set for 2 p.m., with a second game to follow if necessary in the double-elimination tournament.
After falling to Male 3-1 in Thursday’s first round, defending state champion McCracken County avenged the loss in a big way Friday.
Abby Shoulders played the biggest role, going 3 for 4 with two doubles and five RBIs. The left fielder also made a strong throw home to nail Male’s Morgan Zuege trying to score in the fifth inning after the Bulldogs had pulled within 6-2.
“Some bounces went our way against them (Thursday) night, and tonight they didn’t,” Bloomer said.
Male landed in the consolation bracket after sophomore Kennedy Sullivan tossed a one-hitter and struck out 12 in Scott County’s 2-0 victory.
“We just didn’t make adjustments at the plate,” Bloomer said. “If you chase her riseball, she’s going to be effective. We just didn’t track the ball real deep. We knew that’s what we had to stay off of.”
Scott County got all the offense it needed against Male in the second inning after a one-out double by Sullivan. Jordan Ison followed with an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Halie Fain walked to open the third inning, stole second and scored on an error to make it 2-0 in the third.
Meanwhile, Dani Walls’ fourth-inning single was Male’s only hit. The Bulldogs had a chance in the seventh after back-to-back one-out walks to Olivia Suski and Alyssa Case, but Sullivan struck out Bayleigh Masterson and Megan Cunningham to end the game.
“We ran ourselves out of some innings and did some dumb things,” Bloomer said. “We should still be playing a 0-0 game … but at this point of the year you make those mistakes and get dropped down into the losers bracket.”
Male advanced to face Scott County with a 5-1 victory over No. 21 North Laurel Friday morning.
Walls had an RBI triple and came home on a throwing error to give Male a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
After North Laurel pulled within 2-1 in the top of the fourth, Taylor Childress had a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth to give Male a 4-1 lead. Zuege followed with an RBI single for a 5-1 edge.
Male loses just one senior from its starting lineup in Childress, a Western Kentucky University signee. She was part of a class that led Male to four straight Seventh Region titles.
“We definitely made history for our school,” Childress said. “I’m proud of what we did and proud to be a Bulldogs.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
MALE 010 010 0 – 2 5 2
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 031 202 x – 8 11 2
WP – Hannah Ridolfi. LP – Olivia Suski. 2B – Abby Shoulders 2 (MC), Kalli Harris.
WINNERS BRACKET SEMIFINAL
SCOTT COUNTY 011 000 0 – 2 5 1
MALE 000 000 0 – 0 1 2
WP – Kennedy Sullivan. LP – Olivia Suski. 2B – Kennedy Sullivan (SC).
WINNERS BRACKET QUARTERFINALS
NORTH LAUREL 000 100 0 – 1 4 3
MALE 200 300 x – 5 7 2
WP – Olivia Suski. LP – Mikayla Vires. SV – Jaelyn Sanders. 3B – Dani Walls (M). 2B – Kailin Yantz (NL), Olivia Miller (NL).