The Edmonson County Lady Cats closed their annual basketball camp today at ECHS. The coaching staff said this year's attendance was doubled from last year's camp. 

Each year, members of the Lady Cat basketball team serve as instructors alongside the coaching staff for young campers, ages K-8th grade to help them prepare for the next level while having fun in the process.

"We had a great camp," said Lady Cat Head Coach Kevin Jackson. "The high school girls did a great job serving as instructors and we look forward to seeing the campers at our high school games this season."

Each camper received a T-shirt and a certificate. 

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Wildcats fell behind early last night against Grayson County in the first round of the District 12 Tournament and despite a valiant comeback effort, they were unable to claw their way back in the 5-3 loss to the Cougars.

Senior Dylan Waldrop, who last week signed his letter of intent to play baseball at Union College, started on the mound, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits in 1.2 innings. Coach Bo West said that Waldrop was prepared and locating his pitches, the fact of the matter was that Grayson stepped up and made some big hits.

"Dylan was ready to go," said West. "If anything, maybe he was a little too amped, but sometimes this just happens. You just have to credit Grayson, they hit."

Edmonson County fell behind early, 5-1 after two innings, but in spite of Waldrop giving up early runs, he was a constant driving force behind his team throughout the game, never dropping his head. In the top of the third with two men on, he ripped one up the right field line for a two-run double to make things 5-3. He was thrown out at third trying to stretch the play into a triple. He went 1-2 with 2 RBI and one walk.

"Our guys hung in there and they fought," said West. "We've had our ups and downs through all this year, but I know that even when we may not have had the best talent on the field, we always had the best effort, always."

Senior Walker Hazel came in to pitch 4.1 scoreless innings in relief, giving up only one hit, no walks, and 5 Ks. 

"Walker came in relaxed and he was comfortable," West said. "He's been a workhorse all year long. Can't say enough about him."

The Wildcats had opportunities throughout the rest of the game but couldn't muster up any more runs. One highlight of the night was when Wildcat left fielder Chaz Wilson, an 8th grader, caught a deep flyball for an out near the wall in the bottom of the 5th. Grayson County's Hunter Young tagged from third in an attempt to score but Wilson's perfect throw from deep left nailed him at the plate as senior catcher Hunter Garrett tagged out Young.

Other offensive contributors for the Wildcats were Logan Minton 1-4, Caleb Skaggs 1-1, 2BB, and Nick Clemmons was 1-3.

Coach West reflected on the season as a whole. "We started out really hot at 8-1, then we hit the bottom. It took us a few games to re-find ourselves. But one thing's for sure: this team had grit. They never gave up at any time, and we always had a chance to win."

The Wildcats finish the season 13-10. "I really love these guys," West added. "This isn't how we want to end, but I'm still very proud of this team."

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County High School senior Dylan Waldrop officially signed his letter of intent today to play baseball at Union College, a four year college in Barbourville, KY.

Dylan has played a key role in Wildcat Baseball over the years and has found success as a pitcher, infielder, and hitter. He also played football at Edmonson County for four years.

ECHS Head Baseball Coach Bo West discussed his thoughts on Dylan's big day.

"I know how hard he's worked throughout the years to make this dream a reality," said West. "Nine years ago, when I first got here, Dylan was the first kid I ever met. This little short, red-headed kid came up to me and he was eager to play baseball."

West said he knew right away he had passion and a drive for baseball. He said his work ethic has been strong over the years and he's continued improving as a result of his hard work.

"He's always been a hard worker, on and off the field. All this hard work has finally paid off for him and I want to say I'm very happy and proud of him and I know he'll continue to work hard on the field and in the classroom for years to come."

Dylan was very humble as he thanked the crowd for supporting him today.

"This has been a long time coming and I'm very blessed to have received the offer from Union," he said. "Along the way I've had some tough decisions to make, but something stuck with me that Coach Bo told me. He said to think about 40 years down the road, not 4. And I think that 40 years down the road I'll see this opportunity that was given to me and I would regret not taking it."

He gave some advice to his younger teammates in the audience. 

"Work hard every day. Work your butt off, do everything you can to make yourself a better player. It will all be worth it in the end, I promise you."

Kevin Waldrop, Dylan's father, has happy to share this moment with his son.

"I'm ecstatic about this," he said with a smile. "All young kids that play baseball want to make it to the big leagues but Dylan always said he wanted to play in college and get his degree. He's worked hard and this is an example of how hard work pays off. I'm as happy and as proud as a Dad can be."

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Senior night for the Wildcat baseball team ended in an extra-inning loss to Hart County, but Head Coach Bo West said he liked how his team battled back from an early deficit. 

"We put ourselves in an early hole with some errors," he said. "Our guys also had to fight through the emotions of senior night where we had a lot of things going on, but they never gave up. They hung in there and battled back and it was great to see that."

Hart County started off scoring one unearned run in each of the first two innings but a 2-RBI single for junior Logan Lindsey tied things up in the third inning 2-2.

Senior Caleb Skaggs singled in the fourth inning and stole second. He scored on Chaz Wilson's single and the Wildcats took the 3-2 lead.

In the fifth, Hart County took advantage of a walk, an error, and two singles as three runs scored and the Raiders jumped back on top 5-3. Logan Minton relieved starting pitcher Walker Hazel in the inning. Hazel's pitching line was: 4.1 innings, three hits, two walks, 6 Ks, and no earned runs.

Caleb Skaggs led off in the sixth by reaching base on a dropped third strike and advanced to second on an errant throw to first. Skaggs stole third and scored on Tanner Woodcock's ground ball to narrow Hart County's lead 5-4. 

The Wildcats held the Raiders scoreless and would need at least one run in the bottom of the seventh to stay alive. 

Senior Walker Hazel led off with a double to center field and moved to third on Logan Minton's perfectly placed bunt up the first baseline. Hazel scored to tie things up on Waldrop's hard single up the middle as the game later moved into extras.

Both teams were scoreless in the 8th but Hart County was able to put two runs on the board in the ninth. Freshman Jacob Vincent relieved Minton on the mound as Minton pitched 3.2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 5Ks, 1 BB, and 2 runs (one unearned). 

Edmonson County had good opportunities for a comeback win thanks to Minton reaching on an error, Waldrop's single up the middle, and Hunter Garrett's walk, but was only able to put one run on the board as they fell 7-6.

The district tournament is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 22 in Brownsville as the Wildcats will host this year's tournament. Coach West said his team will be preparing for either Grayson or Butler's pitchers, whichever team they get in the draw.

"We're going to focus on their pitching and be ready for what they bring. We're also going to clean up our defense a little. We had a seven game stretch earlier in the year with only one error and we need to get back to that. We're also going to do better with our two strike approach. We're going to battle."

The box score was: Hazel 2-4, 1, BB, Lindsey 1-4, 1BB, 2RBI, Waldrop 2-5, 1 RBI, Garrett 1-4, 1BB, Skaggs 2-4, 1 RBI, Woodcock RBI, BB, Wilson 1-4, 1 RBI, Clemmons 1-3, 1 BB.

Check out all the senior night festivities and more coach's comments by clicking here.

Edmonson Voice Sports:
​Moriah Peterson, photos--
The Lady Cats dropped two games to Bowling Green last night at James Woodcock Field at ECHS, but there were still plenty of smiles at the park as the team celebrated it's annual Senior Night festivities for two seniors, Cierra Woodcock and Alyssa Brooks, along with their families.

Senior Alyssa Brooks, daughter of Brad and LuWanda Brooks of Windyville was recognized for her seven years of service to Lady Cat Softball. Both of her parents have played large roles in booster activities over the years. Alyssa has been the main pitcher for the Lady Cats this season.

Also honored was senior Cierra Woodcock and her parents, Jason and Carey Woodcock of Bee Spring. Cierra is the Lady Cat starting catcher and has played softball for six years. Her parents have played an important role to the team activities as well.

Another highlight of the night was the Team Fastrax Skydiving Team who jumped 4,000ft in the air onto James Woodcock Field to deliver the game ball to Head Coach Jeremy Garmon. They also brought an enormous American flag that gave chills to everyone in the crowd. You can view the amazing video on our news page by clicking here.

Edmonson Voice Sports: photo courtesy of EC Archery:
The Edmonson County High School Archery team has excelled once again and has qualified for the NASP World Tournament for the second year in a row after a strong finish in the NASP National Tournament this past Friday in Louisville.

The team finished with a final ranking of 62 out of 248 schools across the nation, landing in the top 25% of all teams. Head Coach Chris Shelton says the team continues to raise the bar of success with each tournament.

"They just blew this one out of the water," he said. "They just keep on. They continue to take these big jumps and it's amazing."

The team finished an all-time high score of 3330 points while competing in the prestigious tournament held at the KY Expo Center.  Senior Nate Wilson set both a new team high score and individual high score while senior Bailey Burba, Katie Vincent, Adri Ray, and Jarrod Sanders also help lead the team to new heights.

The team has qualified to compete in the World Tournament this summer in Orlando, Florida, but coach Shelton is unsure for now whether or not they can make the event.

"We're looking at the logistics of the situation. The cost will be huge and while we want our kids to experience this, we have to see if it's feasible to do so for only one tournament. It's been a great year, we've got great kids, and they've done some amazing things."

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Lady Cat softball team split a doubleheader against Metcalfe County last night at James Woodcock Field winning the first game 3-1, while dropping game number two, 14-3.

2017 has been a rebuilding year for the Lady Cats, and while they've had their share of struggles, Head Coach Jeremy Garmon says there is still plenty of softball left in the season and the team is now showing some positive attributes.

"We knew going into this season there'd be growing pains," he said. "We're a really young team and most of our players have little to no varsity experience, but we're learning and growing as we go."

Ten of the seventeen players on the varsity roster are freshmen or younger, including one starter that's a 12yr old seventh grader, Josie Morrison. Morrison has already hit two out-of-the-park homeruns this season.

Senior Alyssa Brooks had a solid performance last night on the mound in game one, going 6 innings, giving up only 3 hits. She gave up only one run (unearned) while walking 2 and striking out 4.

"This was her best performance that I've seen in two years," said Garmon. "She looked comfortable and executed pitches. We also had some great plays in centerfield from Katlyn Collins. These are the kinds of things we've been working on this season and some of it's coming together."

Freshman second baseman Alexis Cook faked a bunt in the fourth with a 1-1 tie game. She pulled the bat back and smacked a double to left center. She later scored on Karissa Waldrop's ground ball which gave EC the 2-1 lead. Waldrop later scored on Cierra Woodcock's squeeze bunt that would result in making the final score, 3-1.

"This was Alexis' first start and she had a great game," Garmon added. "That double was huge for us--very proud of her."

The remaining box score was: Cook 1-2, Lindsey 1-3, Collins 1-3, Dockery 1-3. Edmonson County struggled in the second game and failed to gain any momentum as the Lady Hornets took advantage.

Although their record is 3-11, Garmon is focusing on the positives that he's beginning to see from his team.

"We've still got lots of softball left. We're inexperienced now, but I'm excited to see that we're loaded with younger players for the future. Sure, we've taken a few lumps, but it's all part of the process. We're going to keep pressing forward," he said.

The Lady Cats have eighteen remaining games on the schedule, in just over three weeks.