MOUNT WASHINGTON – Bullitt East’s first trip to the Clark’s Pump-N-Save Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare in 13 seasons will start with a rematch of a classic pitcher’s duel from the regular season when the Lady Chargers clash with Scott County on Thursday in Lexington.

The first day of the 16-team bracket will have four first-round games on Thursday with Bullitt East and Scott County capping it all off with an 8:30 p.m. contest.

There will be four more first-round games on Friday before the four quarterfinal round games are played on Saturday.

The four surviving teams from the opening weekend will go home and get in some more practice before returning to Lexington for semifinal round games on Friday and the championship game on Saturday.

All of the games during both weekends will be played at John Cropp Stadium on the University of Kentucky campus.

It was back on April 17 that Scott County made the trip to Mount Washington for a regular season meeting with the Lady Chargers. This was a well-played contest that went an extra inning before the Lady Cardinals pulled out a 1-0 victory.

Scott County is coming off the championship of the 11th Region Tournament where they defeated Great Crossing 5-2. The Lady Cardinals actually lost in the 42nd District final, falling to Frederick Douglas 8-2, before rolling to the regional title with a 10-3 win over Lexngton Catholic, a 7-3 win over Maddison Central before the win over Great Crossing, the team that had upset Frederick Douglass in the regional opener.

Scott County enters the state tournament with a 25-6 record with the three-game winning streak and victories in eight of its last nine games.

The top gun for the Lady Cardinals is senior pitcher/clean-up batter Ava Little. A leading candidate for Miss Softball, Little is ranked among the top 10 pitchers in the country, having already signed to play her college softball at the University of Georgia.

The pitcher had it going in that regular season meeting with Bullitt East, allowing just five hits. Little pitched all eight innings for Scott County, striking out 15 batters without giving up a walk. She threw 102 pitches in that game.

But Bullitt East freshman pitcher Ryleigh Waltrous had her best outing of the spring that day. Waltrous also allowed five hits and the one run was unearned. Waltrous walked three while striking out four and throwing only 88 pitches.

The only run in the game came with two outs in the top of the eighth. The inning started with a runner placed on second. Waltrous walked the next batter, but then got two outs. The Lady Chargers then intentionally walked Little to load the bases. The run then scored on a ground ball that did not get out of the infield, but the run scored before the Lady Chargers got an out at third base.

The heart of the Bullitt East lineup went down in order in the bottom of the eighth.

The five Bullitt East hits in that game came from just three players. Alivia Cooper and Courtney Bass each had two hits including a double by Cooper. Mackenzie Mingus had the other hit.

The bottom line on Little is a 0.90 earned run average as she has pitched in 148 innings this season. The senior has recorded 251 strikeouts against only 54 walks. Her record this season is 19-6.

Little could be a batter in college as well as a pitcher. The Scott County standout leads the team with a .446 batting average. The senior has 41 hits, with seven doubles, two triples and ten home runs. Little has driven in a team-high 38 runs this spring.

Scott County has four regular players batting over .400 this season. Aubrey Wigginton, a junior, is batting .442 while senior Lauren Jones is hitting .413 with a dozen walks and seven home runs. Makiah Jackson, a junior, has 38 hits with 11 walks. Wigginton and Jackson are a combined 24 of 38 on stolen bases with both of those numbers being more than the rest of the Lady Cardinals combined.

In seven games this season, Scott County has scored two or fewer runs. The Lady Cardinals lost six of those games. The only game they won scoring two or fewer runs was the decision over Bullitt East.

The only losses for Scott County this season to teams from Kentucky include Assumption (5-1), Male (3-2), top-ranked South Warren (14-1), Bryan Station (2-1) and the loss in the district tournament to Frederick Douglas.

The two teams do have some common opponents. Both teams beat Great Crossing by narrow scores and both lost to Male in single run contests. Scott County split games with Frederick Douglas while Bullitt East lost to the Broncos.

Heading to the state tournament, Waltrous has a 1.88 earned run average in 16 starts. Mingus could also pitch for Bullitt East with a 2.89 ERA.

At the plate, Mingus, who was recently moved up from the sixth spot to bat fourth, has a .513 batting average with three home runs. Mollie Johnston, the team’s third baseman, is hitting .500 with ten home runs. Bass, the team’s senior shortstop, is hitting .482 with four home runs. Cooper has six home runs and is batting .435 in the lead-off spot.

The winner of the late game on Thursday will play again on Saturday at 10 a.m. against the winner of another Thursday game between Rowan County and Boyle County.