Warren East's Katie Gardner delivers a pitch against Daviess County on Saturday during the Semi-State 2 game at the WKU Softball Complex. (Joseph Barkoff/For the Daily News)

Katie Gardner did everything she could to assure a trip to Lexington for the Warren East Lady Raiders, leading WEHS to a 10-1 win over Daviess County in Saturday’s Semi-State 2 game at the WKU Softball Complex.

Gardner overcame a shaky first inning in the circle to shut down Daviess County on two hits and provided most of the offensive pop with a pair of homers and five RBIs to send Warren East to Friday’s state tournament quarterfinal at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.

Warren East is now three wins away from a state title in KHSAA’s first season of single-elimination softball. Softball previously had been decided in a 16-team, double-elimination format.

“Everybody’s goal is get out of the district and win region and then get to state,” Warren East coach Philip McKinney said. “One of the goals this year for me is that I wanted this group to be one of the first eight to go play in this new format at UK. I wanted that for our girls and our community. I wanted it really bad.

“I wanted to be one of the first eight and now it is here. Man, we are just so excited to be going to Lexington.”

Gardner, who pitched in the state tournament as an eighth grader and last season as a junior, said it’s pretty overwhelming to think she gets one more chance in the state tournament.

“As a senior, it’s incredible,” Gardner said. “There really is no way to describe it. It’s a big step up. Instead of playing at a park, we are playing at a university. It will be a different atmosphere.”

While Warren East (34-2) was able to roll into the quarterfinals, Saturday’s win didn’t come without some early trepidation.

Daviess County (24-12) had the first four batters reach, with the Lady Raiders down a run before an out was recorded.

The first three batters worked walks off Gardner, prompting a visit from McKinney that the senior pitcher said helped settle her down.

“The first inning was a little nerve-wracking,” Gardner said. “It’s really about figuring out where the umpire is calling and where she isn’t calling. That’s what I had to do.”

The next batter, Cameron Hamilton, reached on an error to score a run, but Gardner came back to strike out the next three hitters on 11 pitches to keep the deficit at 1-0.

McKinney said that proved to be one of the key moments of the game.

“When the inning was over with, I told (my team), ‘All that noise and they got one,’ ” McKinney said. “I think from the last three years, playing nine games on this field, and playing at UofL and some of the places that we played they were like, ‘All right, we haven’t even started to hit yet.’ ”

Like she did in Wednesday’s Region 4 championship game, Gardner kick-started the offense – and gave the Lady Raiders the lead for good – with a two-run home run to center. It was part of a three-run, second-inning rally that included an RBI double by Kelsey Sparks and gave WEHS a 3-1 advantage.

Gardner provided more pop in the third to break the game open – connecting on a no-doubt three-run blast that hit off the structure of the parking level in left field.

“Both hits I knew that they were out as soon as I hit it,” Gardner said. “Really throughout those at-bats I was just looking for the pitch that I wanted.”

Warren East cruised from there, with Jeyda Bays adding a two-run double in the fourth and Maude Forrester capping the scoring with a two-run single in the sixth.

The Lady Raiders finished with 10 hits. Gardner, Shelby Trent and Lucy Patterson finished with two hits each, while Patterson and Emmah Young scored two runs each.

“This group has been so amazing,” Bays said. “One of the goals last year when we finished second at the state tournament was to get back next year. Now we are back.”

After having the first four batters reach base, Gardner only allowed three base runners the rest of the way – an infield hit by Emily Stanley in the fourth and a walk to Stanley and single by Kelsey Whistle in the seventh. Gardner struck out 12 and finished with 116 pitches – 75 for strikes – to improve to 30-1 on the season.

The Lady Raiders will now face Ashland Blazer – a 1-0 winner over Johnson Central on Saturday – on Friday at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington. KHSAA has yet to announce a start time for Friday’s game.

DCHS 100 000 0 – 1

WEHS 033 202 X – 10

WP: Gardner. LP: Stanley.{&end}