For the first time since 2003-04, there’s a repeat champ in the 10th Region on the softball diamond.
Pendleton County was able to accomplish the feat on Tuesday night with a thrilling, 7-6, eight inning win over Harrison County on the Fillies home field.
The Lady ‘Cats got a walk-off RBI double from Sydney Manor in the bottom of the eighth to claim the championship. They’re the first to repeat in the region since Montgomery County did it 17 years ago.
The slugfest between the two featured 25 hits with Pendleton jumping out to a 3-1 lead after three innings of play, only to see the lead go away with Harrison responding in a three-run fourth. Pendleton tied it up in the bottom half of the inning at four.
The two scored two runs apiece in the sixth, Manor’s walk-off in the eighth the winner.
Pendleton’s Kayley Bruener was stellar in the circle all tournament, striking out 48 batters in the three games for the victory. She also went 5-for-5 in the championship game with three runs scored and a home run, driving in three.
Reagan Carlisle’s bat was seeing beach balls all tournament, collecting six hits in the tournament in 10 at-bats, driving in six runs as well with three extra-base hits.
Pendleton now moves on to the semi-state round of the KHSAA state tournament and faces Boone County on Friday at 8 p.m. at University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium in Lexington.
The two played each other twice during the regular season, Pendleton winning 9-7 on April 3 at George Rogers Clark’s Jerry Puckett Cardinals Showcase, Boone County getting a 13-8 win on May 14 in Falmouth. Bruener didn’t pitch in either of those games, however.
This will be Pendleton County’s second trip to the state tournament.
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