Softball Clinches Share of 8th Straight NBC Title on Senior Night
Louisville 11, Canton South 1, 5 Innings
The Louisville Lady Leopards Varsity Softball team run-ruled the visiting Canton South Wildcats 11-1 in 
5 Innings on Senior Night Friday at the Diamond of Dreams. With the win, Louisville improves to 20-6 overall and clinches a share of their eight straight NBC Title with a 12-1 mark in the NBC.
Senior Emily Cantley cracked an RBI double in the first inning to open the scoring and later hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the victory for the Lady Leopards. Cantley finished a perfect 3-for-3 on her Senior Night.
Peyton McKeever also led Louisville by batting 3-for-3 at the dish with 3 RBI hits and 3 runs scored. One of those hits was a solo shot in the third inning for her 4th home run of the season. Leandra Givens also hit the first home run of her career as part of a 4-run fifth inning for the Leopards. The blast cleared the left field fence for the 28th Louisville homer of the season.
The Leopards had 17 hits as a team and 7 different players finished with multi-hit games. Aliyah English, Givens, Kaycee Ollis, Teagan Rice, and Rylee Squire all had 2 hits a piece. English & Squire also had RBI hits for Louisville.
In the circle, Sarah Cantley (8-2) pitched a complete game, gave up just 1 run on 1 hit, and struck out 3 for the Leopards. Cantley set down the Wildcats lineup in order through the first three innings.
Canton South (8-11, 6-8) Lead-Off hitter Sharon Williams broke up the perfect game with a lead-off double in the fourth inning. The hit nicked off the glove of a Louisville outfielder at the warning track in right-center. Williams stole third and then scored via a sacrifice fly by Calie Cook.
With the victory, the Lady Leopards have now defeated the Lady Wildcats in 16 straight meetings. 
Louisville leads the all-time series 46-20 over Canton South, which includes a 23-7 mark at home. The Lady Leopards have now finished undefeated at home in 4 of the past 5 seasons.
Louisville has now won 9 NBC Titles which eclipses the Springfield Spartans 8 NBC Championships for most all-time. To put it in perspective all other remaining NBC schools have only won a combined 9 as well (Marlington 7, Canton South 1, Carrollton 1).
Seniors Emily Cantley and Grace Jackson were honored prior to the contest. Escorted by their parents, the pair walked through a line of supportive teammates that ended with big hugs from Coach Stephanie Hofener and Head Coach Chet Givens. The two Senior girls were in fifth grade when Givens took over Louisville’s program in 2009. They are now the fifth straight Senior Class to win an NBC Title in every season of their high school careers.
Jackson also becomes just the fifth Leopard to letter in and win 3 League Titles in the same school year. The Leopard Nation Award list includes the following:
- 2010-11 – Alyssa Jones (Volleyball, Basketball, Track)
- 2010-11 – Brooke Mathie (Cross Country, Tennis, Track)
- 2011-12 – Clara Lemmon (Cross Country, Basketball, Track)
- 2012-13 – Jordan Monnot (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
- 2015-16 – Grace Jackson (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
Louisville will look to clinch the NBC Outright Saturday Morning when they travel to Carrollton to take on the Warriors in the regular season finale.
UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Carrollton to take on the Warriors on Saturday, May 14 at 11:00 AM.
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