Mercy Academy softball, led by pitcher Maya Merrill, wins KHSAA Sixth Region championship

It took a year’s worth of work, but Mercy earned its first softball regional title in six years Tuesday.

Maya Merrill went the distance and allowed only five hits as the Jaguars defeated Butler 2-0 in the Sixth Region championship at the University of Louisville’s Ulmer Stadium.

The Jaguars (27-6), the No. 11 team in the Kentucky softball coaches poll, advance to the 2023 Clark's Pump-N-Shop State Tournament. They will face the Fourth Region winner in a first-round game at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium at 6 p.m. on June 1.

The quest to win their first title since 2017 started a year ago after the Jaguars lost to Holy Cross in the regional final. Coach James Brentlinger said he typically gives his kids two months off during the summer before starting offseason work.

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“But they came to me and said we want to go to work now, and we put in the work in facility hitting,” he said. “We’ve hit 48 home runs this year. This team just fights. They don’t want to lose. They wanted this bad.”

Last year’s regional final defeat wasn’t the only obstacle for the Jaguars. Merrill (13-3), a junior, suffered a stress fracture in her leg in August but kept working through December before taking time off. She tried to return before the season started but was out again. As a result, she didn’t get to the circle until two weeks into the season.

Brentlinger said it took her a few weeks to get back into form, and Merrill said she had to fight off some doubts.

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“It’s been challenging, mentally more challenging than anything I’ve ever faced,” she said. “But getting over it, I’m so happy to finally be able to work for my team and get back on the field with them because this is awesome.”

Merrill went the distance, allowing just a walk to go with the five hits she scattered. At the plate, Kaden Dunlap went 2-for-4 with two doubles, while Ava Reinhart and Haley Rupe also got two hits each off Butler starter Alysa Malone (17-9).

The loss ended quite a turnaround for Butler (19-10).

The Bearettes found themselves 3-7 after an 8-0 loss to Mercy on April 10. Coach Rick Dotson said the team had a heart-to-heart meeting after the slow start and began working on the basics. That led to a stretch of 15 wins in 17 games and a chance to return to the state tournament just two years after winning it all. Not bad for a team Dotson described as a “modified JV team” that featured six middle schoolers, three freshmen and only one senior.

The future’s bright, he said.

The Bearettes had their chances in the present, too. They had runners at first and third in the fifth, and an inning later a Malone single and a Jenicca Alexander double put the tying run in scoring position with one out. But Merrill worked her way out of the jam.

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“We put the ball in play,” Dotson said. “Hit it hard right at them two or three different times. Just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”

Merrill said she owed it to her teammates to keep the Butler bats in check.

“Looking out at the outfield and seeing that Dakota (Burke) just made an awesome catch, and knowing that I have to repay her for that catch,” Merrill said. “Seeing that Ava just made a great play and having to repay her and dig deep for that. Also, of course, knowing that this is the regional championship, and I’ve got to bring my A-game. I got to leave it all on the field.”

Next week’s appearance will mark the 12th time Mercy has reached the state tournament. The Jags seek their second title, having won it in 2012.

MERCY 011 000 0 – 2 7 2

BUTLER 000 000 0 – 0 5 1

W: Maya Merrill (13-3). L: Alysa Malone (17-9). 2B: Kaden Dunlap (M) 2, Jenicca Alexander (B).

Sixth Region All-Tournament Team: Peyton Bibb (Bullitt East); LaDonna Whitaker (Bullitt Central); Kara Buckley and Loreli Strange (Pleasure Ridge Park); Gabby Coy and Trinity Burton (North Bullitt); Mattie Streble and Casey Cirillo (Holy Cross); Natalie Frye, Delaney Hilpp and Alysa Malone (Butler); Peyton Arnold, Dakota Burke, Maya Merrill and Summer Sabo (Mercy).

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA softball results 2023: Mercy beats Butler for Sixth Region title