OKOLONA – The coaches got what they wanted out of the 23rd District softball tournament and now it would be on to regional play.
For the eighth straight year, the North Bullitt Lady Eagles would take home the district championship trophy.
That was the expectation for head coach Jason Andres when the season began. But there is so much more that the coach is looking to conquer in the regional tournament.
On Wednesday, the Lady Eagles took care of business in securing a 10-0 victory over Bullitt Central in five innings.
Both teams would advance to the regional tournament, which started Saturday.
“We took care of business today,” said Andres. “I wish we would have run the bases a little better but we hit the ball well and we were aggressive.”
North Bullitt came into the season as the heavy favorite. In the earlier meeting, the Lady Eagles won 22-0 in three innings.
With four pitchers in the rotation, Andres went with Evie Brashear in the circle. All she did was record a no-hitter. She was a hit batter shy of a perfect game.
“We have choices and she threw well today,” said the manager.
Bullitt Central head coach Aaron Basil was also pleased with his team’s improvement.
After the first encounter, he said a few position changes were made and the pitching has gotten better throughout the season.
But with only two seniors and one junior and one sophomore, Basil said the program is still very young. The key is retaining the younger players as they go through the program.
“Our goal today was to give North Bullitt a better game,” said Basil. “We did that.”
North Bullitt got to freshman pitcher LaDonna Whitaker for three runs in the first inning.
Madison Nunn and Alia Pearce led off with walks. Senior Trinity Burton brought home both runners with a double. She would score on a sacrifice fly by Amree Hammons.
In the third inning, North Bullitt would plate three more runs.
Burton doubled to lead off the inning. Brashear would help her own cause with an RBI double to center. After a walk to Hammons, Whitaker caught a line drive by Bella Markwell and that resulted in the courtesy runner being picked off second.
Gabrielle Coy followed with a double and she scored when Kaleigh Stinnett’s shot was misplayed.
North Bullitt would score another three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Madison Nunn singled to right field. After a stolen base, she would score on Burton’s single. A walk to Brashear was followed by an infield single by Hammons.
Markwell had an RBI single and Coy followed with an RBI single. Markwell would be cut down at the plate as she tried to score the 10th run.
The Lady Eagles finished off the game in the fifth inning.
Stinnett and Kalista Gritton each singled. Nunn’s RBI single would close out the game.
Andres said the goal continues to be to get the Ulmer Stadium on the University of Louisville campus. Last year, the Lady Eagles reached that stage and played a tough game against perennial power Mercy.
“We always expect to play at Ulmer,” said Andres. “That means we have to win the regional opener.”
The Lady Eagles played a tough schedule and Andres believes they are playing their best ball, despite a 10-15 record. North Bullitt hosted the first game of the regional tournament.
Bullitt Central took its 6-20 record on the road to play a district winner on Saturday.
All-District team
North Bullitt placed Evie Brashear, Madison Nunn and Gabby Coy on the All-23rd District tournament team. They were joined by Cami Bickett and LaDonna Whitaker of Bullitt Central, Renee Hines of Moore and Breanne Bryant of Southern.