Lexington, Ky. — The Lawrence Co. Cal Ripken All-Stars captured the 10U State Championship with a 5-2 victory over Jessamine on Saturday.
Cal Ripken 10U East Kentucky State Champs
Back L to R Ashby Lyons, Brayson Raines, Hayden Bowen, Dane Kitts, Lucas Osborne, Preston Spaulding, Noah Patton
Front L to R Colton Anderson, Tucker Muncy, Easton Caudill, Silas Rose, Syd Woods
Coaches Dennis Bowen, Brandon Kitts and Tim Caudill
Dane Kitts was the winning pitcher after he went 5 and 1/3 innings before leaving the game because he had reached his pitch limit and Hayden Bowen struck out the final two batters to secure the state title for Lawrence County.
The game started last Sunday and was halted because of weather with Lawrence Co. leading 5-0 in the fourth inning and the two teams came back on Saturday to finish the game.
LC finished the tournament 3-0 with victories over Whitley Co. 13-1 Johnson Co. 15-0 and the state title victory over Jessamine and had a fielding percentage of .998 had three kids hitting over .500 (Kitts, Bowen, and Spaulding) and an overall team batting average of .443 and an ERA of .049 and opponents ERA of 12.49 throughout the State Tournament.
The team will leave for Schererville, Indiana which is close to Chicago on Wednesday to play in the Ohio Valley Regional Tournament.
The tournament will start on Thursday July 13th with teams from Wisconsin, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Northern Illinois, Southern Illinois, East Kentucky, West Kentucky, Northern Indiana and Southern Indiana
Lawrence Co. 10U Head Coach Dennis Bowen
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… I’ve tried to find the words to describe this team and just can’t come up with enough to give them justice. These kids have worked their tails off. To go down to state and not only win against, but dominate the bigger leagues just shows the hard work these kids have put in.”
“… When I left the high school softball team back during the Covid epidemic and became involved with these young boys I knew then this group was special. Just so much raw talent from top to bottom. It was a completely different type of coaching for me going from teenage girls to 6/7 year old boys. So as much as I helped them develop into young disciplined baseball players, they helped me develop my patience and understanding as a coach.”
“… Our coaching has told these boys from day one that when we are hitting on all cylinders, We’ll play anyone from Califorina to New York and believe we can beat them. So when we went to state I knew we had a good team but didn’t realize just how good we were.”
“… I just can’t say enough about these kids. I believe our pitching staff is as deep as any I have seen. I have seven kids I can go to at anytime. (Kitts, Bowen, Woods, Patton, Spaulding, Muncy and Lyons). A catcher that no one runs on in little Easton Caudill, who made a huge play to shift the momentum in the championship game. Silas Rose, Ashby Lyons, and Lukas Osborne that made huge plays to get us where we are. Colton Anderson and Brayson Raines are two of the most coachable kids I’ve ever been around. Just overall an awesome group of kids that I’ve been blessed with in my life.”
“… I personally want to thank all of my parents for buying into what we are selling their children, Tim Caudill that I’ll never be able to repay for all he has done for me and these kids, and Brandon Kitts for being there and making the decisions we make as coaches. I appreciate everyone that has donated and helped the boys in anyway shape or form and they need it now more than ever.”
If any Business or individual would like to help with a tax deductible donation you can contact Dennis Bowen 606-424-0222 or Sarah Osborn at 606-483-3413
