Softball

Since their 50th District championship season in 2019, the Whitley County Lady Colonels softball team has not been able to compete at the level that they would like. This year, they are looking to change that. “We have been on a downward trend since 2019,” Head Coach Angela Singleton admitted recently. “But I think that the girls have reached a point where their mentality is that they really need to be team first. They want to win ball games, and I think that they will do whatever it takes to make that happen.” The Lady Colonels are off to a good start, winning their season opener Monday, 12-2, at McCreary Central. “We’re...

After a winless season in 2019 and the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Williamsburg Lady Jackets softball team has struggled with their efforts to rebuild the program into a district contender. Having recorded just 14 wins in their previous three campaigns, Head Coach Andrea Winchester said that this year’s group features the personnel, and the desire, to finally begin turning things around. “This season our goals are to at least double our win record from last year (six games), and to be able to capitalize on those games that we should’ve won,” Winchester said. “I believe that we have a good team coming back this...

Despite a very respectable 23-8 record and a 50th District championship win, the Corbin Lady Hounds softball team were not entirely satisfied with their 2023 campaign. They accomplished a lot, yes, but they fell short of their ultimate goal of successfully defending their 2022 13th Region championship crown. This season, the team looks to rectify that situation. “We are feeling pretty good about this season,” said Corbin High School Softball Head Coach Crystal Stidham. “We have a lot of talent on the team, and a lot of girls who are good utility players. They are very versatile.” The Lady Hounds will be returning the majority of their starters to the lineup this...

The recent updates to Corbin High School’s football stadium has grabbed many headlines in recent months, but the school’s baseball and softball facilities are also undergoing major renovations, including all-new turf playing surfaces that will be in place for the upcoming 2024 season. “There’s going to be turf, there will be new fencing all the way around, and we’re moving to the third base side where the locker room will be completely re-done,” said CHS baseball Head Coach Cody Philpot of some of the more important changes taking place in that area of the campus. Philpot also mentioned that seating in the ballpark is being updated, which should improve the overall...

Last week, several of Whitley County High School’s varsity sports teams joined forces to present a two-day youth camp that included hands-on instruction in six different athletic activities. The event was a huge success, with around 300 kids ranging in age from preschool to eighth grade showing up to take part. “At this age, kids should try all of it,” said Matt Rhymer, who is about to enter into his first season as the head coach of the Colonel football program. “We have to share athletes here as a rural county school, so it’s really about being one big community. We don’t want to create any barriers or walls, but...

It was a tough night for the defending 13th Region champion Corbin Lady Hounds Friday, as they were dethroned by their district rivals from South Laurel, 6-0. The Lady Cardinals scored all of their six runs in the top of the first inning, and despite the fact that the Lady Hounds kept them from adding any more run throughout the remainder of the contest, they could not get anything going offensively themselves. With the loss, Corbin ends their 2023 season with a 23-8 overall record, including a 50th District championship title. The Lady Hounds had bested South Laurel on three separate occasions earlier in the season, winning 6-4 on April 13, 9-4...

The University of the Cumberlands Patriots softball team are still chasing their dreams of winning a national championship title, coming into the 2023 NAIA World Series as the #3 overall seed. The Patriots softball team come into the World Series with a record of 47-3-1. They achieved a perfect record of 21-0 against Mid-South Conference opponents this spring to capture both the regular season and MSC Tournament championship titles. Cumberlands received the opportunity to host NAIA Opening Round games recently, going 3-0 against their opponents. On May 15, they outlasted University of South Carolina Beaufort, 3-2. They followed that up with back-to-back victories over Madonna University (Mich.), winning 4-2 on May...

The Whitley County Lady Colonels are calling in some heavy hitters to help them prepare for the 2023 softball season. Later this month, the middle and high school teams will welcome in former Ohio Valley Conference Female Athlete of the Year, Paige Murphy (Eastern Kentucky University), for some special instruction, but just this past weekend a more familiar face was back in town to offer up her expertise. Bethany Brown, who spent two years at the University of the Cumberlands as a player in 2014-15, and then another year-and-half with the Patriots as a graduate assistant, was back in town for a one-day clinic on Saturday, where she helped Colonel...

The 2022 Corbin Little League season wrapped up recently with the following teams being crowned champions of their respective divisions… LL Majors: Davis Salvage Gabe Hubbard, Gunner Duff, Nic Prewitt, Hartlee Viars, Hunter Longworth, Jackson Marlow, Kamden Bledsoe, Easton Hendrickson, Paul Viars, Colton Root and Dylan Hunter. LL Minors: Reds Gabriel Rains, Gatline Godsey, Kayson Grubb, Lenox Griffin, Quinton Owens, Ty Foley, Cole Moore, Bentley Campbell, Brody Allen, Colton Campbell, Conner Moyers, Declan Thompson and Easton Taylor LL Coach Pitch: Mud Hens Cam Hedrick, Drake Southerland, Cash Mills, Ryder Hedrick, Josh McWhorter, Rafe Mills, Asher McCreary, Zaydon Storms, Levi Swafford, Luke Cloud, Kaden Greer, Ayden Conlin and Luke Miracle. With the season complete, All-Star rosters are...

When Lindsey Shope came onto the scene for the Whitley County High School softball program as a sophomore in 2018, she made an immediate impact from inside the pitching circle. The missing component in the Lady Colonels’ recipe for success, Shope helped lead the team to a 50th District title in 2019, as well as an appearance in the 13th Region championship tournament semifinals. She followed that up with an impressive showing on the basketball court during the winter of her senior year, finishing a close second on the team leaderboard for total points scored during the season. Then the unimaginable happened. In the spring of 2020, Whitley County, the state of...