"Call us the underdogs, that's great. It's something for us to work towards."@BoyleSoftball is getting ready for the State Tournament, where they'll face the top ranked team in the state 3rd ranked team in the nation, Male. pic.twitter.com/OYIeLgJpM4
— Eli Gehn (@EliGehnLEX18) June 13, 2019
With sketchy weather last weekend in Lexington, the State Softball Tournament was moved to this weekend and will begin Friday morning at John Cropp Stadium.
One of the eight remaining teams in the state is Boyle County.
It may be surprising to some that the Lady Rebels have made it this far. One, they are a young team, there is only one senior on the roster (Katy Grace Chadwell). Two, the team lost six starters last season and they’ve had to shuffle around their lineup throughout the year because of injuries.
But they’ve pushed through, currently ranked 6th in the state, and are playing in the state tournament.
“They have absolutely exceeded my expectations as competitors,” said Boyle Co. Softball Coach Brian Deem. “They showed a lot of great character being able to go out there and fight and play positions that were secondary to them.”
Heading into the State Quarterfinals, the Lady Rebels are as big an underdog as you can be.
They’ll go head-to-head with Male, the top ranked team in the state of Kentucky and the third ranked team in the entire nation.
The Lady Bulldogs are 36-0 and have won 15 of those games via the runs rule.
“Call us the underdogs, that’s great,” said Boyle Co. Junior Keely Bowling. “It’s a great challenge for us to have so it’s something for us to work towards.”
“It’s definitely going to be a dog fight for all of us but we all realize that if we back each other up, then we really have faith in each other,” said Boyle Co. Junior Maddie Baker.
“We definitely know they’re a really good team,” added Boyle Co. Senior Katy Grace Chadwell. “I think everyone around knows that. The only thing we can do now is prepare for it, prepare our mindset for it and just get ready for a good game.”
This game is also a rematch from the season opener, where Male won 14-0. But Boyle Co. isn’t looking back on that outcome. This team has come a long way since then.
“I think we were all a little nervous about the season but we just worked together to get better,” said Boyle Co. Junior Kelsea Hinkle. “The encouragement all helps, so constantly encouraging, energy and everything just brought us all together and we became a good family.”
Boyle Co. and Male will face each other at 7 p.m. Friday night at John Cropp Stadium.
