By JAMES BROWN
WCLU Sports
What’s better than being able to tell your children someday that you played agains the No. 1 team in the nation?
That was the question Barren County softball coach Daryl Murphy posed at the end of an interview Wednesday night after his team beat Cumberland County, 8-4, in nine innings in the semifinals of the Fourth Region Softball Tournament.
The Trojanettes get that chance tonight at 6 p.m. when they face South Warren — 40-0 and No. 1 in the Line Drive Media rankings and No. 2 in the Sports Illustrated rankings — in the Fourth Region Softball Tournament title game at WKU Softball Complex.
Wednesday night, Barren County jumped ahead of Cumberland County 2-0 in the top of the first inning. The Trojanettes clung to a lead until the bottom of the seventh, when the Lady Panthers tied the game 4-4. That forced extra innings between these two teams for the third time this season. The teams split their two earlier meetings. Barren won by the river in Burkesville, 4-3, in eight innings, while Cumberland won at the field on the hill in Glasgow, 3-2, in eight innings.
This one took nine innings at the field by the railroad tracks in Bowling Green.
In the top of the ninth, Lily Elmore led off with a bunt single. After an out, Norah Shirley hit a ground ball to second and reached safely on a throwing error. Elmore advanced to third on the play. Audrey Jones followed and drove in Elmore with a single to center field. Shirley moved to second on the hit.
Shea Bogue next drove in Shirley with a single to right field, and Jones moved to third on the hit. Miley Kaumanns entered to run for Bogue.
Cumberland County intentionally walked Hadley Elkins to load the bases and force an out at every base.
After a second out, Adley Cunningham slugged a ball to right field that scored both Jones and Kaumanns, and gave the Trojanettes a 4-run lead headed to the bottom of the ninth.
Bogue forced a ground out and struck out the second batter in the bottom of the ninth. After a single and a walk, the Lady Panthers had runners at first and second.
Bogue forced a pop up that went into foul territory behind third base. Short stop Josey Moore ran and made a diving catch to secure her team’s 8-4 win.
“We played them earlier in the season, and, you know, they’ve got five or six Division I athletes, but they’re just like our kids. They put their cleats on, they put their helmet,” coach Murphy said. “In a one game event — it’s not a 3 out of 5, or 5 out of 7 — we’ve just gotta beat ‘em once.
“Anything can happen in a one game situation.”
“Isn’t that a great situation to be in?” Murphy said. “As I told the girls, how often will you be able to sit back when you’re the mom of a little girl or the grandma to a kid and say, ‘You know, back when I was a senior, when I was a junior, I played the No. 1 team in the nation in the Fourth Region championship game.”
Bogue pitched all nine innings against Cumberland County on Wednesday. She allowed eight hits, struck out five and walked three. She also led Barren at the plate with three hits, while Elmore, Moore, Jones and Cunningham each added two hits. Shirley, Elkins, Khloe Westmoreland and Addie Wheeler each finished with a hit.
The Trojanettes improved to 19-7 overall.
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