ECHS Sports: Photos courtesy of ECHS Bass Fishing:
The ECHS Bass Fishing Team brought home the team's first-ever hardware for the school with both team and individual honors on Saturday, May 22nd at the KBF/SAF Nolin Lake-Wax tournament. The team just missed the first place mark, coming in second for the school's first win.

Team members Cooper Richardson and Jake Coy's combined 17.5lbs of fish helped give the Wildcats their first tournament placing. Richardson's 5lb 11oz largemouth was good enough to win him biggest fish of the tournament honors.

Head Coach Jeremy Hodges said the boys on the team have been nothing but impressive this year.

"I'm extremely proud of our guys this season," he said. "They have incredible determination and drive and it's great to see these young men succeeding. I look forward to bigger and better things--and fish--in the future for these guys."

Coach Hodges said there were about 50 boats in the tournament from three different schools.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Edmonson County Wildcat Baseball team celebrated their annual senior night on Monday, May 18, 2021 at Wildcat Field by honoring 9 seniors and their families.

The following seniors were honored on the infield during the ceremony:

• Dylan Lindsey, son of Ronetta Lindsey
  
• Gavin Rose, son of Jason and Mechelle Rose
  
• Grayson Nunn, son of Amy Nunn
  
• Chaz Wilson, son of Erick and Michelle Wilson
  
• Isaiah Johnson, son of Micky and Elysia Johnson
  
• Blake Skaggs, son of Kyle Skaggs and Lori Alexander
  
• Tyler Fugate, son of Rocksetta Fugate
  
• Clay Walden, son of Jason and Tina Walden
  
• J.T. Skaggs, son of Sam and LaNetta Skaggs
  

The Wildcats won 7-2 over Warren Central to improve their record to 12-13 on the season. Senior Chaz Wilson pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts and 5 walks. He also went 2-4 with an RBI.

J.T. Skaggs went 1-3 with an RBI while Gavin Rose and Grayson Nunn added one RBI each.

Coach Bo West discussed each senior and their respective impacts on the team.

"Chaz has been great for us for 6 years, starting for us as a 7th grader," he said. "A great player and just a workhorse. I can't say enough about him, I mean, where would we be without him? Same with Isaiah Johnson. He's been our varsity catcher since he was a freshman. You don't have a team without a catcher and he's been a wall back there for us. Gavin Rose has really come along as a pitcher for us this year and he's hitting the ball really well. All these guys have been leaders for us but I'm really pleased with Gavin this year. Dylan Lindsey has played several years but never really much varsity time. He's done a great job at second for us this year. Great speed, and one of the best kids, ever. He can also bunt the ball anywhere. This is Grayson Nunn's first year since freshman year and he's come along really well. He can pitch some, hop around to different positions, he just does what we need him to do and he'd done a good job coming back. Clay Walden is in his second year with us, and he's got great speed. When he gets on base, I just let him go. He's done a great job on the bases and center field, and as a lead-off guy. Tyler Fugate is another first-year varsity starter. He got hurt earlier in the year and that kept us from pitching him but he's played infield and outfield, got a great attitude, and always cheers on his teammates. J.T. Skaggs is a great kid, you can't ask for any better. He comes every game with a great attitude, whether he's playing or not. As a senior, it can be hard if you're not playing a lot, but a kid's value isn't just measured in playing time, it's also measured in character and J.T. has that, and we love him. He plays hard and is important to this team. Blake Skaggs is the same way. He also runs track so he's got great speed. He's a great role player, he cheers on his teammates and he's been a good leader. That's a lot of seniors, the most we've had since I've been here. They're great and I couldn't ask for a better group of kids. Seems like our kids just keep getting better, year after year."

The Wildcats have 6 more regular season games left before facing off against Grayson County in the district tournament, which will be hosted by Butler County.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
Edmonson County Lady Cat Softball celebrated with their three seniors for 2021 Senior Night at James Woodcock Field.

The three seniors honored were:

• Shea VanMeter, daughter of Todd and Jennifer VanMeter
• Mariena Thomas, daughter of Dwayne and Laura Thomas
• Abbie Slaughter, daughter of Chastity Slaughter

The Lady Cats won 15-0 over Warren Central in three innings.

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
After three tough consecutive seasons, plus last year which saw the entire season cancelled, the Edmonson County Lady Cat softball team has already reached a milestone not achieved since the 2018 season, and that's winning at least 10 games in a season.

Last night's 15-0 dominating performance over the struggling Lady Dragons of Warren Central in only three innings evened out their record at 10-10. Edmonson County has not seen a winning season since 2016, where they finished 23-12 and as district champs. Since then, they'd only won only 2 district games until this year, where they are 4-2 in District 12 play.

With a new coaching staff led by Alex Jane Massey, along with several new faces on the field and dugout, there is a renewed attitude towards Lady Cat softball that revolves around winning--despite their .500 record.

"Winning is a mindset," said Coach Massey. "When we came in as coaches, we believed that these kids needed to know that somebody believed in them and that they had potential to win. We try to be positive, but we have rules and expectations. When they fall short, we know that they're better than that, and we have to let them know that they're better than that."

Coach Massey said although last season was cancelled due to the pandemic, it's caused greater appreciation for the game and that this season has served as somewhat of a fresh start for the team.

"Coming in as a new coach is always an obstacle, but we got to know each other quickly," she said. "Because of COVID and these girls missing an entire season, they were so eager to get out here and play. I think because it was taken away from them and just being able to start new this year, they appreciated it more. "

Three seniors were honored last night after the win; Shea VanMeter, Abbie Slaughter, and Mariena Thomas. Coach Massey talked about each one and what they've meant to this team.

"I couldn't have asked for any better seniors," she said. "They all bring something different to the table, which is great. You've got Mariena, who's always upbeat. She's ready to rock-n-roll no matter what, and she's in full throttle 24/7, but you need that on a team. Her energy is contagious. Then you've got Abbie. Her whole senior story just proves her dedication to this team. She's overcome an injury, she's just come back from being sick all week, she's a prime example of dedication and heart to this team, and the girls feed off that as well. Then you've got Shea who literally has played three different positions since the beginning of the season. She's a kid who leads straight by example. She comes in, puts her head down, works hard, and if you ask her to do anything, she's going to do it to the best of her ability and that's something kids need to see. All of these attributes are things that make a team, a team."

Coach Massey said that coming into the season, she asked each team member to list both personal and team goals. She said 95% of the team said they wanted a district championship.

"We've got 8 or 9 games left before we meet Whitesville in the district tournament," she said. "Every one of those is a practice game to beat Whitesville and then to beat whoever is next. That's our goal. Winning the district tournament is our end goal, no matter what. We're improving every game and we have to continue doing that through the post season."

Darren Doyle, story and photos:
The Wildcats notched their second win over Trinity last night in a 6-2 victory in back-to-back games against the Raiders. Edmonson County won easily the night before in a 19-7 match.

While their 9-12 record may not show it best, Head Coach Bo West says he believes that his team is coming into stride as the district tournament draws near.

"We're doing a lot of things now that we couldn't do at the first of the year," hes said. "Our baseball IQ has really gotten higher, getting back to the groove of baseball, and we've really playing sharp lately--especially our defense. That's what hurt us early in the year. Us coaches have been feeling around for defense because we hadn't seen a lot of kids at different positions. But now, we're really keen on defense because defense is  huge, especially when you're not getting 15 to 18 strikeouts per game, you gotta play D."

Senior Gavin Rose earned the win with 6 innings pitched, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits with no earned runs. He struck out 4 while walking no one. Seventh grader Hunter Wilson pitched one perfect inning in relief, striking out 2.

Sophomore Daren Alexander led the Wildcats on the offense, going 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Rose also went 1-3 with an RBI as did Wilson. Clay Walden went 1-3 and Gavin Minyard went 1-4 with a double. The Wildcats had a total of 6 hits against Trinity along with 6 stolen bases.

"Gavin did really well tonight and we hoped he could finish out, but we're not out here trying to throw 100 pitches a game to kill arms, and Trinity's pitcher (Landon Huff) did well tonight, too. He's got 3 different pitches which is hard to find in high school. But going back-to-back is big for us because we've been working on not so much of up-and-down, or Jekyll and Hyde baseball, but finding a consistent balance because baseball is everyday. Not worrying about what happened last night, but focusing on doing the right things one game at a time and I think we did that tonight. I think we're gradually getting there."

Coach West said that the bounce back from COVID was a difficult one and with last year's season being cancelled, it took a while to get back into baseball shape, but the team is still focused on that happening at the right time.

"Having a year off and with our basketball kids coming in later, we're just now getting into season form, and that's the case with most teams," he said. "We had to platoon our pitching early in the year to protect arms. We've had limited practices over the past couple of years and our games have been like practices for us. It's been very difficult dealing with COVID and we have a lot of young guys that hadn't seen much varsity experience. Our focus now is to keep building towards the district tournament. We're not focusing so much on our record or scores, we're worried about getting better every game. We're focusing on district teams and getting to the place where our mentality is winning that one game, then doing it again the next night."

The Wildcats have 10 games left on the regular season before the District 12 Tournament begins in Butler County. Their senior night is scheduled for next week.