Tues. Night Highlights: 5/21/19 – Corbin baseball wins district, regional tennis champs crowned, more

It was a busy night in our coverage area Tuesday, with a district baseball champion crowned, several regional tennis championships decided and track & field teams hitting the road to compete for a chance to appear at state.

Starting with baseball, this year’s 50th District championship game between Corbin and Whitley County was another classic in a series that has become well known for producing plenty of memorable moments. It didn’t start out that way, however, as the Redhounds were able to get out to a commanding 9-0 lead after a three-run bottom of the first inning, a five-run bottom of the third and a one-run bottom of the fourth.

The Colonels were finally able to get on the board in the top of the fifth with three runs of their own, preventing a run rule loss. A huge six-run sixth inning for Whitley tied the game up at 9-9, with the eighth and ninth runs coming courtesy of a Caleb Rains home run that also scored teammate Luke Wohlfarth.

Corbin would not be denied, though, as both Austin Reynolds and Chase Estep homered in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead, 11-9.

The Colonels were unable to answer in the top of the seventh, meaning the Redhounds are once again your 50th District champions. With the win, Corbin improves to 26-10 on the year, while Whitley County falls to 24-9. Both teams will now advance to next week’s 13th Region tournament at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. More information on that event will be provided as soon as the tournament bracket is set later this week.

To read about how Corbin and Whitley County were able to advance to this year’s district tournament finals, be sure to look inside the May 22, 2019 print edition of the News Journal.

In tennis action Tuesday, this year’s 13th Region tournaments wrapped up at Whitley County High School with several Corbin Redhounds walking away as region champs.

Whitley’s Reece Halcomb fell 6-0, 6-2 to Alex Smith from Knox Central in the finals of the boys singles bracket. In girls singles, Corbin’s Samantha Spady defeated Knox Central’s Leanna Osborne 6-1, 6-2. In boys doubles, Redhounds Peyton Hamlin and Quinn Maguet defeated the team of Wilson/Koen from Knox Central 6-1, 6-4, and in girls doubles Lady Hounds Rachel Morton and Katherine Niemeier defeated teammates Hannah Jones and Nancy Jane Jackson 7-6(2), 6-4.

All region semifinalists also qualify to compete in the upcoming KHSAA state championship tournaments in Lexington. To find out who else from our area will be making that trip next week, be sure to look inside the May 22 print edition of the News Journal.

Moving on to track, two area teams went on the road to take part in regional competition Tuesday. The Corbin Redhounds and Lady Hounds made the trip to Danville for the Class 2A Region 5 meet, while the Whitley County Colonels and Lady Colonels made their way to Pulaski County High School in Somerset for the Class 3A Region 7 championships.

Several coverage area athletes from both Corbin and Whitley have earned the chance to compete for state championships in Lexington next week. Athletes from Williamsburg and Lynn Camp are hoping to do the same when they take the track for the Class A Region 6 meet at the University of the Cumberlands this Thursday. A complete list of all state qualifiers will be made available in next week’s print edition of the News Journal (May 29).

One final result from Tuesday – the Lynn Camp Lady Cats softball team defeated Barbourville 4-2 in the first round of this year’s 51st District tournament. The Lady Cats are scheduled to host Knox Central in the district championship game Thursday at 6:00 pm.

Tennis photo courtesy of DARLA MAGUET, Track photo courtesy of SCOTT POWELL