NC tops B'town in district softball matchup

Ashley Seaman came up with a monster outing Thursday in Nelson County’s district visit to Bardstown as the Cardinals’ junior catcher hit two home runs — one of which was the inside-the-park variety — driving in seven runs to spark her team’s 17-2 win over the Tigers.

“I have been trying to hit a home run,” Seaman said. “This builds my confidence for the tourney coming up.” 

Seaman also had a lot of help from teammates, who tallied 17 hits in the three-inning affair.

Cardinal third baseman Savannah Ballard also came up big, going 3-for-3 from the plate with a triple and a pair of singles.

“I was just trying to hit the ball as hard as I could. If we swing the bats early we get motivated for the rest of the game,” Ballard said.

Olivia Rodgers and Ashley Gamlin went 2-for-3 and 3-for-3 respectively for the Cardinals.

Emily Feltner, the Cardinal pitcher, went the distance with two strikeouts and also helped her cause with a triple. Her defense also made some sparkling plays behind her, adding to the excitement of the game. “We want to come in and hit early and get momentum and confidence. We aim to throw strikes and let our defense play behind us, ” Cardinal coach John Rodgers said. 

The game got off to an all-too-familiar beginning for the Tigers, now 2-8 overall and 0-4 in district play.

“They weren’t mentally ready to play,” Tiger coach Paul Stone said. “We got off to a rocky start, we’ve got to make better plays.”

The Cardinals led off the game with the first two hitters, Katrina Boone and Gamlin, reaching safely with bunt singles. The Cardinals continued to fill up the bases the rest of the first inning.

“We’ve got to keep our heads up and focus,” Tiger senior Alivia Davis said. “If we could focus in the first inning, we could keep it up throughout the game.”

The Cardinals improved to 4-10 overall (games in the Bullitt County Invitational were after press time Saturday) and 3-0 in 19th District play with a critical visit to Bethlehem on Monday. The Banshees are 10-5 overall and 3-2 in district play. The Tigers got a 2-0 forfeit win Friday over Louisville Central.

courtesy of Peter Zubaty, the Kentucky Standard