ALEXANDRIA, Ky. — The 10th Region baseball quarterfinals were held at Bishop Brossart on Monday.
After picking up a decisive 13-2 victory over the Bracken County Polar Bears in the 39th District championship game, the Mason County Royals were excited to return to the field for their 10th Region quarterfinal game against the Scott Eagles. Scott, having dropped 3-0 to Campbell County in their district championship game were also eager to take the field at Bishop Brossart, looking to bounce back and keep their season alive.
The Royals and Eagles had met once prior this season, Scott picking up a 10-0 win in five innings on May 7.
Both teams held each other scoreless through the first inning. In the top of the second, Scott leadoff batter Jay Race picked up a home run over the fence in left field to score the Eagles’ first run of the night. Immediately after, Anderson Reed picked up another home run over the left field fence to bring Scott’s lead to 2-0. A pair of singles from Ty Cook and Race in the top of the third then extended their lead to 3-0 over Mason County.
“A credit to our pitcher, Carter Roark. He’s been outstanding for us all season, he was outstanding in that first inning, he made two mistakes. He left the ball up to two hitters back-to-back. Outside of that I think they maybe had four or five hits in the game before he went out. He pitched a great game,” said Royals head coach Jason Butler. “We had a couple mistakes in the field, they capitalized on that. That’s baseball. If I had to replay it and do it over again, I’d do it the same way.”
As the game continued, the Eagles added one more run in both the fourth and sixth innings for a 5-0 lead over Mason County. In the bottom of the sixth, A pair of singles from Hayden Workman and Jaxen Crabtree, alongside a walk from Camden Gregory brought in Mason County’s first run of the game, now trailing 5-1 heading into the top of the seventh.
“Today just wasn’t our day. We hadn’t played since last Monday, the rain has played havoc on a lot of us, but one team hit tonight and the other didn’t. I think we maybe left 10, 12 runners on base tonight, we just couldn’t get them around. That’s a credit to Scott’s pitcher, Race. He left us off balance all night,” said coach Butler.
Jay Race pitched 5.1 innings for the Eagles this game, and totaled seven strikeouts and six walks, allowing just two hits to the Royals.
A trio of singles from Anderson Reed, Carson Bleha and Eli Smith in the top of the seventh drove in two more runs for the Eagles, Scott leading 7-1 over Mason County heading into the bottom half of the inning. Micah Payne and Brady Mefford singled, but a pop out from Roark and a double play brought an end to the contest, Scott taking the victory 7-1.
“The great thing about this game is that it’ll humble you in so many different ways. These are the moments that you always hate, saying goodbye to a season, goodbye to five seniors that were great students and great athletes,” said coach Butler. “Four of the five were with me more than three years. For them to last through that, it’s a credit to them. They grew up playing the game of baseball since they were probably in first grade, and now they don’t get to do that anymore. I don’t know if there are right words to say to those guys at the very end.”
Mason County’s five seniors at the end of this season are, Jaxen Crabtree, Macen Grooms, Brady Mefford, Micah Payne and Hayden Workman.
With this loss, Mason County’s 2026 season has come to an end. Scott was scheduled to return to the field Tuesday evening to face Montgomery County in the 10th Region baseball semifinals.
SCOTT
H: Cook 2, Reed 2, Smith 2, Race 2, Cook, Allison, Bleha
R: Cook, Reed 2, Race, Bleha, Routt, Murphy
RBI: Cook, Reed, Smith, Race 2, Cook
HR: Reed, Race
SB: Cook 2, Reed 2, Bleha, Seeger 2, Groneck
IP: Race 5.1, Groneck 1.2
K: Race 7, Groneck
BB: Race 6
MASON COUNTY
H: Payne, Mefford, Workman, Crabtree
R: Jackson
RBI: Crabtree
IP: Roark 6.0, Mefford 1.0
K: Roark 5
BB: Roark 3
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