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<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEXINGTON \u2014 South Laurel\u2019s road to a state championship the this week\u2019s KHSAA Clark\u2019s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament isn\u2019t an easy one with a matchup against Daviess County during first round action Friday at 2 p.m. right off the bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Panthers (30-4) are no strangers to success. They e played one of the toughest schedules in the state with their only losses coming against South Warren, Cooper, and McCracken County (twice). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They win their fourth straight 3rd Region title this past week with a 5-4 victory over Owensboro Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Panthers are an experienced team with six seniors returning from last season\u2019s Elite Eight squad that lost to eventual state champion Ballard, 7-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDaviess County has a rich history in softball and have beaten some really good teams this year,\u201d South Laurel coach Carly Mink said. \u201cThey have four losses on the season, so obviously they are very talented. But you\u2019re not going to face a team in the state tournament that doesn\u2019t belong there. We have to be ready to play and be the best version of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Panthers are batting .328 on the season with .373 on the season with two starters batting .500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Slugger Jessie Daniels has 18 home runs, 62 RBI, 56 hits, 37 runs scored along with a .500 batting average while teammate Annie Newman has seven home runs, 33 RBI, 59 hits, and 35 runs scored along with a .500 batting average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a team, the Lady Panthers are batting .378 with 41 home runs, and 84 stolen bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior Raylee Roby leads the team with a 21-2 record, and a 1.34 ERA. She has struck out 199 batters in 141 innings of work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophia Cain is 7-1 with a 2.08 ERA, and 56 strikeouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Laurel has a .328 batting average while delivering 22 home runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aubree Laster leads the Lady Cardinals with a .420 batting average. She also has 47 hits, 19 stolen bases, 10 RBI, and 39 runs scored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addison Baking possesses a .400 batting average while delivering four home runs, 50 hits, 23 RBI, 42 runs scored, and 10 doubles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eighth grader Kenzie Williams is 15-3 with a 2.24 ERA while striking out 195 batters in 125 innings. Madison Worley is 6-9 with 44 Ks, and a 5.13 ERA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you go by the KHSAA\u2019s RPI ratings, Daviess County is a heavy favorite. The Lady Panthers possess a .69144 RPI rating while South Laurel\u2019s stands at .56040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lady Cardinals (21-12) aren\u2019t a stranger in being an underdog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Laurel managed to beat North Laurel (.68193), and Corbin (.60221) with both school\u2019s garnering an RBI over .60000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike I said before, I can\u2019t think of a more deserving group of kids,\u201d Mink said. \u201cYou can go down the list and every single kid has had to face adversity of some kind. A lot of different kids had to fill different roles to pick up their teammates. We are proud to represent South Laurel and add to the rich history of this program to continue to build on this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n