By JON WEBB
Glasgow Daily Times
GLASGOW —
Eight different Barren County Knockouts knocked in runs to power the 14U squad to a rout win over Mt. Washington at the Ohio Valley Regional softball tournament. Barren compiled 14 unanswered scores over the final five innings in the pool play victory.
The triumph helped the Knockouts slot as the four seed in the tournament’s single elimination bracket, where a shutout from starting pitcher Reagan Kingrey allowed them to knock off Rhinelander (Wis.) 2-0 to advance to the semifinals.
Mt. Washington struck first in the morning matchup. After Barren failed to grab a hit in the bottom of the first, Washington lead off batter Tiffanie Brison smacked a single to right field and moved to second on a passed ball to land in scoring position. A subsequent Nadia Nutgrass pop fly found the outfield grass, advancing Brison to third before Emily Burke followed with a two-RBI hit that put Washington up 2-0.
In the top of the second, Barren again failed to generate much offense. A Washington error opened the base paths to Abby Elmore, who swiped second and third. Breanna Furlong walked and stole second to place two Knockout runners within reach of home, but a strikeout from opponent starting pitcher Brooke Shaw ceased the stanza.
The third turned out to be more productive. A Taylor White single and steal and an Emily Baker-King walk placed two Knockouts on base. A wild pitch on the ensuing at-bat moved both runners into scoring position before another errant hurl plated White and cut the Washington advantage to one. Later in the frame, a passed ball paved the way home for Baker-King to knot the score at 2-2.
Barren piled up five more scores in the fourth. Taylor Elmore and Furlong crossed the plate on a passed ball and error, respectively. A Likens pop fly bounced just beyond the infield to bring in White and a wild pitch gave Baker-King her second run of the game, ballooning the Barren lead to 6-2. Brilee Houchens capped the inning’s offense minutes later by bunting in Likens.
The lead continued to blossom in the top of the sixth. A two-RBI knock from Kingrey handed the Knockouts their eight and ninth scores. Two runs courtesy of wild pitches followed and preceeded RBI courtesy of Abby Elmore and Taylor Elmore.
Mt. Washington saturated the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but any hope for a comeback was squelched when Kingrey snagged a Raven Cochran liner and caught the runner leaning off first for a game-securing 6-6-3 double play.
In the Knockouts’ 6 p.m. win, a first-inning double from Houchens brought in Kingrey to hand Barren the initial 1-0 advantage. An additional score arrived in the third when Furlong stomped home plate to stretch the lead to two.
Rhinelander could never close in, however, as Kingrey tossed a complete game shutout to lift the Knockouts to a 2-0 victory. Barren continued bracketed play Saturday night at 6 p.m.
