It does not always happen like this, but the two teams with the best records will meet for the region championship Saturday at 2:30 p.m. back at Bracken County Middle School.

The 38th District champion Harrison County Fillies (33-6 overall) take on the 40th District champion George Rogers Clark Cardinals (35-5) in that title game after run-ruling their 37th District opponents on Thursday. The games moved to Thursday after rains moved through the area Tuesday and pushed them back two days.

Harrison County has won three of the last four region championships. The Fillies lost to eventual state champion Assumption in the state quarterfinals last year. Montgomery County won it in 2024 under current George Rogers Clark head coach Matt Puckett. Puckett led the Cardinals to region crowns in 2016 and 2014.

George Rogers Clark 12, Bishop Brossart 1 (Five innings)

The Cardinals started off stronger than the region quarterfinal win and did not look back. They put three on the board in the first inning then five more in the second to go up 8-0 then finished it with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. All 12 runs were earned as Bishop Brossart made no errors.

“It means a lot because they know coming into this game that they were going to see a pitcher that gets a lot of contact and facing (Pendleton County pitcher Hannah) Spaulding (Monday) throwing the ball hard, they knew we had to make a big adjustment,” Puckett said. “So to put up 18 hits, all year long they’ve made the adjustment. (Thursday) was no different. I thought they came out and attacked early and that was. our goal. When we get on base, we try to run and put pressure on defenses. Once we started hitting, it becomes contagious.”

George Rogers Clark outhit Bishop Brossart, 18-4. Sophomore first baseman Jillian Franco led the way going 4-for-4 with a three-run blast in the top of the second inning as the top five Cardinals hitters went 15-for-19 for a blistering .789 average on the day.

“It was kind of hard at first, but once started putting contact on balls, (balls) started falling (for hits) easier,” Franco said. “I think we have a lot of adversity, and we’ve talked about that a lot. It shows that we can come back in tough situations.”

Junior second baseman Bella Guinn went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in the top of the second inning and scored twice for the Cardinals. Senior catcher Addison Mathews, junior shortstop Lilliana Hill and freshman center fielder Zyniia Tichenor recorded three hits and scored three runs each. Hill and Tichenor added two runs batted in each.

Junior pitcher Jordyn Abner (9-0) threw a complete game striking out two, walking one and allowing just one unearned run. Bishop Brossart scored its lone run in the fifth inning taking advantage of the game’s lone error.

“It was tough to get back in the groove of things, but coming out with confidence and believing that my defense has my back helps a lot,” Abner said. “Knowing that I come out here and my coach trusts me to do it, I just work well with my team. I have lots of confidence in the fielders.”

Junior Anna Bezold (20-7) struck out one and walked two in the complete game. No one had more then one hit for the ‘Stangs (24-12) after they made their first region semifinal appearance since 2017.

“It’s tough. They pitched us in a lot and we didn’t get the meat of the bat on the ball,” Bishop Brossart head coach Tom Baynum said. “We were hitting everying real soft on the infield. I feel like (Puckett) did his homework on us. Besides the two home runs, I don’t think they killed the ball against us. They hit a lot of holes and you have to give the a lot of credit for getting the ball in play. We didn’t get anything going until the fifth inning when it was too late.”

Guinn and Mathews led off the game with singles then moved up one base on a wild pitch. Hill then grounded out to first to score Guinn. Tichenor then singled in Mathews and freshman third baseman Jayda Grigsby singled in Tichenor.

Eighth grade pinch hitter Maggie McKenzie led off the fifth with a single and took second base on a wild pitch. She moved to third on the Geroge Rogers Clark error then scored when junior right fielder Tessa Wells grounded into a fielder’s choice. Bishop Brossart’s third and clean-up hitters Rachel Shewmaker and Leah Robinson then recorded consecutive singles to load the bases with two out, but Abner got sophomore third baseman Ella Walerius to ground out to end the game.

Bishop Brossart graduates three seniors. They are Shewmaker, Addison Dozier and Olivia Hildebrand.

Harrison County 10, Campbell County (Six innings)

Similar to the first game, the winners jumped out to an 8-0 lead. chasing Campbell County sophomore starting pitcher Elexis Gugel with one out in the second inning.

“I’ll be honest. This team is a blast to coach,” Harrison County head coach Chad Persinger said. “They give effort every game, every practice, so you expect them to have the success they’re having with the kind of effort they give and the type of kids that we’re able to coach. All these girls come from fine families. They’re all respectful. They all work hard. Of course, there’s a lot of talent on this team. We’re just hoping we can get one more (win) and make it to the state (tournament).”

The Fillies pounded out 10 hits – all from the top five spots in the batting order. Freshman third baseman Aleigha Newby led the way with her team-high ninth and 10th home runs on the season for five RBI and two runs scored. Her three-run blast in the first gave Harrison County the lead for good at 3-0. Newby’s second home ran came on a two-run blow in the second inning to give Harrison County that 8-0 lead.

“When runners are on, I try to do my job,” Newby said. “As long as I get it done, that’s all I really care about. You need to have a plan all the time.”

Three other Fillies had two-hit games in senior pitcher Shyanne Ross, senior shortstop Bella Persinger and freshman first baseman Rhylie Walls. Ross and freshman center fielder Karsyn Bennett added doubles. Ross and senior right fielder Emma Hamm also scored two runs each.

Following Newby’s first home run, Walls singled then took second when freshman designated hitter Jenny White reached on a Campbell County error. One out later, senior catcher Kira Persinger walked to load the bases and junior Haley Lamb ran for her. That’s when freshman center fielder Karsyn Bennett emptied the bases with a three-run double to make it 6-0 Fillies. Ross then flied out to end the inning as Harrison County sent 10 batters to the plate.

“We had no answer for Newby,” Campbell County head coach Sandi Kitchen said. “We just put the ball in the wrong place. She was ready for that pitch. She keyed on it and took it out of the park.”

Ross (16-3) pitched five innings, striking out eight and walking one before Bella Persinger pitched the sixth. Ross scattered three hits throughout the game.

“Bella and I have been switching it up all season just to keep them off-balance,” Ross said. “Good hitters are going to hit the fourth time through the line-up usually so we just switch in early the fourth or fifth inning just to give then a different look and it usually works out. I have been working hard to get faster. My sophomore year, I was throwing like 52, 53 (miles per hour) so I’ve definitely worked on getting up to 62, 63 while also working on my control.”

Campbell County’s best scoring chance came in the fourth inning. Senior third baseman Hope Hamilton walked and senior left fielder Faith Whitford singled her to second. With one out, senior first baseman Mallory Fleckenstein lined out to right allowing junior pinch runner Raegan Neises to move to third. But Ross struck out senior second baseman Emma Schultz to end the threat.

The Fillies scored their ninth run in the fourth. Hamm singled, took second when Bella Persinger grounded out then scored when Walls singled. The Fillies then ended the game in the bottom of the sixth when Ross doubled, Hamm walked and Bella Persinger singled Ross home.

Campbell County graduates seven seniors. They are Hamilton, Phirman, Fleckenstein, Whitford, Sam Perry, Emma Schultz and Addysen Griffin.