The 57th district baseball and softball tournaments kicked off Monday evening and concluded with Johnson County having much to smile about as both Paintsville and Johnson Central’s softball teams won their respective games, as well as Johnson Central’s baseball team coming home with a big win after an exciting game.

Paintsville Lady Tigers 11, 

Sheldon Clark 1

Johnson Central was able to score first and hang with Boyd County, tying things up at 2-2 in the third inning, but the Lady Lions were too strong, pulling away to a 6-2 win against the Lady Golden Eagles

Things didn’t heat up until late in the game, but after Pikeville’s Drake Potter hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning, the Golden Eagles were able to come back to a 4-2 win over the Panthers thanks to Tate Meade’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh.

Braxton Kelly was on the mound for the Golden Eagles throughout the first six innings, recording 10 strikeouts and holding the Panthers scoreless until the top of the sixth inning. Kelly walked Kevin Justice. Nathan Brown followed with a sacrifice bunt and Jackson Hensley hit a grounder to third base and was out at first for the second out. Drake Potter was up to bat next, and was able to hit a home run with Justice on second base, scoring two runs.

Paintsville’s Lady Tigers handed the Lady Patriots of Knott Central their sixth loss of the season Monday evening in Paintsville. 

Paintsville’s Jordan Mulcahy accounted for a big two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to help the Lady Tigers to pull away to a 6-3 victory.

Tanner Mullet is going to Kentucky Christian and taking his golf skills with him. 

Mullet is a three-sport athlete at Johnson Central, participating on the Johnson Central golf, tennis, and wrestling teams. 

Mullet doesn’t just participate in those three sports, he’s shown he’s capable of going to the collegiate level of any of those activities. 

Pikeville’s softball team visited Johnson Central Tuesday evening looking to avenge a 5-3 loss that stretched out nine innings a month ago. The Lady Panthers were able to capitalize on errors by the Lady Golden Eagles to pull away to a 9-4 win.

It was an offensive outpour at Johnson Central Tuesday night.

HAZARD — Both Paintsville and Perry Central were strong on the pitcher’s mound Monday in Hazard, but the Commodores were able to mount a come back, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull out a 3-1 win over the Tigers.

Tanner Smith started things off for the Tigers with a single to center field. Ben Daniels was up next and struck out. Smith was able to steal second and third. Seth Williams got hit by-a-pitch putting him on first to put runners on the corners with one out. Matt Baldwin was up to bat next. Williams made an attempt to steal second, but was picked off at first. On the next play, Smith was able to score a run, while stealing home putting the Paintsville Tigers up 1-0. Baldwin grounded out to first base on the next play for the third out.

Fans at Charlie Adkins field in Paintsville were treated to a great game Thursday evening when the Pikeville Panthers came to town to take on the Paintsville Tigers. The Tigers came out ahead late in the game to pull of a 4-3 win over the Panthers.

Things got intense right out of the gate when Pikeville’s Kevin Justice hit a leadoff single to left field. Nate Brown was up next to bat, and hit an insiade the park home run. Paintsville’s J.W. Phelps was running for the catch, but made contact with the wall and was down for awhile. This allowed both Justice and Brown to score putting the Panthers up 2-0 just two plays into the game. 

The Lawrence County Bulldogs made their way out to Charlie Adkins Field in Paintsville after a close 12-11 win over the Tigers in Louisa over the weekend. The result would be different this time as the Paintsville Tigers came out on top with a 5-4 win thanks to four runs scored in the bottom of the third inning. 

Lawerence County was the first to get on the scoreboard. Peyton Cyrus was the first up to bat and after a couple of foul balls, was able to reach on a single. With Brad Parks up next, Cyrus was able to steal second. Parks struck out. Austin Roe followed with a walk, but not before Cyrus was able to steal home off of a wild pitch. 

Johnson Central jumped ahead of Paintsville early and never looked back as the Golden Eagles picked up a 9-2 win Tuesday over 57th District rival Paintsville. 

Photo courtesy of Kimberly Trador

The lake was covered with 79 different boats.

The reason for all the boats out on the lake was the 2018 KHSAA Bass Fishing Region 4 Tournament. 

Johnson Central had three teams to qualify for the KHSAA Bass Fishing State Tournament. The Golden Eagles team of Seth Jackson and Joseph Burchett topped the long list of entrants, winning the overall Region 4 championship. 

INEZ — The Golden Eagles won on the road in Inez against 57th District rival Sheldon Clark Tuesday night. After being tied 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning, the Golden Eagles pulled out a 9-3 win.

LEXINGTON — Former University of Kentucky guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to visit Eastern Kentucky as part of his signing tour.

After moving into the starting lineup for Kentucky on January 9 in a Southeastern Conference game versus Texas A&M, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 16.4 points, 5.7 assists and 4.6 rebounds over the final 22 games of the 2017-18 season. He scored 29 points in the Southeastern Conference championship game. The explosive Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a team-best 21.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 55.3 percent from the floor on his way to being named the SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Paintsville’s Matt Combs tags out Pike Central’s Seth Conn Saturday afternoon. The Tigers were able to take a late 9-4 lead and hold on for the win. With the win, the Tigers move to 10-4 on the season and will be in action again tonight as they host Magoffin County at 6:00 p.m.

It took a while for things to heat up, but when it did, Johnson Central was able to capitalize as the Golden Eagles got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth and ultimately picked up a 3-0 win over the Magoffin County Hornets in 57th District action. 

The Paintsville Tigers traveled to Pikeville Monday night to kickoff the 2018 baseball season. The Tigers were able to pick off Pikeville, 7-5. 

If you had to describe the run that Byron Pierce made at the state tournament, that word would have to be “dominant”. Pierce dominated the mat at the KHSAA State Wrestling Tournament. When it came to the big guys in the 285 weight class, Pierce reigned supreme winning the state championship.

Heading into the 57th District Tournament, Paintsville and Sheldon Clark were 1-1 against each other this season. With the 57th District title in sight, both teams laid it all out and Sheldon Clark came out on top thanks to Paige Maynard and Madison Thompson with a final score of 39-36.

For the third time this season, Johnson Central played Magoffin County, and for the third time, the outcome was the same — the Lady Golden Eagles got the win. The Lady Golden Eagles picked up a 72-48 win over the Lady Hornets in the opening round of the 57th District Tournament. 

Paintsville’s Lady Tigers showed up at Johnson Central in their away “black and blue” colors and that’s exactly how they left after Johnson Central coach Darrin Rice was honored for this 100th win, notching another win over crosstown rivals in dominating fashion, 65-42.

Pike Central went on the road Monday night and pulled out a 66-65 win over Paintsville. 

The Lady Hawks scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to rally to the win.

WARFIELD – Johnson Central had a big night against district rival Sheldon Clark Saturday with Jacob Rice joining the 1,000-point club in a dominating win that helped end a district losing streak on the road.