Hazard softball falls to Bullitt East in state quarterfinals
Hazard’s state run ended in a 16-8 quarterfinal loss to Bullitt East, but Perry County’s team reached Lexington after beating Ballard Memorial 7-2.
Hazard’s march to John Cropp Stadium gave Perry County a seat at the center of the Kentucky softball tournament, even if the run ended one round short of the semifinals. The Hazard High School team fell to Bullitt East 16-8 in the state quarterfinals on June 6 in Lexington, closing a postseason stretch that had already carried the school past Ballard Memorial and into the final eight.
Bullitt East turned the game late, scoring nine runs over the final two innings to pull away from Hazard, according to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. The Region 6 representative entered the quarterfinal at 32-4, while Hazard, the Region 14 representative, came in at 22-11. The win sent Bullitt East on to the semifinals scheduled for June 12 at John Cropp Stadium, with the championship set for June 13.
Hazard reached the quarterfinals by beating Ballard Memorial 7-2 in the opening round, a result that ended Ballard Memorial’s first-ever trip to the state softball tournament. That first-round game on June 5 came during the tournament’s opening stretch at John Cropp Stadium, where the first two rounds were played June 4-6 before the semifinal round began the following week.
The bracket made clear how hard the road still was once teams got to Lexington. Bullitt East had already opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Assumption before facing Hazard, and the KHSAA said the four teams remaining after quarterfinal play were Highlands, South Warren, Bullitt East and George Rogers Clark. Those four programs entered the final weekend with a combined record of 147-15, underscoring how deep the field was after the quarterfinal round.
For Hazard, the loss marked the end of a state-tournament run that mattered far beyond the scoreboard. By reaching the quarterfinals and winning on the state stage, the Perry County program showed it could stay with one of the tournament’s strongest brackets and bring local fans a late-season run that kept Hazard in the spotlight at John Cropp Stadium.
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