WILLIAMSBURG — After four straight first-round exits, it appeared that the Harlan County Lady Bears’ chances for a deep postseason run ended last spring after losing over half their starters to graduation.

The Lady Bears exceeded expectations in the regular season, won a fourth straight 52nd District title last week and broke their four-year 13th Region Tournament drought with a 12-0 five-inning rout of Knox Central on Monday at Whitley County High School.

“It’s satisfying and good to get the monkey off our backs,” Harlan County coach Tim McElyea said. “We had an almost full roster change since last year, and to win that many games, the district and a game here in the region are great accomplishments, and it’s not over.”

Kerrigan Creech retired the first 12 Lady Panthers she faced before giving up a leadoff single to Amber Partin in the fifth inning. She finished with a one-hitter while striking out nine and walking one.

“She was hitting the corners well, and the changeup and screwball were good,” McElyea said. “She was sharp from the beginning to the end.”

Senior center fielder Nikki Creech led the 20-6 Lady Bears on offense with a double and two singles, along with three RBI and two stolen bases. Hannah Johnson continued her season-long hot streak with a two-run homer, a sacrifice fly and walk in three trips to the plate. Brandy Adams added a triple and double. Destiny Clark had a double and single. Allee Galloway added a single.

“We’ve played Knox a couple of times and knew they had a good arm on the mound, so we decided to get aggressive,” McElyea said. “It paid off.”

Creech opened the game with a single, stole second and scored on Johnson’s sacrifice fly. Brandy Adams tripled home Emily Collett, who had walked, then courtesy runner Jacey Lewis scored on Kerrigan Creech’s ground out.

Rhileigh Alred was safe on an error to open the second inning. Clark followed with a single, then Galloway beat out a bunt hit for an RBI. Nikki Creech doubled home two runs, then Johnson hit a blast over the fence in left-center for an 8-0 lead.

Clark was safe on an error in the third inning before scoring on Nikki Creech’s third hit for a 9-0 lead.

Johnson walked and Adams doubled to open the fourth inning. Kerrigan Creech brought in a run with a sacrifice fly. Lewis scored on a wild pitch, then Emily Evans came home on Clark’s double after walking.

Partin pitched a complete game for the 12-13 Lady Panthers, who were the runner-up team in the 51st District.

Harlan County will play defending regional champ Clay County in the semifinals on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Clay advanced with a 7-3 win over Corbin. North Laurel, a 13-0 winner over Lynn Camp, will play Whitley County in the first semifinal at 6 p.m.

“Clay is solid all the way around,” McElyea said. “We have nothing to lose. We’ll play hard and see what happens.”

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Knox Central 000 00 — 0. 1. 2

Harlan County 351 3x — 12. 9. 0

K. Creech and Adams; Partin and Hale. WP — K. Creech (18-5). LP — Partin. HR — Johnson (3).