3rd Region softball start moved back to Saturday
May 23—Probably the biggest news coming out of the 3rd Region Softball Tournament draw on Sunday was the moving of the first day of the schedule to the end of this week.
Four games will be played Saturday, all at Owensboro Catholic, the regional softball host.
Semifinals will be Sunday and the championship game will be played Monday, Memorial Day, at 7 p.m.
The tournament was originally scheduled to start on Wednesday, but there is a near 100% chance of rain on that day, and some high school graduations made it difficult to get going Thursday or Friday.
Daviess County will start the 3rd Region Tournament against Meade County at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Panthers (27-5) are defending regional champion and were KHSAA state softball runner-up in 2021. Meade (16-13) is 11th District runner-up.
Host Owensboro Catholic will open the regional against Muhlenberg County at 10 a.m. Saturday. Catholic (22-14) was 9th District runner-up. Muhlenberg County (10-16) is the 10th District champion.
Whitesville Trinity will meet Hancock County at 1 p.m. Saturday. Trinity (18-11) is the 12th District runner-up. Hancock County (23-8) is the 11th District champion.
Butler County will take on Ohio County in the last game Saturday at 7 p.m. Butler County (19-15) is the 12th District champion. Ohio County (11-19) is the 10th District runner-up.
The semifinals will be 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The championship game will be Monday, May 30 at 7 p.m.
The Lady Panthers have been one of the best teams in the state all season, and they won the district tourney with identical 8-1 scores over Owensboro in the first round and Owensboro Catholic in the championship game.
The Lady Panthers were focused up and down the batting order, and in the pitching circle. DC pitcher Raylee Roby struck out 29 batters in the two games, 15 against Catholic.
"Meade is a solid team," DC coach John Biggs said. "John (Skaggs) is a good coach, he's got a lot of history of being successful.
"I kind of like the format where we're used to playing one game, then the next day and next day, kind of gets you in a rhythm. Whoever comes out of this, if they advance to the final eight in the state tournament, that's the format there, that's what you're going to have to do. We've got to look at our practice schedule this week because we've scooted back. It will be seven days since we've played a game, we should be well rested."
Catholic beat Muhlenberg County 3-1 on March 26.
"We've played Muhlenberg the first two weeks of the season, but we hadn't played Trinity or Butler," Catholic coach Jeremy Phelps said. "We've played Muhlenberg and Hancock, at least we are somewhat familiar with them. Our schedule got really tough at the end of the season. Playing at home may be the biggest advantage. We know this field, and we have the comfort of playing on our home field."
