Rebels still have Bluebirds’ number
Boone County senior Dallis Knotts is an athlete with specialized skills. She’s a scorer and record-breaking 3-point shooter for the basketball team. For the softball team, she’s an all-region pitcher and shortstop as the Rebels’ premier player.
All of her softball skills were on display Monday during a 10-3 Boone County road win at Winkler Park, the Rebels’ fifth straight against the Bluebirds.
Knotts had a career day while helping the Rebels, ranked No. 3 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches’ poll, improve to 13-4.
She registered personal-highs against No. 5 Highlands (8-10) with five hits and nine total bases while going 5-for-5 with two singles, two doubles and a triple.
She drove in a pair of runs with a two-run triple in the fifth that made it 8-0.
She also played flawless shortstop, and came on in relief to close the door on the Bluebirds with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, completed with just eight pitches and nary a ball leaving the infield.
Kiersten Maines began the scoring for Boone County with an RBI single as part of a three-run first. The Rebels added two runs in the second, one in the fourth and four in the fifth.
Maines went 2-for-5, adding a double. Caitlyn Palmer was 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI.
Sydney Foster was 2-for-4 with a double as four Rebels totaled 12 of the 13 hits.
The starting pitcher, eighth-grader Olivia Jackson, pitched six innings of five-hit ball before tiring. Boone coach Andy Petridis called on Knotts to finish it.
The lone Bluebird doing damage at the plate was slugger Shelby Graybill, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI.
Her two-run double to the base of the center-field fence during a three-run fifth set the final score.
Highlands avoided the shutout earlier in the inning with a bunt sacrifice that was played for a throwing error, scoring a runner from third.
The Rebels have won four in a row and eight of nine, and haven’t lost to Highlands since 2011. They beat the Bluebirds 6-3 at the Uncle Pete Noll Tournament March 30 at Softball City.
They didn’t play last year.
The Rebels swept two from Highlands in 2012, 7-5 and 2-0. Boone won the second game of 2011, five days after Highlands won, 5-3.
The Rebels have scored 52 runs during their four-game streak, allowing seven.
VIEW FROM THE SIDELINE: “She had a good game,” coach Petridis said of Knotts, who is hitting over .500 on the season along with Palmer. “She’s been having a lot of good games. We’ve been hitting. We have a few others hovering over .400, and all the starters are hitting at least .250.”
Said Highlands coach Rob Coffey, whose squad has lost six straight: “We’re going with Payton (Leighty) right now as our pitcher because (Bailey Spencer) is out at least another two more weeks with a leg injury.
“But it was the bats today. We have to start hitting.”
PLAYS OF THE GAME: Knotts’ triple in the fifth made it a rout. Graybill’s rainbow shot in the bottom of the inning just missed being her third home run.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Knotts excelled in every phase – at the plate, in the field and in the pitcher’s circle.
QUOTABLE: “We know a lot of their players, and we know how to beat them,” Knotts said. “We knew this would be a big win for them, so we didn’t ease off.”
Said Jackson, who threw seven different kinds of pitches: “I wanted them to go for a lot of outside pitches, and I threw a lot of different pitches with movement.”
WP: Jackson (3-2). LP: Leighty (0-1). Leaders: B-Knotts 5-5, 2 2B, 3B; Maines 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; Palmer 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI; Foster 2-4, 2B. H-Graybill 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI. Records B 13-4, H 8-10.