The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
STATE SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN
Pleasure Ridge Park advances to face top-ranked Shamrocks
LEXINGTON — It was like something out of a movie script, and Pleasure Ridge Park High School freshman Joey Dudeck got to play the role of hero.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, Dudeck struck out slugger Owen Jenkins to preserve PRP’s 8-6 victory over Lexington Catholic in Saturday’s quarterfinals of the state tournament at Legends Field.
Jenkins’ two-run homer gave the Knights a 5-4 lead in the second inning, and PRP had intentionally walked him in his next two at-bats.
Panthers coach Brad Burns considered walking Jenkins again in the seventh inning — which would have pulled the Knights within 8-7 — but decided to lean on the undefeated Dudeck (10-0).
“I was scared, I was nervous, but I just had to go up there,” Dudeck said. “I threw three sliders to him, and he just couldn’t hit it. … We were going to go after him because I knew I could take him.”
Ranked No. 5 in Kentucky, PRP (38-3) ran its winning streak to 12 and will face No. 1 Trinity (38-4) in a state semifinal set for 10 a.m. Friday at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park.
The Louisville powers have not met since 2021, a 9-8 Shamrocks victory in nine innings.
“They’re the best team in the state,” Burns said of Trinity. “But you play the game, and you see what happens.”
PRP survived an early slugfest Saturday, as 13 of the 14 combined runs were scored over the first three innings.
Down 5-4, the Panthers got four runs in the bottom of the third to take control. Deuce Harris’ RBI single tied the score at 5, and a bases-loaded walk to Hank Burns gave the Panthers a 6-5 lead. Brayden Bruner’s two-run single made it 8-5.
Then came the dramatic bottom of the seventh. The first three Knights reached base, and a Bennie Lawrence grounder turned into a PRP error that
scored a run to pull LexCath within 8-6.
Brad Burns had confidence in Dudeck.
“To bring (another pitcher) in that situation, that’s a tough spot to be in,” Burns said. “(Dudeck) had his pitches working, his adrenaline up, all that kind of stuff. … He was our guy in that moment, and we felt good about it.”
Dudeck struck out Max Daugherty and then got No. 1 hitter Jackson Wasik to fly out to right. Up came Jenkins, a junior who has committed to the University of Louisville and entered the game batting .468.
“You roll the dice and see what happens,” Brad Burns said. “If he beats us, he beats us. … We were fortunate to get him out.”
It was a battle of two head coaches who graduated from PRP: LexCath’s Scott Downs (Class of 1994) and the Panthers’ Burns (Class of 1995).
Downs was Kentucky’s Mr. Baseball in 1994 and went on to have a stellar pro career.
“There was a lot of emotion, a lot of butterflies involved,” Downs said. “It sucks for one of us, but I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. I would have liked to have come out on top, of course. But if we can’t be there, I want them first. That’s just the way it is.
“But this stings. I’m not going to be too happy for them yet.”
Friday’s 1:30 p.m. state semifinal will match No. 3 McCracken County (33-9) against No. 4 Owensboro Catholic (31-7). The state final is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday.