LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — WINCHESTER—Two games in, two wins.

North Laurel opened state tournament play in the girls’ 11-12 year old division with wins over Winchester and Phelps.

North beat Winchester on Saturday, 13-3, then downed Phelps Monday, 11-0, in a game that was started on Sunday but suspended due to weather.

“Our defense and pitching has been spot on,” North coach Shane Brewer said.

A two-run double by Makinlee Philpot was the highlight of a seven-run third inning for North Laurel.

North Laurel was scheduled to face Washington County Tuesday. The championship game, originally scheduled for tonight, has been pushed back until Thursday.

North Laurel 11, Winchester 3

After two innings in the girls’ 11-12 year old state softball tournament Saturday, North Laurel held a slim 1-0 lead.

Then the offense came alive, scoring 12 runs over the next three innings to take a 13-3 win over host Winchester.

“Overall it was a good game,” coach Brewer said. “We were a little too relaxed. We should have had more hits.”

North Laurel jumped on top in the top of the first when Alexis Gibson scored on a double by Hannah Carson.

It stayed 1-0 until the top of the third when North Laurel struck for five runs and took command of the game.

Again it was Gibson who got things started by beating out an infield single. She would advance to second and third on passed balls, then scored on another passed ball. With one out, Madison McDaniel singled to left, followed by Carson drawing a walk. Olivia Miller then beat out an infield single to load the bases.

Following a strike out by Makinlee Philpot, McDaniel scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Jazz Jervis then reached on an error, and Carson and Miller scored on the play for a 5-0 lead. Jervis would score on a passed ball.

North added four more runs in the top of the fourth to push its lead to 10-0.

With one out, Madison Sechrest singled, stole second and scored on a McDaniel single. McDaniel later scored on a passed ball to make it 8-0. Miller singled to second and scored when Philpot reached on an error. Philpot scored the 10th run on a passed ball.

North was three outs away from ending the game in four innings before Winchester struck for three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 10-3.

North got those runs back in the fifth inning when, with two outs, Gibson and Sechrest both reached on errors. They scored on a two-run double by McDaniel, who would later score on a passed ball for a 13-3 advantage.

Winchester went down in order in the bottom of the inning and the game was called due to the Mercy Rule.

“I think we were a little nervous at the start of the game,” Brewer said. “We have a lot of girls who are playing in the state tournament for the first time. Two of the three pitchers we used are playing in their first state tournament. But I’m tickled to death with our pitching and defense.”

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