Highlands, NC softball hope to catch 9th elite teams

Allen Ramsey Photos. Top: Highlands junior Whitney Quillen makes a diving stop in the Ladybird 6-0 victory over Newport Central Catholic. Bottom: NewCath pitcher Haley Meyers delivers.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

This softball game was originally supposed to open up the new diamond at Winkler Field.

But the Highlands Ladybirds will not be able to play on their new field for a few weeks so the game took place at Tower Park. Highlands (2-0) shut out the rival Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds, 6-0 Thursday in a non-seeding game.

Both teams virtually the same cast from last year.

“The number one thing it is going to take for us is to believe,” said Rob Coffey, second-year Highlands Head Coach. “We have to cut down on our mistakes, execute and attack in the box. If we can put those things together like we have so far this year, this year could be our year.”

Highlands returns everyone from last year’s 18-12 squad that lost in the 9th Region semifinals to Notre Dame and NewCath (1-1) graduated just senior outfielders Christine Enzweller and Madison Ballard. The Thoroughbreds finished 15-14 last year losing to Dixie Heights in eight innings in the first round of the 9th Region Tournament after winning their second straight 36th District title.

Both teams played without some starters. Highlands sophomore Haley Coffey did not play because she is recovering from a concussion in the 9th Region basketball semifinals against Notre Dame.

NewCath juniors Loren Zimmerman, Michaela Ware and pitcher Sarah Neace will take the field Monday. They needed some rest after the Thoroughbred basketball team won the 9th Region Tournament.

Bailey Spencer (2-0) pitched a two-hit shutout for the Ladybirds. She also led Highlands at the plate with two singles. Molly Mertle had both NewCath singles.

“What I was proud of is they swung the bats against a pretty good pitcher,” said Denny Barnes, NewCath Head Coach. “That’s going to help us out in the future. We’d had a practice game and a real game. We don’t even have a batting cage so we’re going to be behind. We make the best of it.”

Highlands scored three times in the bottom of the first with two outs and never looked back. Sophomore Shelby Graybill started things off with a single to left. Brennah Dutcher and Kendall Turner followed with RBI doubles and Spencer scored Turner on a single to right. Highlands added one run in the second, third and fourth innings to pull away.

Aside from making it back to the region tournament, the next goal for both teams is competing consistently with the region’s elite squads. Ryle dominated the tournament for years with a state championship in 2006 until Notre Dame won it last year. Conner has also consistently been in the mix for the region crown.

Highlands has three seniors on the squad. They are Turner, Ashley Grosser and KC Broering. The two juniors are Whitney Quillen and Payton Leighty. Graybill, Spencer, Dutcher, Haley Coffey, Emily Johncox and Kaitlyn Ketchem make up a loaded sophomore class.

“You can tell we’ve improved since last season,” Turner said. “We wanted to beat these good teams. But Coach (Coffey) wanted us to show it. Hustling on the field is a way of showing that we want to be tops in the region this year.”

The Ladybirds wanted to develop some depth. They used seventh-grader Morgan Coffey as a pinch runner Thursday. Freshmen Taylor Baioni and Brooke Dill along with eighth-graders Josie Daley and Miranda Mason along with seventh-grader Rachel Gabbard among others could help out there. Gabbard has started at second base the last two games.

“Last year, we had nine pretty solid players, but if one of those players did not have a good game, we didn’t have a lot of options,” Coach Coffey said. “We have more and more girls playing summer ball, which we’ve encouraged. They’re getting great experience there. We’re having fall and winter workouts.”

The new field will help the Ladybirds in many ways. They will not have to share a field that the football team uses for drills any longer like they did in the valley.

“The weather was just not cooperative this year,” Coach Coffey said. “It is going to be beautiful. When you have nice facilities, it is going to draw girls to the program. When we played in the valley, no one wants to go down there. You have to be hard core to play in the mud.”

Juniors and freshmen mostly make up the NewCath roster. The only two seniors are Mertle and Taylor Burkart and the lone sophomore is Amber Gries. The other three juniors are Casey Kohls, Morgan Martini and Kristen Schreiber.

A number of freshmen saw playing time against Highlands. They are Kennedy Bin, Alex Burkart, Becca Collopy, Audrey Giesler, Meg Martin, Haley Meyers, Lexi Potts and Katherine Schreiber. Meyers and Taylor Burkart pitched Thursday.

“At one time, we had four freshmen and a sophomore out there,” Barnes said. “I really look for this team to gel in about another month. We’ll be there at the end.”

Both teams resume action today. Highlands plays host to Ryle at 5:30 p.m. and Newport Central Catholic will take on Dayton.