Northern Kentucky high school baseball teams will try to reach the Sweet 16 of the state next week, when the regional tournaments begin. The Eighth Region starts May 24, while the Ninth and 10th begin on Memorial Day.
The state tournament begins June 4-6 at Lexington’s Legends Field with the first two rounds. The semifinals and finals are June 12-13 at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park. Here is a look at the matchups.
Ninth Region at Thomas More Stadium
Quarterfinal matchups: Dixie Heights (19-14) vs. Covington Catholic (19-16), Highlands (22-13) vs. Ryle (23-14), Conner (22-13) vs. St. Henry (10-24), Beechwood (29-9) vs. Newport Central Catholic (13-17).
The schedule is here. Highlands is the defending champion. Beechwood has been the favorite all season but will need to bring its top form for three games in four days against a typically deep and competitive Ninth Region field.
The Tigers are looking for their first title since winning four in a row from 2019-23. The Tigers are 17-3. They have one of the state’s best hitters in junior Tyler Fryman, a Louisville commit who is batting .560 with 11 homers, 34 extra-base hits, 48 RBIs and 59 runs scored. Caleb Arrasmith is hitting .441 with 31 runs scored and 41 RBIs. Beechwood’s ace pitcher, Arrasmith recently returned to the mound after a brief injury spell. He is 8-2 with a 2.28 ERA.
Conner beat Beechwood 7-2 on May 8. Conner is led by senior Brady Bushman, who is the Cougars’ best pitcher and hitter. He is 6-3 with a 1.50 ERA and 80 strikeouts, and is hitting .393 with 42 runs scored. Senior Everret Hall is batting .380 with 43 RBIs.
CovCath and Dixie Heights, four miles apart, split two games in April, with the red Colonels winning 11-0 and the blue Colonels 4-3. CovCath is a young team that has battled injuries and are led by Jack Nolan and Michael Bryson at the plate. Bryson and sophomore Nick Thompson are the top pitchers. Thompson (4-1, 2.97) threw a three-hit shutout against Holy Cross in the district finals.
Dixie has won six straight, including an 8-5 win over Beechwood. They have senior ace Kyle Flynn back on the mound for the playoffs after he has not pitched all year. Juniors Oliver Linstruth and Austin Krohmer hit over .400.
The second quarterfinal matches Highlands and Ryle, the last two regional champions. They split two matchups this year. Highlands won April 17 in Union, 13-2, while Ryle won a 1-0 matchup at Thomas More Stadium April 2. Alex Kramer pitched five shutout innings for Ryle in that one. He, Nik Carter and Xaden Hughes anchor the Raiders rotation. Senior Anthony Coppola leads the offense.
Highlands is led by senior Brooks Hendrix, who is hitting .421 with five homers and 39 runs scored, and is 4-1, 3.05 ERA on the mound. Both teams have struggled on the mound at times, so the matchup here will say a lot.
Highlands lost to CovCath and Dixie during the regular season. Ryle lost to Dixie and went 2-0 against CovCath.
Eighth Region
The semifinals and finals will be at Thomas More Stadium.
Quarterfinals (at district winners): Simon Kenton (20-11) at Woodford County (14-16), Eminence (14-8) at South Oldham (24-8), North Oldham (21-6) at Walton-Verona (23-12), Spencer County (24-6) at Henry County (20-12).
What to watch: Simon Kenton is looking for its first regional title since 2024. The Bearcats do not have one in the current alignment.
Walton has won seven of eight heading into the regional. That includes two wins over SK with dominant pitching performances by senior Bronson Corpus, who also hit a three-run home run in the district final. Corpus is 5-3 with a 1.65 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 51 innings. Senior Cole Dryden is 5-4, 3.05 in seven starts. WV got no favors in the draw, facing 29th District runner-up North Oldham in the first round, then potentially defending regional champion Spencer County in the semis. North Oldham allows only three runs per game.
SK hasn’t played anyone in the field except WV. Brett Bockmon, Jordan Johnson and Logan Judd all hit over .400, and Bockmon has 35 RBIs. Juniors Luke Gabbard and Billy Dennis have had outstanding seasons on the mound.
Tenth Region at Harrison County
Quarterfinal matchups: Campbell County (22-13) vs. Bracken County (12-15), Harrison County (31-4) vs. George Rogers Clark (17-14), Montgomery County (28-7) vs. Nicholas County (19-19), Scott (16-18) vs. Mason County (14-14).
What to watch: Campbell County is looking for its first regional title since 2022, and Scott its first since 2015.
The draw is here. Harrison County scores 11 runs per game and allows only 2.5, but lost 4-0 to Montgomery County April 29. Harrison beat Campbell County 13-3 on May 13. The Camels didn’t send any of their top four pitchers to the hill in that game, including Marshall commit Tyler Schumacher (7-1, 1.16 ERA), who threw a two-hit shutout in the district final. Time will tell if Scott Schweitzer saves him for a matchup with Harrison County in the semis.
Schumacher leads the offense with a .514 average, seven homers, 34 RBIs and 54 runs scored. Senior Camden Tiemeier is batting .464 with nine homers and 54 RBIs.
Scott beat Mason County 10-0 May behind five dominant innings from Ian Wallace. The Eagles lost to Montgomery County 9-3 on April 17 and did not play Nicholas County.
Senior Trey Cook leads the offense, batting .365 with five homers, 28 runs scored and 21 RBIs. Scott averages seven runs per game with a team batting average of .323. Wallace, Jay Race, Ty Cook and Blake Groneck have done well on the mound but the won-lost records don’t show it.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A look at the KHSAA regional baseball tournaments