St. Henry, NewCath head to All 'A' final

Defending champion St. Henry and Newport Central Catholic earned their way to the Touchstone Energy All "A" Classic Ninth Region softball final with Friday evening semifinal victories featuring solid pitching performances at Newport Vets.

NewCath eliminated Lloyd, 10-0, with a one-hit shutout from pitcher Haley Meyers.

St. Henry defeated Holy Cross, 7-4 with 12 strikeouts from pitcher Jordan Kramer.

St. Henry (6-7) was going for a repeat championship in Friday's late final against NewCath (7-3).

The Crusaders, an All "A" state semifinalist last season, dropped Holy Cross to 5-8 on the season in a rematch of a 2011 All "A" Classic regional semifinal.

Lloyd, which won its first All "A" regional tournament game in school history in this year's event, dropped to 3-6.

A hitting hero for NewCath was Sarah Neace, who ended the game via mercy rule with a run-scoring double down the left field line, plating the Thoroughbreds' 10th run in the bottom of the fifth.

Molly Mertle led off the inning and reached base on an error by the second baseman. She was replaced by a pinch-runner, who stole second and scored on Neace's smash down the line.

Michaela Ware, Kristin Schreiber and Loren Zimmerman collected two hits each for the Thoroughbreds.

Casey Kohls' three-run triple during a five-run second gave NewCath a 5-0 lead. Morgan Martini's two-run single highlighted a three-run fourth.

All but one NewCath player got a hit. All the runs were driven in by juniors.

Neace, Ware and Zimmerman joined late after leading the basketball team to the KHSAA regional championship and a state tournament berth. Neace said they are just now hitting their stride.

"We joined about three weeks late after basketball and missed two games," said Neace, a first baseman. Ware plays second base. Zimmerman plays third. "But we're getting into softball shape."

That pleases 'Breds coach Denny Barnes, whose squad won four of six games after the basketball players arrived.

"We've been playing some good ball," the coach said.

St. Henry's Kramer was backed by 13 hits. The Crusaders scored two runs each in the first and third, and added solo scores in the fourth, fifth and seventh.

Jessie Roark's run-scoring double in the third staked St. Henry to a 3-1 lead. She went 3-for-4. Molly Dietz followed with an RBI single, making it it 4-1. Dietz was 4-for-4. Kramer went 2-for-4.

Lloyd 000 00 -- 0 - 1 - 1
NewCath 150 31 -- 10 - 11 - 0

WP: Meyers (6-1) 8 K's. LP: Crawford (3-6). Leaders: N-Ware 2-3; Kohls 3B, 3 RBI; Schreiber 2-3, 3 RBI; Zimmerman 2-3; Martini 2 RBI. Records: L 3-6, N 7-3.

St. Henry 202 110 1 -- 7 - 13 - 0
Holy Cross 101 200 0 -- 4 - 8 - 0

WP: Kramer 6-7 (12 K's). LP: Clements. Leaders: S-Kramer 2-4; J. Roark 3-4; Dietz 4-4. HC-Lameier 2-3 Records: S 6-7, H 5-8.