LEXINGTON — For the second consecutive year, Henderson County has put an end to North Laurel’s season.
The defending state champions took advantage of some early miscues by the Lady Jaguars, scoring three runs while cruising to a 4-1 win despite losing the services of starting pitcher Anna Kemp in the second inning.
North Laurel’s took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Henderson County after a grounder by Saige McClure led to Emma Carl scoring due to a throwing error.
The Lady Jaguars’ lead was short-lived, though.
After two Lady Colonels reached base due to errors, Kemp came through with a two-run double, giving Henderson County a 2-1 lead.
A triple by Aubrey Risley scored Kemp, pushing the Lady Colonels’ edge to 3-1 in the bottom of the first.
Junior Mackenzie Burczyk took over for Kemp after her injury, and shut down North Laurel’s bats.
Kemp pitched 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and one earned run and striking out three while facing only seven batters. Burczyk tossed 5.2 innings, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out six batters.
Bella Sizemore had two of the Lady Jaguars’ four hits, finishing 2-for-3. Carl took the loss in the pitcher’s circle, allowing six hits and one earned run in six innings. She had one strikeout. Tessa Monhollen pitched an inning, giving up one hit and no earned runs while striking out a batter.
“We played a very good Henderson County team again this year,” North Laurel’s coach Chris Edwards said. “They are very good in the circle and defensively. They did lose a lot offensively, but they still hit it very well.
We had a rough first inning. Pushed one run across and then left the bases loaded. Went out in the bottom of the first and made a couple of mistakes which led to their three unearned runs. Henderson got one late but we Played basically even the rest of the way.
“Only four hits and Bella Sizemore had two of those,” he added. “We did draw a couple of walks but hats off to Henderson. After that first inning, we couldn’t string too much together.
“Pitching wise, Emma started and threw really well,” Edwards continued. “We got out of a couple of spots where Henderson was threatening. Tessa came in and threw well also. Emma and Tessa have simply been great this entire season.”
Defensively, Edwards’ squad made three errors, leading to three unearned runs.
North Laurel’s took had its chances at the plate to push runs across but only went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position while the Lady Colonels were 4-for-14.
“Certainly, we are disappointed in how this season ends but only one team wins the last game every year,” Edwards said. “As bad as this feeling is, we want to use it as fuel for the girls returning to try to not only get back here, but also to compete at this level.
“We will take some time to decompress and try to get some rest,” he added. “As I’ve said before, any high school sports season is a long, difficult grind. Our girls will start their travel seasons in a couple of weeks and work to get ready for next year. I’m gonna miss these seniors that played their last game today. They know what it means to play at North Laurel and to represent their school and their community on the biggest stage that Kentucky High School Softball has to offer. I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.”
