2008 Baseball and Softball

BASEBALL When Pleasure Ridge Park won three state baseball championships in a row from 1994-96, it established Coach Bill Miller and the Panthers as the dominant force in Kentucky high school baseball. The dynasty was in place. But for the next dozen seasons, the state title eluded PRP. That wasn't going to be the case in 2008, Miller's 29th, as the Panther powerhouse maintained its number one ranking throughout the season and dominated its opponents along the way to its fourth state championship. Led by Mr. Baseball Zack Cox, the Arkansas signee who was drafted by the Dodgers in the MLB draft, PRP rolled up a 38-4 record, winning the final 4-1 over Lawrence County, its 11th straight win. Along the way, PRP gave up just seven runs in 10 tournament games. Shortstop Zach Osborne, remembered by locals as the leader of the Valley Sports Little League World Series champions of 2002, was joined by teammate Luke Bainer as first-team All-Staters. If everything PRP did was expected by the experts, no one predicted that Christian Academy would sweep the 7th Region tournament, upsetting powerful Trinity and St. Xavier along the way. Coach Bill Gray's Centurions entered Regional play with a losing record, and figured to be no match for teams loaded with talent, including Ballard, Eastern and Fern Creek--teams that had beaten Gray's upstarts during the regular season. But the Centurions got hot at the right time, edging Fern Creek, Trinity and St. X in successive days at U of L's Patterson Stadium to earn the school's first state tournament berth. CAL then swept Central Hardin in the semi-state before finally falling to Owensboro Apollo in the state tourney in Lexington. Four other local players made the All-State team: Eastern's Tyler Dunaway and Kiley Jones, along with Justin Amlung and Kal Scheler of St. X. After the season, PRP's Miller said he's coming back for a 30th season at PRP. It'll be interesting to see if takes another 12 years for him to win the school's fifth championship. SOFTBALL Going into the 2008 Kentucky Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament, Ballard fans had every reason to think that this might be their year. Ballard fielded a veteran team with seniors who had been a game away from a state title as freshmen. Rachel Peters, Brittany Mockbee and Jenni Ackerman had starred on Ballard squads that lost in the regional the following two years. Led by Mockbee's 18-1 pitching record, Ballard knocked off duPont Manual, Assumption and Eastern en route to the 7th Region crown at Ulmer Stadium. Ballard won decisively over 6th Region champ Pleasure Ridge Park in its first state tournament game, but fell to powerful 4th-ranked Ryle 2-1 in the second in a 14-inning game. The long day got the best of them. The Bruins were eliminated by Christian County, 9-5 in the third game of the day. Over in the 6th Region, Butler was considered a strong team, having won the Region in 2007. No one expected to see Pleasure Ridge Park in the mix. The panthers entered regional play with a sub-.500 record and had never won the title. But the Panthers are coached by Megan Miller, whose father Bill is the legendary leader of the South End school's baseball program. Completing her fifth season at PRP, Megan has shown staying power and resilience. Megan's team lost to Ballard 8-2 in the first game and then to Garrard County 11-0, but you can expect to see the 28-year-old coach back in the thick of things this year. Greenwood, of Bowling Green, won its second straight championship, and Ryle's Kirsten Allen was Miss Softball. Ballard's Mockbee was a first-team All-State selection in Class 3A. Other area players honored were Class 1A first-teamers Ashleigh Gustafson of Chrisitan Academy, Megan Davis of Holy Cross, and Brooke Lamkin and Kacie Vincent of Beth Haven. Local schools have captured just two championships (duPont Manual in 1997 and 2000) since 1995.