Ballard turns spectacular triple play into school’s first softball state championship

Clinging to a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, Ballard had gotten itself into a situation that could have spelled disaster to its undefeated season and hopes for a softball state championship on Sunday afternoon at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.

Lexington Catholic had one run in already after a leadoff double, a walk and a RBI single to centerfield. Now, the Knights had runners on first and second with no outs and their grand slam hero of the 11th Region championship Ava Emmert at the plate.

Ballard pitcher Brooke Gray described what happened next like this:

“When I saw Imari catch the ball, it was like it all happened in slow motion,” Gray said. “And then she threw it to first base, and in my eyes, I was like ‘Macy, throw the ball! Throw the ball!’ I felt like it took her 10 years to throw the ball. But she threw it. And she got her out. And it was amazing.

“I just love this team.”

Ballard second baseman Imari Golden gloved a liner at her feet just before it could hit the ground. She threw quickly to first base to double off one LexCath runner. First baseman Macy McCoy took two shuffle steps to the left inside the base path and threw to frantically waving shortstop Mikayla Milby at second base to put out the other Knight before she could safely return to the bag.

The Bruins had turned a spectacular triple play to the roars of their fans and erased the threat, ended the inning and placed one hand on the state championship trophy.

In LexCath’s final at-bat, Gray finished a 1-2-3 inning with her seventh strikeout to claim a 3-2 victory, a perfect 39-0 season and Ballard’s first state softball title in the 2022 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare.

‘39-0 is not a fluke’

“These kids, I’ve said it all year, they’re tough. They don’t quit. They don’t give up,” said Ballard Coach Alan Jones, who added a state championship to his two runner-up finishes and his state record 748 wins in 27 seasons. “Brooke’s the best pitcher in the state by far. And you saw our defense, our bats. … We knew it was going to be a tough game, but to go 39-0 is not a fluke.”

The Bruins are the third softball program to cap an perfect season with a state championship. Greenwood went 44-0 in 2013 and Male went 39-0 in 2019. This is the third consecutive state softball title for Jefferson County Public Schools — Male, Butler, last year, and now, Ballard.

An inning before she started the triple play, Golden had an RBI single, knocking in McCoy, as Ballard answered a solo home run by Lexington Catholic’s Kinley Willoughby in the bottom of the fifth inning that had cut the Bruins’ lead to 2-1.

“I’d been hitting on the ground all day, and I knew I had to get it up in the air,” Golden said. “I knew I had to touch grass at least with it just to get Macy around.”

Little did Golden know, she would have a play just as critical to the win a few minutes later.

“I knew I had to catch it,” Golden said of the snag that started the triple play. “My first move was to first no matter what, like, if the umpire thought it was on the ground, I just knew I had to throw it to first. And then that was all Macy, quick on her feet, to get it to second.”

Ballard off to fast start

Ballard opened the game by scoring two runs in the first inning with junior Kentucky commit Emory Donaldson leading off with a single and a stolen base that set up Milby’s RBI single moments later. Milby stole second, as well, and scored on an error as McCoy’s grounder drew an errant throw to first base.

“We definitely wanted to get out on top of this team and score some runs early and be ahead for our pitcher,” Donaldson said.

After Willoughby’s solo homer in the fifth and Ballard’s answer in the sixth that made the Bruins’ lead 3-1, Lexington Catholic pitcher and leadoff hitter Abby Hammond started the sixth inning with a double. After a walk to Lydia Kennedy, Hammond scored on Emily Lammers single to cut the Knights’ deficit back to 3-2.

Unfortunate turn for LexCath

For Lexington Catholic Coach Emery Emmert, his daughter and third baseman Ava Emmert did exactly what she was supposed to do in that next moment.

“There’s so many things you can’t control that happen. You just do your job,” Coach Emmert said. “And that job was done perfectly. We’ve got a power hitter, asking her to angle the ball down to the right side, and she does that as well as you can do it — just a smoke shot. And it’s just one of those things. It’s what we talk about all the time. That’s why we don’t get discouraged, and it’s why we keep fighting. Because those things happen. But you’ve got to be prepared. We hit some balls hard today. They just went to the wrong spot.”

Both teams look ahead

Next season, Lexington Catholic is expected to return seven starters to a team that went 30-7 and earned the school’s second region championship and first visit to the state finals. That includes Hammond, the Kentucky Gatorade Player of Year as a sophomore who struck out 10, walked none and allowed two earned runs against Ballard.

“We’ve surpassed every goal,” Coach Emmert said. “Last year it was ‘Get to regions.’ And we got to the region championship. This year it was ‘Get passed regions and make state.’ And we got to the state championship. So, pretty soon, we’re going to have to make unsurpassable goals. I mean, the next goal is ‘Win state.’ … Our goals are getting out of hand. It’s a good feeling.”

Ballard expects to have almost its entire team back in 2023, as well, minus senior catcher Alyssa Simmons, but including all the other standouts who played a huge role on Sunday.

“Alyssa’s going to be a big miss — she’s our only senior. We’ve got everybody back, so it’s going to be a fun year next year,” Jones said.

But for now Jones is content to celebrate 2022.

“We’re 39-0 and all the wins are theirs and all the losses are mine,” Jones joked. “But we have no losses, so I’m happy.”