Lexington Catholic pitcher Burkley Bounds sends a pitch toward the strike zone against the Mason County Royals in the first round of the 2024 state baseball tournament on June 6, 2o24.
Mason County’s Brady Mefford swings on a pitch against the Lexington Catholic Knights in the first round of the 2024 state baseball tournament on June 6, 2o24.
There were 16 baseball teams left in the state of Kentucky Thursday morning, and only eight at the conclusion of the first round of the 2024 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Baseball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare.
The Mason County Royals, after an unlikely and historic run through the 10th region tournament, took to Legends Field, home of the Lexington Legends to face off against the 11th region champions, the Lexington Catholic Knights in a rematch 30 years in the making. Both teams had fought long and hard through the 2024 season, overcoming the odds to win their region championships, and both were looking to add another game to their schedule, on the way to a state baseball championship opportunity.
“It wasn’t easy, regional championships are not handed out to you. You gotta go out and win it, fight for it tooth and nail, and that’s what we did last week.” said Royals head coach, Jason Butler, “Three weeks ago, I didn’t even know if we were gonna get to a regional tournament, the ship was kinda rocking a little bit, but all the credit goes to my seniors for holding things together. They led our younger bunch with them and willed our team to Lexington and we get to finish right here at the pinnacle of what every kid who loves the game of baseball and dreams about right here.”
The Knights jumped out of Mason County quickly in the top of the first, with a pair of singles and a double driving in three runs to lead 3-0 heading into the bottom half of the inning. Despite a huge triple from Connor Butler and a walk from Landon Scilley in the bottom half of the inning, Mason County would be unable to score in the first, heading into the top of the second still down 3-0.
“We get out of that first inning clean, I don’t know how that game’s gonna turn out, I think it would have been a little bit different, but it’s okay.” said coach Butler.
In the top of the second, two singles and a triple would drive two more in for Lexington Catholic, the Knights now leading 5-0 over Mason County.
Although the Royals were still unable to score in the second inning, Mason County’s tough defense came alive in the third, and began to hold back Lexington Catholic throughout much of the remainder of the contest.
“A credit to them. They’re gonna compete for me all the time. We’ve got a great bunch of kids, a great bunch of competitors. We just fell a little bit behind too quick. They’ve got six or seven arms and I’m sure that we’re gonna be reading about them deep into this tournament because they’re a very good baseball team.” said coach Butler.
Unfortunately for Mason County, despite racking up seven hits throughout the contest, the Royals continued to struggle to bring runners home as the game continued, but were successful in holding off the Knights’ bats for several of the remaining innings.
Lexington Catholic would go on to score one more in the top of the sixth, with two more singles bringing Bennie Lawrence home, the Knights leading 6-0 over Mason County heading into the bottom half of the inning.
While Mason County would end the contest scoreless, falling to Lexington Catholic 6-0 in the first round of the state baseball tournament, and despite the emotions that come from a season coming to an end, the 2024 Mason County Royals had what can only be described as a historic season, despite injuries, poor weather and a tough match up in round one.
“These kids, they came to work every day for me, the atmosphere within my kids were always positive, and as a coach I’m very proud of that. What I’m most proud of is their character, what they accomplished as students at Mason County High School, and where they brought us here in Lexington at the state tournament for the first time in 30 years, and for everybody else in my dugout, I’m glad they got a taste of this, I’m glad my younger kids got a look at this, because we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll get back to work in August. I don’t want another 30 years, I want this to repeat itself as much as possible.” said coach Butler.
Coach Butler thanked each of his seniors for competing throughout 2024, despite the setbacks along the way to help bring the team to their state tournament appearance.
“I’m so proud of my son, Connor Butler, not only for what he’s able to do on the field, but for what he does for the boys and girls club back home. He fell in love with that job. Landon Scilley umpires for Wald Park baseball league. Eli Porter and Nate Bisotti are great with our younger kids, they attend games, they cheer those kids on, because those kids are our future.” said coach Butler.
While the Royals’ season is over, and the team loses four powerful seniors in Landon Scilley, Connor Butler, Nate Bisotti and Eli Porter, the team is eager for the 2025 season, and are looking forward to what they can accomplish as the team continues to grow, and baseball regains its prominence in Mason County.
“Coaching baseball is easy, connecting with kids is hard. What I’m most proud of with our staff is how we were able to connect with our kids, and be there for them every day. We’ve got a friendship for life.”
