GREENWOOD’S MURRAY SNUFFS OUT SEVENTH-INNING THREAT
When it was over, Greenwood High School’s high-flying softball team had a players’ only meeting on the edge of the infield in left-center field.
The Lady Gators had turned back crosstown rival Bowling Green High School, 2-0, on a picturesque spring evening on Greenwood’s home turf.
The Lady Purples had some things to address themselves, as they turn their attention toward the high-stakes KHSAA 14th District Tournament later this month at South Warren High School.
Bowling Green (10-9 overall, 3-5 in 14th District play) has several key players, including senior shortstop Emma Huskey and sophomore catcher Chloe Potter, who got a late start in softball because of the Lady Purples’ quarterfinal appearance in the KHSAA Sweet 16 in March.
Consequently, Greenwood (26-3, 7-1 in 14th District play) has played noticeably more games than Bowling Green.
BGHS coach Demont Franklin likes his team’s emotional makeup, but he admitted the Lady Purples need to improve offensively to make some noise in postseason play. Bowling Green has compiled a modest .281 team batting average with just two home runs.
The Lady Purples threatened in the top of the seventh against Greenwood’s sturdy Kayden Murray after Huskey’s double to the left-field fence left two base runners in scoring position with two outs.
Murray was equal to that task, slipping a called third strike past Bowling Green’s Kendall White to end the game. Murray, a junior Lindsey Wilson College commit, scattered seven hits over the course of the game with 10 strikeouts.
“I thought we played well, defensively,” BGHS coach Demont Franklin said. “We hung in there and had a chance to score some late runs. We’ve got to be productive, offensively. We could play them again in the district tournament. Greenwood’s obviously very good.
“I was impressed with the way we battled tonight.”
Greenwood’s third-year coach, Taylor Proctor, tended to grounds crew duties while her players convened on the edge of the infield dirt in left-center field. The Lady Gators stayed there, for a while, as they turned their attention toward the postseason.
Greenwood is scheduled to play EIGHT non-district games before the playoffs unfold on May 23, including two games in Bowling Green in the Best of the West Tournament at Buchanon Park.
Bowling Green, on the other hand, has four non-district games left before the KHSAA 14th District Tournament begins at South Warren.
“We battled. We were right there, with (Greenwood),” BGHS shortstop Emma Huskey said. “We hit the ball, but not at the right times. They’re a very good team.”
Huskey’s seventh-inning double gave the Lady Purples their best chance of getting on the scoreboard, but they only had one out to work with. Murray was equal to the task, with the dramatic strikeout to win it.
“Tonight, we didn’t play to our potential,” Proctor said. “The bats haven’t been too hot. We need to get better, offensively, before the postseason. Kayden really knows how to keep us in games. She’s in the top three, in the state, in ERA.
“We’ve just got to keep working.”
Murray has three pitches in her arsenal and estimates she goes with her rise ball (the softball equivalent of the fastball in baseball) about 75 percent of the time.
In 132 innings pitched, Murray has given up only 59 hits — let’s repeat that, for emphasis, 59 HITS — and an unbelievable earned-run average of 0.42. She’s struck out 234 batters in 132 innings — let’s stop here again, and examine the numbers — with only 21 walks.
That’s a strikeout/walk ratio that can be the foundation of a run at the KHSAA state championship. Greenwood will be the No. 1 seed in the 14th District Tournament, but South Warren (23-2, 7-1) and Warren East (19-8-1, 3-5) are also threats to make a deep run in the cut-throat 4th Region Tournament during the Memorial Day weekend.
Murray let her catcher, Allyson Smith, do most of the talking in a quick postgame interview, but she clearly likes the Lady Gators’ potential.
“We had to dial it in, late in the game,” Murray said.
Ally Smith said a lot more than that.
“In my mind, I think we’ve got all the potential in the world,” Smith said, her shin guards still intact some 20 minutes after the end of the game. “We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities today. That’s what we talked about after the game.
“In the big picture, I think we can get to state. We’re going to push ourselves and see where we can go.”
BGHS pitcher Savannah Jones took the hard-luck defeat, dropping to 7-7 on the season. Jones gave up only six hits, in six innings, with two strikeouts and three walks.
The Lady Gators’ Josie Morrison delivered an RBI single to left field in the first inning, scoring Allyson Smith from second base, and Greenwood added a third-inning run on Savannah Jones’ bases-loaded walk to Cali Huff.
Morrison, who has committed to Cincinnati’s Mount St. Joseph University, has put up some serious numbers in her junior year.
The Lady Gators’ first baseman is batting an eye-opening .529 with a team-high 13 home runs and 54 RBIs.
“We might have overlooked Bowling Green, a little bit, before the tournament games,” Morrison said. “We didn’t play to our potential. We did what we had to do, late in the game.”
