Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Lady Rockets on historic run at regional

UPDATE: Rain has postponed the Lady Rockets' semifinal game until 6:30pm on Wednesday.

Crittenden County’s girls’ softball team was set to play in the regional semifinals Tuesday at Hopkins Central against Caldwell County before the rain set in.

This is the first time in school fast-pitch history that the Lady Rockets have been one victory away from the regional championship. This is the team’s fourth trip to the regional tournament and the first time it has won a game in that post-season series, beating Hopkinsville 14-0 last night.

The only time Crittenden (22-7) and Caldwell (17-11) have met this season was on April 10 when Lady Rocket starting pitcher Chandler Moss was out of the lineup with a finger injury. Caldwell won that matchup 8-0, but coach Stephen Smith says don’t read too much into the outcome of that game. He anticipates a slugfest tonight.

The Lady Tigers upset Webster County 1-0 in a pitching duel in Monday’s opening round game of the region. Caldwell hurler Katie Franklin’s best pitch is rise ball, said the Rocket girls’ coach. 

Franklin pitched a three-hitter Monday to beat 22nd-ranked Webster County.

Earlier this year, Caldwell was the All A Second Region champion and was 1-2 in the small-school state tournament, losing to Lexington Christian and Louisville Holy Cross.

A Lady Rocket win tonight against Caldwell would pit CCHS against the state’s No. 3 team, Christian County or No. 23 Madisonville, who play in the other semifinal game this evening at Morton’s Gap.

Follow all the action on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CrittendenPress

Today's coverage of the girls' softball regional tournament is brought to you by Randy Book and RB Building of Marion, Kentucky.