Emmy Blane knew as a young girl that playing college softball was a strong possibility. She put pen to paper Friday to make the possibility a reality as she signed to continue her academic and athletic career at the university of Kentucky.
Blane is an all-state shortstop who helped lead the Lady Colonels to the Second Region title in 2018. She gave credit to two former Lady Colonels — Griffin Joiner and Maggie Glass — who she said she idolized growing up. Joiner is a former All-SEC catcher who played at Kentucky and is now an assistant coach at Louisville. Glass was an All-OVC player at Murray State who was an assistant coach at Graves County last year.
Kentucky reached out to Blane as a freshman and while she took her time with her recruitment, she knew deep down she wanted to don the UK blue.
Most of Blane’s accomplishments have come while playing for her father Johnny, the Lady Colonel head coach. She hit .394 as a junior with 16 home runs and 64 RBIs. 29 of her 52 hits last year went for extra bases, and she had 25 walks in 167 plate appearances. In the field, she had just nine errors in 154 chances.
Blane will go to a Kentucky program that has consistently been in the Top 25 during coach Rachel Lawson’s tenure in Lexington. UK has been able to tap into a western Kentucky pipeline that has produced several starters and all-conference players, including Joiner.
Before Blane goes to college, her first priority is to get Christian County back to the state tournament. She was a main factor in the school winning their first region title in six years last year and will be one of six starters scheduled to return for the Lady Colonels in 2019.
