Logan County and Franklin-Simpson find themselves in familiar territory in the upcoming 13th District Baseball Tournament, and this year they are atop the softball seedings, too.
In baseball, either the Cougars or the Wildcats are almost always the top seed, and they have made a habit of playing in the finals of the district and in the Fourth Region Tournament.
They both have done well over the years in softball, too, but the Russellville Lady Panthers are the defending champions, and they have the nucleus of that title team is back.
Baseball
Franklin, which finished 5-1 in regular season district games after splitting wins with the Cougars, is the top seed. Logan finds itself as the second seed with a 4-2 record, since LCHS also split games with Todd Central (3-3)
F-S being the top seed is a little confusing based on the teams’ overall records. Coach Ethan Meguiar’s Cougars lost a lot more games that usual this season, but they still sport the district’s only winning record at 17-16 overall and 12-12 in the region. They are ranked fifth in the region by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association with an RPI of .50799. They played three games against number one Warren East—highlighted by the Class 2A Sectional championship game, and five against second-rated South Warren, going 2-3 against the Spartans. The Cougars have outscored the other district teams 51-17.
On the other hand, top-seeded Franklin is ranked 9th in the region with a 12-19 record overall, including 9-9 against regional teams. Coach Matthew Willhite’s team has an RPI of just .56112. They have scored 57 runs in six district games and allowed 16.
In fact, Todd Central’s is a little better than the Wildcats in the eyes of the KHSAA. Coach Jim Dagle’s Rebels have a .46491 RP! with a 12-13 overall mark, including 6-3 in the region. They have outscored their district opponents 44-27.
The multi-year struggle has continued for Russellville in the first full season under Coach Kenneth Edmonds. The Panthers are 2- 21 overall and 0-6 in the district. They have been outscored 94-7 in district play.
The tournament begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday with a matchup between Franklin-Simpson and Russellville. The second game is expected to start at 7:30 with Todd Central taking on the host Cougars.
Winners will move on to Thursday’s 8 p.m. championship game and next week’s regional tournament.
Those games are a rematch of last year’s semifinals. The Cougars beat Franklin 7-6 for the championship in 2022.
Softball
Even though Logan County is clearly the dominant softball team in the district, the field is also very balanced. The Lady Cougars are ranked third in the region and are 6-1 in the district—5-1 in games that count toward seeding. Yet that loss is to fourth seed Todd Central, which is the only district win by the Lady Rebels.
Russellville and Franklin-Simpson are both good teams. F-S dominated the district for years, and RHS is the defending champion with the most experienced lineup in the district. In fact, every team in the district has a winning record except, Franklin, which came close at 14-16.
Logan County has been improving all season under first-year coach Gary Gettings. The Lady Cougars have won seven of their last eight games. That lone loss is to Barren County, which is top-rated in the region with a 26-2 record overall and 17-1 in the region. LCHS led Barren most of the game before falling by a single run, 6-5. One of the wins in this streak is over second-rated South Warren. Before that streak, Logan captured the Section 2A championship, which included a win over Franklin. The Lady Cougars went 1-1 in a rain=plagued state tournament.
The Lady Cougars have outscored their district opponents 49-21, including bouncing back from that Todd loss to crush the Lady Rebels 15-1. Those two teams will open the tournament at LCHS at 5:30 Monday.
Russellville. has a sparkling 18-9 record overall and 10-8 in the region. Unfortunately, they are 2-4 in the district, thanks to losing twice to Logan (5-2, 16-6) and to FSHS (0-5, 02). They play the Lady Kats in the tournament’s second game Monday at approximately 7:30.
Coach Ryan Davenport’s team has great tournament experience. Several of the players have been on the team long enough to win four of the last five All A Classic Sectional Tournaments, and they have made it to the second day of play both of the last two years. They won the district last year and added regional experience.
Despite being seeded lower that F-S, the Lady Panthers have a higher RPI than their opponent (.56933 to .53771). RHS is rated fifth in the region and Franklin 8th.
Franklin-Simpson has a 14-16 record overall and 7-10 in the region. Coach Todd Caudill’s team is seeded above the Panthers by virtue of winning their two head-to-head clashes. The Lady Kats also swept Todd but lost twice to Logan by a combined score of 9-2.
Todd Central has an 18-14 record, but the number four seed played only four games against Fourth Region teams not in its district. The Lady Rebels didn’t score a run against RHS and lost their second game to the Lady Cougars 15-4.
The KHSAA’s RPI makes the Lady Cougars (,58883) an almost seven-run favorite over the Lady Rebels (.52108).
The softball championship game is slated for Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Cougars in last year’s championship matchup. It was one of the most memorable softball Clashes of the Lady Cats ever.