State softball quarterfinals: Patton power: Lawrence freshman homers in the seventh to advance Dawgs to semis

LEXINGTON The word “Oudenophobia” can describe someone with the fear of the number zero.

If any oudenophobes were in attendance at Sunday’s Lawrence County vs. Taylor County State quarterfinal game, they would have been terrified.

Zeroes adorned the scoreboard through the first five and a half innings before the Cardinals broke through in the bottom of the sixth and the 15th Regional champs suddenly found themselves down 2-0 with three outs left to stay afloat.

But the Bulldogs weren’t scared.

Jada Patton stepped to the plate and cranked a ball over the left-centerfield wall for a three-run home run that catapulted her team to the State semifinals with a 3-2 victory.

“We’ve been in this situation before, in our region championship,” Patton said, referring to Lawrence County’s walk-off win over Pike County Central that came when Patton drove in the winning run with two outs posted in the bottom of the seventh.

“We knew we had to keep battling,” Patton added. “We had to find every chance we could find to get on base.”

Sparks says the fight from these Bulldogs are part of who they are.

“We’ve been in a ton of those situations,” Lawrence County coach Sam Sparks said. “Jada has come through for us these last two weeks. And we’ve had other kids step up big as well. This team has a lot of moxie. I’ve said it from the beginning. They have heart, they have grit, and they never panic.”

Panic was certainly not on the mind of Patton as she stepped to the plate in that situation.

“I was swinging with everything I had,” Patton said. “That ball was right down the middle. I just got ahold of it good.”

The flip-flop in momentum from the bottom of the sixth through the top of the seventh was stark.

After both team’s offenses were kept at bay for most of the game, Nevaeh Kays gave Taylor County a significant advantage by batting in a pair of run off a shot to centerfield.

With so many scoreless innings, the two runs felt like a great chasm, but as the Bulldogs took to the dugout ahead of the seventh inning, they didn’t look deflated. They instead looked determined.

Sparks credits his pitcher, Taylor Blevins, for being the touchstone for the team to keep their poise.

“I think a lot of that comes from Taylor Blevins,” Sparks said. “When we came back (to the dugout) after that sixth inning, she said,‘We’re okay, we’re okay,’ to our kids. A lot of that calmness comes from her, and it carries over.”

The Bulldogs managed seven hits off of Cardinals pitcher Maddie Hunt through the first six stanzas, but they couldn’t convert them to runs.

The biggest hit for them prior to Payton’s bomb was a triple to the centerfield wall by Emmalynn Kitts.

“I knew we were gonna break through,” Sparks said. “We had runners on just about every inning. We’re a good enough offensive team, we’re gonna string some hits together. When we got runners on in the seventh, I knew we would break through. I obviously didn't know it would be a three-run homer… but these kids love each other, they play for each other, and it's exciting to see them get to live and play another day.”

The Cardinals, meanwhile, had knocked on the door in the bottom of the fifth, moving Kays around to third after she singled to lead the inning off.

She was left stranded there, however, as Lawrence County got out of the jam with a pop up out to end the frame.

Not counting the sixth inning, Blevins gave up just three hits to Taylor County.

Lawrence County (26-7) move on to face Assumption (33-6) in Friday’s semifinal matchup.

“We’re just a little old country school that’s glad to be playing in the state tournament with all these big-city schools,” Sparks said with a laugh. “We’re kind of playing with house money here and we’re going to enjoy it. We’re going to compete like that on Friday night and see what happens.”

“Our team has been working since the beginning of the school year,” Patton said. “I’m proud of our team and I’m happy for our seniors that they’re ending their at State. Now we battle on and try to move on from Assumption.”

LAWRENCE CO. 000 000 3 - 3 10 0

TAYLOR CO. 000 002 0 - 2 6 0

Blevins and Maynard; Hunt and Curry. W - Blevins. L - Hunt. 2B - Sprowles (TC), Gupton (TC). 3B - Kitts (LC). HR - Patton (LC).

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