​Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:

The Edmonson County Wildcats rallied three runs in the fifth inning to defeat the visiting Allen County-Scottsville Patriots 3-2 while hosting at the Bowling Green Ballpark Thursday, March 27th.

It was a pitcher’s duel from the start, as the sun set in Bowling Green. The infield was in shadow before the lights kicked on and the sun had completely set when in the 3rd inning ACS scored two runs.

​The Wildcats hung in there and in the 5th inning were able to manufacture three runs.
 
With Edmonson County sophomore Tyson Meredith on second base, sophomore Eil Meredith on first and junior Hunter Wilson at bat, Hunter was able to knock in both Tyson and Wilson with a double.
 
The next at bat was another double from Edmonson County junior Drew Pierce and the Wildcats were up 3-2.

​Edmonson County’s pitcher Tyson was able to see the game through to the end, completing all 7 innings. Tyson allowed 6 hits, 2 runs behind 2 errors with 6 bases on balls and 8 strikeouts.
 
He threw 109 pitches with 65 strikes, facing 32 batters.
 
Edmonson County defends their diamond at home 6 p.m. Monday March 31 against Warren Central.

Alyssa Doyle, story and photos:
The Edmonson County Wildcats defeated the Trinity Raiders 12-1 in five innings with a walk-off grand slam from junior Hunter Wilson on Monday, March 24th at Wildcat Field.

Wilson was also lights out on the mound as he struck out twelve batters, allowing only one hit and one run on the night.

Eli Meredith started the bottom of the first with a single to center field. Wilson walked and Drew Pierce followed with a single to left. Trinity walked in two runs, leaving the bases loaded for Chase Bullock to hit a grounder past the Raiders’ third baseman to knock in two more runs. Edmonson leads at the bottom of the first 4-0. 

The Cats added to their lead in the bottom of the second with two hits from Eli Meredith and Pierce, and a single from Wilson, scoring two runs. Garrett Lyons hit a sac fly to score Wilson. Edmonson ended the second inning with a 7-0 lead.

Edmonson picked up another run over the third and fourth innings and the Raiders walked two Wildcats and hit Bullock with a pitch, loading the bases in the bottom of the fifth. Wilson hit a grand slam to left field, scoring four runs for a total of six RBIs for the night and beating the Trinity Raiders 12-1 in the first district match up of the season.

Eli Meredith led Edmonson at the plate going 3-3 with Wilson and Pierce following close behind, each going 2-3.

Edmonson County is now 2-2 on the season and will take on the Raiders again Tuesday night at the Whitesville Community Park.

​Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
 The odds of playing college athletics may be long, but Edmonson County High School’s Julie Norris showed she is ready to make her dream, a dream many young women have, come true.
 
Norris signed a letter of commitment in the ECHS Gymnasium, in in front of family, friends, faculty and staff to play for Campbellsville University in Kentucky just after noon Friday, March 21st.
 
Campbellsville was busy playing a game, so the head coach was unable to attend, but the Coordinator of Athletic Recruitment at Campbellsville University was on hand to deliver paperwork and a jersey.
 
How cool is it they are picking up Norris?
 
“No, it’s awesome,” Coordinator of Athletic Recruitment at Campbellsville University Khalil Baker said before the signing. “I think we are honored to have Julie here. She’s extremely impressive, very professional, you can tell that she cares about anything she is involved in. She’s very passionate about it and she always wants to be the best version of herself, so I think it’s awesome and we are glad she is coming here.”

​In the school year 2022-23, there were 357,110 high school softball players, according to ScholarshipStats.com. Of those, 34,678 were able to make the next step into college ball. Only 2.7% played in Division 1.
 
In the same time period, the National College Athletic Association lists the odds of making it to college level play at an overall of 6.3 percent and just 2 percent are able to compete at the Division 1 level, according to NCAA.org.
 
Campbellsville is a Division 2 NCAA school, still putting Norris in the top 6-7 percent of all high school athletes in the nation for softball.
 
Why Campbellsville?
 
Norris’s head coach, former teammates, former and current coaches all have some connection to the school.  
 
With all those people dear to her heart, it was an easier decision to make, Brent Norris, Julie’s dad said.
 
Norris has taken hitting lessons since she was around 10 years old from a program run by Campbellsville coaches called BSA Softball, Brent said.

​Edmonson County High School athletic director Kyle Pierce commended both Norris and her family at their year-round level of commitment to sports for Julie, he said.
 
“I really want to commend you for what you’ve done for Edmonson County High School,” Pierce said. 
 
Norris is also a triple-threat, explained Pierce about Norris earning varsity letters in three sports a year, which included softball, basketball, and volleyball.
 
“There’s never been a challenge that I can say that Julie has backed down from,” Massey said. “She always accepts challenge. I think she craves challenge, slightly. She wants to overcome whatever it is that’s put forth in front of her.” 
 
Massey is proud to see Norris’s dream to playing at the college level “come to fruition,” she said.
 
Norris’ dream began when she began playing softball in eighth grade, she said.
 
“I am so excited,” Norris said after the signing. “I love the idea of just playing at a high level and stuff like that and having all these girls who are dedicated, like obviously the high school is dedicated, but they’ve gone above and beyond.”
 
With the saying around, once a Lady Cat, always a Lady Cat, sure doesn’t make the stretch that hard to know Norris will be a Lady Tiger next year too. Still a Lady Cat.
 
Edmonson Lady Cats take to the diamond on the road against Breckinridge County at 5:30 p.m. March 21 in Harned. 
 
 

Edmonson Voice Sports:
The ECHS Tennis team returns to action this week as they travel to Meade County on Tuesday for their season opener. 

The team has three returning players:  junior, Trystan Hardin, senior captain Addison Browning, & junior captain & defending 3rd region singles champion, Brayden Johnson.  The 2025 team consists of 16 players, ranging from 7th-12th grade. 

"We have a hard-working, cohesive group of kids," said Coach Jodi Johnson. "The majority of players are beginners with a determined desire to get better. I am excited to see them experience success. It is our goal as a program to increase our overall wins by the end of the season & for Brayden to win back to back region titles. I sincerely appreciate the loyal support from our community & school system." 

​Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff:
Endings are difficult. Tournaments are no cakewalk either.
 
Edmonson County Lady Cats knew heading into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association 3rd Region Tournament against Daviess County Panthers at the Owensboro Sports Center Tuesday March 4 in Owensboro, it would be a test of everything they had learned and achieved over the past two seasons.
 
The Lady Cats were 4-8 since 2010 against the Lady Panthers, according to stats curated by Edmonson Voice Live Jamie Carnes.
 
This season they were 48th in defense, 3rd in free throw percentage and 5th in 3-point percentage in the state.
 
The Lady Cats this year were 39th in defense, 39th in rebounds and 12th in free throw percentage.
 
“Regional Tournament is a different animal,” Edmonson County Lady Cats head coach Jody Booth said after the game on the Edmonson Voice Live Post Game Show. “And our girls found that out tonight but I don’t want to take anything away from them and I told them coming out, there is no reason to hang their heads.”
 
Booth pointed out the stat brought to light last week where Edmonson County has not won a Regional Tournament game at least since 1997-98.
 
“There’s a reason for that,” he said.
 
Daviess is a really good team, and he would put them in the finals against Owensboro Catholic, Booth said.

​“It’s very physical,” Booth said. “It’s not anything that you are used to during the regular season.”
 
Fouls did not seem to be called as abundantly as they might during the regular season, but it was not called evenly, which is a distinction from the regular season.
 
“We had chances, I feel like,” Booth said. “I feel like we had some good looks and we just couldn’t knock it down.”
 
He feels the physicality of the game pushed his players out to the 3-point line more and away from the paint, he said.
 
It has been noted by Booth and the Voice Live, they need to win in the paint to be successful.
 
In the last meeting against Daviess, January 28th, at the beginning of the season, despite winning by 2 points, they felt they lost the battle in the paint, Edmonson Voice Darren Doyle explained.
 
They talked about not settling for 3’s, touching the paint and going inside more, Booth said. 
 
“But I don’t care who you are, it’s easy to talk about it, but when you’re out there doing it, it’s just a very tough game to play in,” Booth said.
 
There is nothing for them to drop their heads about, he said.
 
Except maybe one thing.
 
The only thing Booth will drop his head over is thinking about not having the same group back again next year he said. After having taken over and being with the team now for two years, for the first time he knows next year will look different.
 
“We started 0-5 and I am just proud of where this group came, and getting to cut nets down last week and stuff,” Booth said. “It’s a success.”

​The Lady Cats ended the season with a respectable 19-9 overall win-loss, with 12-3 in the 3rd Region and 7-1 in the 12th District, according to Kentucky High School Athletic Association. They also claimed their 5th District 12 title in the last eight seasons.
 
“It’s the growth and maturity of this group,” Booth said last week after winning the district championship.
 
“These are great examples for younger players to follow and say ‘you know what, I want to be like her,” Doyle said to Booth on the Edmonson Voice Live Post Game Show. “I want to be like Jenna. I want to be like Kennadi.”
 
Doyle feels their leadership is a testament to the coaching staff as well, he said.
 
Yes, everyone always would rather a win than a loss, but the memories of earning a District Championship and making it to the KHSAA Regional Tournament will be memories the players will have for the rest of their lives. It is a positive experience, despite the loss.
 
Some teams, sometimes, when the going gets tough will turn on each other.
 
The Lady Cats did not.
 
Not once did anyone speak negatively from the team during the game, Booth said. They were always positive and encouraging of each other. 
 
Booth didn’t think this would be his last night coaching this team, he said.
 
“But that’s part of life,” Booth said.
 
Booth feels all four of his graduating seniors will go on to do great things and have bright futures, he said. Even better than basketball.
 
“So may great things to remember,” Booth said. “So many great things to come.”
 
He is excited for kids coming back and feels they are a great group, he said. Especially because they now see how tough the Tournament is and he feels it will be motivation for them to get back, Booth said.
 
The future?
 
They are going to get better and better and continue to move on, Booth said.
 
He also looks forward to his graduates coming back and sharing their adult positive experiences helping their community, he said.
 
When the final buzzer sounded the score was 29-48 in favor of Daviess.
 
Some unofficial stats for the Lady Cats on the night saw junior power forward Cariann William with her stock double-double, scoring 10 points and hauling in 10 rebounds. Sophomore point guard Shelby Sowders scored 10 with 5 boards. Senior shooting guards Jenna Cook and Kennadi Swihart both scored 3 points and Cook hauled in 6 boards and Swihart 1 rebound. Senior power forward Julie Norris also scored 3 points and had 1 rebound, according to stats curated by Doyle.
 
The Lady Cats did win the rebound battle with 24 versus the Lady Panthers’ 21. 
 
For some, the next season might seem like next year. For the Lady Cats, Booth is ready to start planning as he formulates this year’s exit speech. 
 
Any way the future is viewed, it seems bright for the Edmonson County Lady Cats.