Wildcats Are Back-To-Back District Champions

Edmonson County Claims 2022 District Baseball Title in 9-0 Win Over Whitesville-Trinity

2022 Edmonson County Wildcat Back-to-Back District Champions

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
The Edmonson County Wildcats are the District 12 Champions for the second year in a row after shutting out the Whitesville-Trinity Raiders tonight 9-0 at Wildcat Field.

The Cats were led by senior Gavyn Minyard, who not only dominated on the mound, but was also 3-3 at the plate with 3 RBIs, along with a homerun and two doubles. Minyard pitched the complete game shutout, giving up no runs, no walks, while he struck out 7. Head Coach Michael Meredith discussed Minyard's performance.

"Gavyn was absolutely dominant on the mound tonight," he said. "When he's pitching like that and allowing only a few base runners the whole night, we know we're going to be in a good position to win."

It was early offense again tonight as Minyard doubled in the first inning. After a flyout, junior Andrew Talley blasted his second homerun in as many games and the Cats were on the board, 2-0.

Other than one hit batsman, Minyard cruised throughout the night. The Raiders committed 7 errors and the Cats made them pay. Edmonson County put up 11 hits for the second night in a row.

"This was a total team effort from all our players," Coach Meredith said. "We had kids diving for balls, bunting, taking pitches, whatever was needed to get this win. All the credit goes to these kids for the work they've put in. We lost 9 seniors from last year and we knew we'd have to rebuild. But our kids have played their hearts out. They've bought in to what we as coaches wanted to do. Our assistant coaches are guys with excellent baseball knowledge and they've done a phenomenal job. They're not just 'yes-men,' they challenge me at times when they see something I don't. I know people probably were down on us when we lost the first couple games of the season, but I knew we could compete. When we beat Hancock County in the middle of the season, I knew we could compete with good teams."

Talley was 2-4 on the night along with Hunter Wilson. Michael Mills went 2-3, Cole Saling was 1-3, and Daren Alexander went 1-4.

"Our kids played a lot of small-ball this year, too," said Coach Meredith. "Sometimes it's not very exciting to bunt or steal, but our kids have done what we've asked them to do all year. They've worked their behinds off, that's for sure."

Meredith also credited the boosters for their hard work.

"They've worked and worked to raise money to get us new uniforms, we've been able to make some field improvements, and I can't say enough about them. They've been great."

Minyard has been amongst the top hitters in the state throughout the season, being number one for a short amount of time. He is currently number 4 on the state list for batting average, at .597.

"I knew he was always in the top 4 or 5 it seemed like, but I know I wouldn't trade him for any other batter in the state," said Meredith. "He's put the work in all year long. He's the one you see putting an extra 30 minutes in the cage or working at it on his own time."

Edmonson County is now 17-12 on the season and will play in the upcoming region tournament with a schedule to be announced.

Edmonson County's Lady Cat softball team fell 3-1 at Butler County tonight in the first round of the district tournament. They end their season with a record of 11-16.