In a game that felt like a heavyweight title fight, Notre Dame landed the final knockout blow.
CANNONSBURG, Ky. — The Titans had it all going their way, building a five-run lead twice. Then, in the blink of an inning and a half, they found themselves trailing by three. That’s when Kate Entler stepped to the plate and changed everything.
“As you can see, the energy level went up when the ball goes about 230, 240 feet into the midst of the night,” Titans coach Shad Ford said.
Entler crushed a two-run home run to center field, sending it nearly to the line of pickup trucks parked beyond the Boyd County fence. It was the spark Notre Dame needed in a five-run seventh inning that sealed a wild 13-11 comeback victory in the finale of the Tri-State Softball Showcase on Saturday night.
Entler finished 4 for 5 with five RBIs, but her final hit was the one that turned the tide in a game that had slipped away from the Titans multiple times.
“Home runs are great,” Ford said. “Kate’s a great hitter. That’s her job, to get those runs in. Definitely a plus for us.”
Still down by one after Entler’s blast, Notre Dame kept swinging. Lyndsey Schaefer ripped a game-tying RBI double to score Ava Rush. Maycee Ford dashed home from third on a wild pitch, and Audrey Bach’s sacrifice fly brought Schaefer in to cap the rally.
Those were the final hits in a slugfest that featured 24 runs, 25 hits, and 21 walks—a game that had everything except a dull moment.
“They fought like champs,” Ford said. “Get hit there, things didn’t go your way, took a punch there, and punched back in the end when it mattered. Proud of everybody.”
The Titans (20-2) came into the game riding a 17-game winning streak, often winning by wide margins. But they knew the Lions wouldn’t go quietly. Boyd County (14-11) proved that by scoring eight straight runs to take control.
Reagan Robbins started the Lions’ surge in the fifth with a two-out, two-run double. Savanna Henderson followed with an infield single, and Brooke Jacobs worked a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, cutting the deficit to one.
In the sixth, Robbins tied the game with a sacrifice bunt that scored Kaylee May. Then Henderson launched a two-run double, and a misplayed fly ball in the lights allowed another run to score, putting Boyd County up 11-8.
But Notre Dame had one more rally left in them—and it came when it mattered most.