Written by Mike Graham for 10th Region.

Montgomery County senior catcher Reaghan Oney rounded the bases with excitement after belting a three-run home run to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning of the 10th Region softball championship game Wednesday.

Oney had just broken two Kentucky High School Athletic Association records with the blast. The Troy University commit has the most home runs in a season with 24 in addition to homering in seven straight games.

While that means something to her, it meant more for the tournament’s most valuable player and her teammates to help the Indians to their first 10th Region championship since 2015 with a 13-5 win over the two-time defending region champion Harrison County Fillies at Scott’s Al Rust Field. Oney walked two other times in the victory.

“That mean’s a lot to me. We’re state-bound. Here we go. That’s all I’ve worked for,” Oney said. “It takes a lot of work. My dad and I go outside every single and hit. That’s what 24 home runs gets you.”

Montgomery County takes on 11th Region champion Lexington Catholic at John Cropp Stadium at the University of Kentucky on June 7 in the first round of state. The Indians lost 7-0 to the Knights in Lexington on May 15.

The Indians once again won the game exploding late offensively. Similar to the semifinal win over Mason County, Montgomery County scored five runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth to break away for the win.

“They have a lot of good hitters,” Harrison County head coach Chad Persinger said of the Indians. “We didn’t play the best game. A lot of things kind of snowballed on us. But hats off to them. They put the ball in play and had a lot of big hits. That’s going to happen. You can’t win them all even though we’d sure like to.”

Montgomery County (31-6 overall) pounded out 10 hits total including nine off Harrison County sophomore pitcher Bella Persinger. Freshman pitcher Lilliana Hill helped herself at the leadoff spot going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and Addison Rodgers smacked two hits including a triple and scored three times. Emily Brock and Taylor Pate each added two-run doubles.

“These kids battled from the first pitch to the last pitch,” Montgomery County head coach Matt Puckett said. “Our plan was to battle, foul pitches off and get her pitch count up. When she missed spots, we tried to make her pay. She’s a very good pitcher. But (Wednesday), we timed her up and had timely hits. These Kentucky kids play hard and deserve to win. But (Wednesday), we came out on top and we’re pleased with how they did it.”

Hill (13-1) pitched a complete game striking out three to go with one walk and five hits. Harrison County’s five through nine hitters finished 0-for-11 against her.

“You just have to keep going when it comes to things like that,” Hill said. “Whether it’s an error, a hit or whatever the case may be, you just have to keep pushing through it.”

Both teams committed some errors. Harrison County had four to three for Montgomery County. The Indians did a better job capitalizing off the Harrison County errors.

Savannah White and Shyanne Ross both had two hits to lead the Fillies. Ross hit a solo shot in the top of the third and White doubled in the fourth inning with Emma Hamm adding a double in the fifth inning.

Bella Persinger (22-5) wound up striking out eight. She pitched into the sixth inning before Ross finished the game.

Montgomery County scored first in the bottom of the second with an unearned run. Ryleigh Martin singled and took second when Rodgers reached on a Harrison County fielding error. Two outs later, Jaiden Oney singled just over the glove of Harrison County third baseman Owyn McCoy. Martin scored on a close play at the plate to give the Indians a 1-0 advantage.

That marked a big moment in Jaiden Oney’s return to the lineup. Jaiden Oney had to leave in the middle of the region semifinal game against Mason County as a result of issues with her Type 1 Diabetes.

“It felt really good,” Jaiden Oney said. “I spent all day trying to get better. I just had to eat well and drink a lot of water. Then I took my insulin like I was supposed to. A lot of rest helped.”

After Harrison County tied the game on the Ross solo shot in the top of the third, the Indians took the lead for good with three runs in the bottom of the third. With two out, Madison Cox walked and took second when Martin reached on a Harrison County error. Rodgers then singled in Cox before Brock’s two-run double put the Indians up 4-1.

The Fillies chipped away at that lead in the next two innings. In the top of the fourth, White doubled, took third on a Bella Persinger ground out then scored on an Indian fielding error. Then in the top of the fifth, Ross singled and came all the way around to score when Hamm doubled down the left field line to cut the Indian lead to 4-3.

Montgomery County batted around in the bottom of the fifth. Martin walked before pinch runner Kennedy Jones took second when Rodgers took a hit by pitch. Brock then reached on an error to load the bases before Pate doubled in Jones and Rodgers to increase the Montgomery County lead to 6-3. Hill then singled in pinch runner Hagan Stilz before Pate scored on a Harrison County error. Hill ultimately came around to score on another Fillies error to put the Indians up 9-3.

“That’s just it with this team. We try to hunt big innings,” Puckett said. “A lot of teams will bunt. We do at times, too. We believe in the kids. We try to send balls into the gaps. I think once we start hitting like that, it gets contagious. All of our players are talking. They’re telling each other what they’ve seen. We were going with pitches to right field. We stressed that all week and they showed up and did that.”

Montgomery County did not take any chances adding insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth after Harrison County scored once in the top of the sixth. Rodgers tripled and scored on a wild pitch before Reaghan Oney’s blast made it 13-4 Indians.

“We put in the work. I put in a lesson before we left,” Rodgers said. “We always put in a lot of tee work. That’s where it comes from not jut going up there and hitting, but breaking down the pitch on the tee.”

Marissa Taylor gave Harrison County some life in the top of the seventh taking second on a Montgomery County error in the outfield. She ultimately scored on a Ross sacrifice fly.

Harrison County finished a school record 34-6 with a second straight 38th District championship. The Fillies graduate three seniors in Taylor, Trista Ritchie and White.

“I’m definitely proud of these girls and what we were able to accomplish this year,” Coach Persinger said. “It was definitely one game short of our main goal. But you can’t take away the 2A state (championship). We battled a very difficult schedule and had a very successful year.”

The three played a huge role in helping the Fillies to the region crowns the last two years. Harrison County beat Lewis County, 1-0 in 13 innings in the first round of state in 2022 before losing 8-7 to eventual state runner-up Lexington Catholic in the state quarterfinals.