Scott Brown's SportsBytes on WKDZ

Olivia Higgins playing in Babe Ruth Softball World Series

Olivia Higgins, daughter of former Trigg County High School football coach Curtis Higgins, is playing with the Fern Creek under 16 softball team in the Babe Ruth Softball World Series in Concord, New Hampshire.

Fern Creek is 2-0 after the first day of pool play, beating Concord, N.H. 1-0 and the Plantation Athletic Club of Los Angeles 4-0.  Higgins was 0-for-4 in the two games with a walk and a stolen base.

Fern Creek will finish pool play with two games tomorrow.

HERE is a story on their journey written by Trigg County native C. Ray Hall of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

(Louisville Courier-Journal photo)

Christian County begins play in state softball tournament Friday

Christian County begins play Friday in the Kentucky Softball State Tourmament at Jack Fisher Park in Owensboro.  The Lady Colonels (38-3) will play Shelby County (19-13) at 9am Friday.  Their second game will be at 12:15pm, win or lose.

The Lady Colonels are maing their third straight trip to the state tournament.  They advanced to the loser's bracket semifinals last year and the loser's bracket quarterfinals in 2007.  Their last state title came in 1996.

The Lady Colonels are hitting .364 as a team, with five starters hitting over .400.  Catcher Griffin Joiner is hitting .488 with a team-high 37 RBIs.  Eighth grader Maggie Glass is batting .457 with 18 RBIs.  Junior Stacey Harbold is batting .423 with a team-high six homers and 33 runs knocked in.  Hannah Driver (.402) and Hannah Hodge (.400) are also above .400, with Hodge (above) adding five homers and 35 RBIs.

On the mound, Hannah Driver is 22-2 with a 0.90 ERA.  Driver, who missed three weeks with a hamstring injury, has struck out 178 batters in 116 innings.  Harbold is 15-0 with a 0.52 ERA.  She has struck out 126 batters in 107 innings.

With 38 wins, Christian County is three wins away from setting a new state record for wins in a season.  The old mark of 40 was set by Greenwood in 2007 and Owensboro Catholic in 2003.

Shelby County is making their first state tourney appearance since 2004.  That year, the Lady Rockets advanced to the semifinals of the loser's bracket after an opening game loss.

Shelby County only has four seniors on their roster, led by third baseman Shauna Gramig, who is hitting .396 on the season.  Junior Dee Dee Davis is hitting .311, and sophomore Hannah Abbott is hitting .313.  As a team, Shelby County is hitting .277.

On the mound, senior Haliegh LeCompte has a record of 14-11 with an ERA of 2.15.  She has struck out 64 in 130 innings pitched.

A first round win by Christian County means a likely second round matchup with Mercy (29-10), who the Lady Colonels have already beaten 7-0 and 1-0 this year.

CLICK HERE for Christian County stats

CLICK HERE for Shelby County stats

CLICK HERE for a State Tournament Bracket

Christian County 2 Henderson County 0

Stacey Harbold pitched a three-hit shut out and belted an RBI double to help Christian County beat Henderson County 2-0 Wednesday in Hopkinsville.

Harbold (right) struck out six and walked just one in pitching the complete game.  Harbold is expected to see more time on the mound after usual starter Hannah Driver suffered a hamstring injury Tuesday.  CCHS head coach David Joiner said Driver could miss two to three weeks.

Griffen Joiner added an RBI double in the third inning that plated Casey Castille. 

Christian County won their 15th straight game and improves to 31-2 on the season.  They travel to Marshall County today.

You can listen to the Christian County win over Henderson County by visiting the Toyota of Hopkinsville Audio Rack.

Russellville 6 Trigg County 5

Trigg County couldn't push across the winning run in the seventh inning and fell to Russellville 6-5 Monday.

Russellville broke open a 4-4 tie with a two-out, two-run triple.

Trigg County loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh but could only push across one run.

Morgan Parker had two hits, including a three-run double.  She also singled.  Dakota Littlejohn, Elizabeth Torian, Sheniqua Smithers, and Sierra Bush also singled for the Lady Wildcats, who fell to 2-10 with the loss.

Trigg County will host Fort Campbell today at 5:30pm at the Complex.  You can hear the game on Boomer Radio WKDZ/WHVO at 5:20pm.

Livingston Central 12 Trigg County 0

Trigg County showed some obvious signs on rust having not played a game in a week, losing 12-0 at Livingston Central Monday.  The 12-run loss was Trigg's first mercy rule loss since the second game of the season.

Livingston Central's Mariah Owen pitched a five-inning no-hitter, fanning three and walking five.  She also doubled and drove in three runs at the plate.

The Lady Cardinals took command of the game with a 10-run second inning and were helped by six Trigg County errors.

Livingston Central (17-8) wrapped up a perfect run through the district with a 6-0 mark.  They are 17-8 overall and will take the top seed into the district tournament where they will again play Trigg County.

The Lady Wildcats fell to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the district.  Trigg will host Russellville today at 5:30pm at the Complex.

Trigg County's softball game moved to Lyon County

Trigg County's softball game with Livingston Central has been moved to Lyon County tonight because the Complex field is too wet.

The game will actually be the second game of a doubleheader.  Lyon County (5-8) will play Crittenden County (5-9) at 5:30, followed by Trigg County (2-7) and Livingston Central (16-8) at 7:30pm.

Because the Fifth District uses seeding for its postseason tournament, all district games must be played before the district meeting to establish times and dates.

It will be Trigg's first game since last Tuesday.

Mother Nature forces cancellation of UHA Lady Blazer softball tournament

Bad weather has forced the cancellation of the UHA Lady Blazer softball tournament scheduled for Saturday.  Trigg County and UHA were among the teams slated to play in the day-long event in Hopkinsville.

Lady Wildcats are on the right track

You knew Trigg County's softball program was going to improve with the addition of Jim Perrin as head coach, even if for just a season.

While it doesn't show up in the win-loss record, take these numbers into consideration:

• Trigg County is 2-7.  Only one loss has been decided in five innings.  Last year, five of their first eight losses were called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.
• Trigg has allowed 56 runs in nine games.  Last year, they allowed 104 runs through nine gmes.
• In district play last year, Trigg lost two games to Lyon County by a total of 47-1 and two to Livingston Central by a total of 28-1.  This year, Lyon County has outscored Trigg 22-2, but Livingston Central has outscored Trigg 4-2 in theior only game.  They play again next week.
• Trigg has some winnable games on their schedule the final month of the season and could make a serious run at .500, somewhere Trigg hasn't finished at since 2004.

Todd County 3 Trigg County 1

Trigg County played well, but couldn't come up with the timely hit as Todd County claimed a 3-1 win over the Lady Wildcats Tuesday in Elkton.

Todd County scored a run in the third inning and two more in the fourth inning.  Trigg scored a single run in the fifth.  After leaving nine runners on base in a loss to Livingston Central Monday, the Lady Wildcats left eight more on base in the loss to the Lady Rebels.

Ashlee McGee had two singles, stole two bases, and scored Trigg's lone run.  Dakota Littlejohn, Morgan Parker, and Jennifer Hyde all had singles for Trigg County.

Nicole Aikens struck out eight hitters in getting the win for Todd County Central, who improved to 6-6 with the win.

Trigg County fell to 2-7 with the loss and will play again Saturday in the UHA Invitational.

Livingston Central 4 Trigg County 2

Trigg County came within a wisker of getting their first district win of the year but fell to Livingston Central 4-2 tonight in Smithland.

The loss means Trigg County will be the fourth seed in the district tournament and will likely play Livingston Central in the first round.

Trigg outhit Livingston Central six to three but committed four errors in the field.

Whitney Cain smacked a pair of doubles and drove in a run, while Ashlee McGee added a double and an RBI.  Morgan Parker, Jennifer Hyde, and Sierra Bush each had singles for Trigg (2-6).

Mariah Owen struck out eight batters for Livingston Central, who improved to 15-8 with the win.

Trigg County will travel to Todd County Central Tuesday.