PREP SOFTBALL: Central Hardin tops Fort Knox, 2-0 (05/21)

Neal Cardin

Fort Knox shortstop Brianna Jackson makes a sliding catch on an infield fly during their District Tournament game against Central Hardin on Tuesday at Elizabethtown High School.

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Neal Cardin

Fort Knox's Emily Rainey reaches first base before the ball during District Tournament action against Central Hardin on Tuesday at Elizabethtown High School.

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By NATHANIEL BRYAN nbryan@thenewsenterprise.com ELIZABETHTOWN — Kristina Krupinski was one of only two Central Hardin players not to reach base safely at least once Tuesday night. But that’s perfectly fine for Lady Bruin coach Mark Martin because of what Krupinski did to Fort Knox from inside the pitchers’ circle. A freshman, Krupinski struck out six, walked one and limited Fort Knox to just two hits as the second-seeded Lady Bruins downed the third-seeded Lady Eagles, 2-0 in the second semifinal of the 17th District Softball Tournament at Elizabethtown. “It helped that we played pretty good defense behind her, but to have a freshman come through like that in that type of condition, it was pretty impressive,” Martin said. It wasn’t Krupinski’s first impressive performance against Fort Knox as she was the winning pitcher in a 2-0 Lady Bruin win on post April 24. Just like last time, trying to figure out Krupinski proved to be quite problematic for the youthful Lady Eagles, who started four eighth-graders and a pair of freshmen against a Lady Bruin squad which features six seniors. “I was throwing hard. I missed a few spots, but overall I was pleased,” Krupinski said. Krupinski took a one-hitter into the seventh inning, giving up only a double to freshman pitcher Lauren Wade in the first six innings as Krupinski limited the Lady Eagles to only two base runners in their first 19 plate appearances. “She’s got our number,” veteran Fort Knox coach Rick Thompson said. “She’s not the most overpowering, but she has good movement on the ball.” That movement was the secret to Krupinski’s success. No matter where Central Hardin veteran catcher Samantha Faulkner set up, Faulkner seemed to be OK with it. “She’s constantly moving her speeds and she’s always hitting her spots,” said Faulkner, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. “It makes it a lot easier to know you can call whatever you want and the pitch is going to be there.” The only offense came in the bottom of the second inning as Central Hardin senior first baseman Cortney Gunning led off with a single and scored when senior center fielder Kelly Peters laid down a sacrifice bunt. The throw to first to get Peters was wide, allowing Gunning to score and Peters to go all the way to third. One out later, Faulkner provided some insurance when Peters was able to score on her groundout. “If you make the play, you never know what can happen. We could still be playing,” Thompson said. “But what was nice was we didn’t falter after that. The girls kept playing hard.” Despite its offensive struggles, Fort Knox had a chance to tie in its final at-bat. Sophomore Emmy Raney, who had struck out in her previous two at-bats, led off the seventh inning by legging out a bunt for a single. Raney was able to get into scoring position two outs later on a groundout, but Krupinski induced a groundout to senior second baseman Kaelyn Day to end the game. Fort Knox finished the year 19-16. Next year, the Lady Eagles must do without Alysha Brito, Wade and Ashleigh Livingston. Brito’s a senior, while Wade is moving to Texas and Livingston is moving to Madison County. Central Hardin (20-13) advances to play top-seeded North Hardin (20-12) for the district title at 7:30 tonight. The teams split their regular-season series as both contests came down to the game’s final at-bat. No matter what happens tonight, the win Tuesday secured the Lady Bruins a berth in next week’s 5th Region Tournament for the fifth time in the last six years. “After missing it (the region) last year, this group of seniors came back focused on what they wanted to accomplish,” Martin said. “Getting to the region was one goal they wanted to accomplish. But I don’t think they’re happy with just going. Now that they’re here, I think they want to see how far they can go.” CENTRAL HARDIN 2, FORT KNOX 0                                           R   H   E Fort Knox         000    000   0   0   2   2 Central Hardin 020    000   x   2   5   0 Lauren Wade and Karissa Jackson. Kristina Krupinski and Samantha Faulkner. WP: Krupinski. LP: Wade. 2B: Wade (FK). Nathaniel Bryan can be reached at 505-1758