DevilMusketeer

Rocky Stanley The Independent ASHLAND — Megan Hensley awoke Thursday in Owensboro to a text message from her father, Errin. “It said, ‘Good morning, Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year,’” the Ashland junior related a few hours later via phone as the Kittens prepared for their state softball tournament opener. “I’m totally surprised,” Hensley said. Evidently, her credentials were just too impressive. Outstanding all season in both the pitching circle and batter’s box, Hensley became the area’s first winner of the Gatorade Kentucky Softball Player of the Year award. “I honestly didn’t think I would get it,” said Hensley, who was also nominated as a sophomore. “It’s pretty cool to be recognized as that.” “What an incredible accomplishment for an outstanding young lady,” is how Ashland athletic director Mark Swift reacted to the news while en route to Owensboro. “I’m so happy.” Ashland coach Dave Miller couldn’t imagine anyone more deserving. “Megan hits the ball a ton and pitches as well as anybody anywhere,” said Miller, who guided the Kittens to a sixth consecutive state tournament appearance. “There’s nobody that works harder.” As a pitcher, the 5-foot-8 right-hander entered this week with a 28-4 record, 0.63 earned run average, 369 strikeouts in 202 2-3 innings and five no-hitters. “Megan Hensley is without a doubt the best pitcher in the history of the 16th Region,” said Fairview coach Lauren Ellis, previously an All-State player at Boyd County. “What makes her so dangerous in the circle is that she pairs a hard ball with incredible movement. She keeps hitters guessing at all times.” On the flip side, opposing pitchers have a difficult time getting Hensley out. The 2013 MaxPreps.com Underclass All-American and University of Louisville commit is hitting .561 this spring with nine home runs, 44 runs batted in and a .981 slugging percentage. “It’s huge,” Miller said of the award, which also recognizes high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field. “I’m so proud of Megan. She’s very humble and just a great kid.” Along with her weighted 4.07 GPA, Hensley has been a member of the Mu Alpha Theta math honor society. She’s volunteered with the Salvation Army, as a youth softball coach and with community service efforts through her church youth group. “Megan is certainly the epitome of a quality student-athlete,” Swift said. “It would be hard to have a better year than she’s had.” Hensley will receive an engraved trophy and becomes a finalist for the Gatorade National Softball Player of the Year award to be announced later this month. The school of each state winner gets a trophy and banner. Gatorade is in its 29th year of honoring the nation’s top athletes. Softball was added to the Player of the Year program for the 1997-98 school year

Matt Fultz For The Independent FLATWOODS — For Greenup County coach Greg Logan, two positives came out of Tuesday night’s game with Russell. First and most importantly, his Musketeers earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming 63rd District tournament. The second was Greenup County’s early offensive production against Red Devil top pitcher Alex Jones. Other than that, Logan hopes to forget the rest of the Musketeers’ nearly three-hour and 309-pitch affair against Russell. Greenup County’s 15-6 win capped a two-day, two-game sweep of the Red Devils, as the Musketeers took Monday’s game 11-1 in five innings. “I’m happy to come away with the win and lock up the two seed,” the coach said. “But I would like to flush the rest of it.” Opening up a 13-1 advantage after just three at-bats, the Musketeers looked poised to make quick work of the Red Devils once again. But with the large lead, Logan opted to pull his starting pitcher, Tristan Downing, in hopes of keeping the Red Devils from getting acclimated to Downing before the district tournament, where the two will meet again. After removing Downing, Greenup County struggled to find much success on the mound. Ethan Coldiron, the fourth pitcher used on the night, was able to stem the tide some, holding Russell scoreless over the final four innings. In between Downing and Coldiron, Charles Frazier and Zach Hayden struggled to make it through the third inning in which they combined to allow five Russell runs. “Ethan really wasn’t that sharp, either. He had some pop on his fastball, but I really didn’t want to go that route,” Logan said. “Frazier had been struggling a little bit, and I was hoping to send him out with a big lead and tell him to throw strikes and let them hit it. He did seem to be able to do that, so we went with Zach Hayden. “Zach pitched two innings Friday night and five Saturday, so he was probably a little tired. We finally put Ethan out there and he didn’t have great stuff either, but somehow we managed to keep them scoreless the rest of the way.” Musketeer pitchers combined for two hit batters and four walks. Russell coach Mike Martino was even more displeased with his team’s pitching performance, especially Jones who lasted just 2 2-3 while allowing eight runs. “When you have your No. 1 pitcher out there, you expect a better effort than that,” he said. “In the first inning, he had a ball hit right back to him and two missed throws on bunts. He is a senior. He has to control the game.” In all, Russell pitchers issued eight free passes to go along with hitting two batters. The Red Devil (10-14) fielders didn’t do much to help Jones, or any other of their pitchers, as they committed for six errors on the night. Greenup County (14-14) put plenty of pressure on the Russell defense as it pounded out 12 hits, six of which went for extra bases. “We did some really good things offensively. A lot of people had some good at-bats,” Logan said. “Offensively, I think we are playing pretty well, when you look at scoring 11 (Monday) night and 15 tonight.” Korey Morris and Downing each tallied a pair of doubles for the Musketeers. Gage Hughes and J.T. Boggs also recorded an extra base hit. Hughes reached base safely in eight of his 10 plate appearances in the two-game series. Heath Hensley recorded a pair of hits for the Red Devils, finishing the night 2-for-3 with a run scored. GREENUP CO. 247 000 2 — 15 12 2 RUSSELL 015 000 0 — 6 5 6 Downing, Frazier (3), Hayden (3), Coldiron (4) and Coldiron, Shope (4). Jones, Daniels (3), McKee (5), Jaworski and Brinkman. W – Downing. L – Jones. 2B: Hughes (GC), Boggs (GC), Downing 2 (GC), Morris 2 (GC).

Greenup County 15 Russell 6 Final

Greenup Co 14 Wheelersburg (OH) 4 Peoples Bank Championship

Ashland 2 Upper Arlington (Columbus, OH) 0 Final

Aaron Snyder The Independent LLOYD — The one-run hex is history. Greenup County had been 0-5 in games decided by one run until Thursday, but the Musketeers’ 2-1 victory over Ashland didn’t lack late-inning drama. The Musketeers loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, just after Ashland’s Cam Fritz and Casey Clark had tag-teamed to tie the game at 1-1. With one out, Greenup County coach Greg Logan signaled for a squeeze bunt to batter Chase Clary. On a 3-1 count, Clary executed, sending a roller just a few feet inside the first-base line to a charging Drew O’Bryan. O’Bryan couldn’t handle the ball, and pinch-runner Zach Hayden scooted across the plate as the game-winning score. “I was glad to finally pull out a win,” said senior Korey Morris, who had two of Greenup County’s five hits, including a hard-hit single in the seventh. “I just didn’t want to lose that game. I was sick of losing by one run.” Ashland senior Evan Cox was efficient as can be on the mound. The right-hander walked no one and threw just 79 total pitches. The count reached three balls on only two Musketeer hitters. “I thought the pitcher (Cox) did a very good job,” Logan said. “He’s a quality pitcher. Then he dips down from three-quarters (angle) and that curveball was good. We had our work cut out.” Greenup County first got on the board with two seeing-eye singles in the third inning. Morris, who sustained a cut above his left eye when he fouled a pitch off his face in the fifth, sent a base hit into right field in the third frame. He later scored on a bouncer into left field off the bat of freshman Tristan Downing. The Musketeers sandwiched just one hit in between the third and seventh innings, though, allowing Ashland to stay within striking distance. Greenup County’s pitchers nearly spun their second shutout of the season. One strike away from doing just that, Hayden tried to sneak a curveball by Ashland senior Cam Fritz. Fritz waited and uncorked a line-drive single into right field to bring home Casey Clark and knot the game at 1-1. Clark stole second and third bases to set up the run. The center fielder also racked up two of Ashland’s seven hits and made a pair of fine running catches in the outfield. “Casey’s been doing this all year for us,” said Ashland coach Jeff Wilcox. “Just getting on base however (he can). Cam’s been battling himself. He just went with the pitch and got it down the right-field line. It was a great at-bat.” Cody Conley followed Fritz with a single, but Downing left the two stranded by inducing an inning-ending popout. Downing was the fourth pitcher Greenup County used. Sophomore starter Charles Frazier went four innings before giving way to senior reliever Jesse Hall. Both Hayden and Downing put in work in the seventh. Ashland left 11 Tomcats on base, frustrating Wilcox. “We’ve got to have better quality at-bats,” Wilcox said. “We have a bad at-bat, then it reflects on our fielding. I saw that tonight, and I don’t like that about our team.” Wilcox said there’s still more to be desired from his team that consists of 10 seniors. The Tomcats also fell short of Rowan County by a run on Tuesday. “They let things bother them. Where’s that experience?” Wilcox said. “That experience is supposed to pay off and it’s not paying dividends right now. That’s what disappoints me.” Ashland committed four errors in the bottom of the seventh. The Musketeers have now taken three of the last four meetings between the teams.

Greenup Co. 2 Ashland 1 Final

Ashland beats Boyd for 23rd win in 25 meetings, dating back to 2007 Rocky Stanley The Independent ASHLAND — Piling up victories against a particularly formidable rival is one of the impressive features of coach Dave Miller’s success story with Ashland softball. On Tuesday night, the Kittens extended a domination against Boyd County that dates back to 2007. After three scoreless innings, Boyd County pushed across a run in the top of the fourth in its bid to reverse the trend early in a new season. Ashland, however, responded to a challenge from Miller with six runs in the bottom of the inning and rolled to an 11-1 mercy rule win.

Greenup Co. 4 Lewis Co. 3 Greenup Co.(6-3) 4 Lewis Co. 3 (3-6) 8 innings

Ashland 11 Boyd Co. 1 Final

Ashland 4 Cabell Midland (WV) 3 Ashland 10 Magoffin Co. 0 Rocky Stanley The Independent COALTON — After two rain-splattered days, Ashland and an impressive guest list finally got down to playing softball in the Kitten Spring Invitational on Saturday. Megan Hensley homered in both of Ashland’s games, including a walk-off shot, as the Kittens beat Cabell Midland 4-3 and then blanked Magoffin County 10-0 in the first high school competition at the new Championship Fastpitch Athletic Complex. “That’s awesome,” Ashland coach Dave Miller said of the sweep on the hill-top fields that he developed near the Boyd County Fairgrounds. “We need to play more up here. We need to get the State Tournament,” Miller added with a laugh. Ashland posted the only perfect record among six teams that participated in the event. Except for one game Thursday afternoon on the Ashland campus, everything else was washed out until Saturday. Wet grounds also threatened the final day. “At 7 this morning, we didn’t know if this would happen, so we’re thrilled,” Miller said. “Thanks to a plethora of people coming out to this complex to help, we were able to get the fields in condition to play.” The Kittens, tied for 26th in the latest state coaches’ poll, and highly regarded Cabell Midland were deadlocked 3-3 when Hensley came to bat to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning. “I hadn’t had a hit all day,” Hensley said. “I was thinking, ‘Let’s get something going.’” So she did, driving a pitch just fair over the left-field fence for the game-winner. “I thought it would be foul,” Hensley said of her first career walk-off homer. “I was smiling the whole way around the bases.” Miller enjoyed the blast from the third-base coach’s box. “The ball Megan hit, she did not leave anything in the bat bag,” Ashland’s coach said. “The only question was if it stayed fair. It hugged the line.” The dramatic finish produced a victory that Miller feels should do his team plenty of good. “We’re so young in the season,” he said. “What I felt that game did, it moved us a lot. Midland is a good team and a great program. It’s the way we won the game that makes it special.” Sophomore Katie Baldock went 3-for-3 with a run batted in for the Kittens, who handed the Lady Knights their only loss in four tournament games. Hensley, 4-0 this season, allowed a homer to Erin Kaplan but limited Cabell Midland to five hits overall. “They are definitely a good team,” Hensley said. “They hit the ball well. I didn’t feel like I had my ‘A’ game for sure.” Ashland improved to 5-1 by shutting out 15th Region champion Magoffin County in six innings. Megan Griffith finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored, one RBI and a stolen base for the Kittens. Hensley, who also scored three runs, launched a two-run homer in the sixth following McKenzie Vanover’s second double of the day. Sydney Whitt added two hits. Meanwhile, freshman pitcher Megan Murphy limited the Lady Hornets to a couple of hits over six innings. “Her changeup was unbelievable today,” Miller said. “She changed speed very well. It was a good first win for Megan as an Ashland kid.” Magoffin County entered the Kitten Spring Invitational with a five-game winning streak but went 0-2 Saturday, also falling to George Rogers Clark. Wayne, the defending Class AA state champion in West Virginia, finished 2-1. GRC won one of three games, while Johnson Central was 0-2

Boyd Co. 18 Waynesburg Central (PA) 4 Boyd Co. 3 Eastern 1 At Myrtle Beach, SC

Raceland 6 Dayton 1 Final

Russell 5 Paintsville 0 (6 innings) Final At Johnson Central

West Carter 5 Boyd Co. 2 Final

Mason Co. 9 Fleming Co. 0 Final

Raceland 12 Elliott County 1 Final

East Carter 12 Raceland 0 (5 innings) Final

Pikeville 14 Russell 12 Final

Pikeville 6 East Carter 3 Final

Raceland 10 Pairs 6 Final 3/22

Belfry 4 Boyd Co. 3 Final 3/22

Greenup Co. 4 Minford (OH) 1 Final

East Carter 12 Russell 10 Final

Greenup Co. 3 Lewis Co. 0