Three Daughters, Three Titles, One Proud Dad

Three Daughters, Three Titles, One Proud Dad

James Collier

For The Ashland Beacon

Winning a triple crown in sports is the ultimate recognition of being at the top of that sport.

  Ashland softball skipper Scott Ingram recently completed a special triple crown of his own after his Kittens won the 16th Region Championship, giving Ingram his third since taking over the program in 2015. But the biggest part of his three region titles is whom he was able to share them with. His three daughters; Gabby, Zoë and Ashley.

  “It has been a very special bonus,” Coach Ingram said. “I didn’t get into coaching for the purpose of coaching my daughters. I mean Ashley was six when I started. I had no idea if she would even end up playing or not. But since they all did end up playing and I was still coaching it was a bonus to get to share that with each of them. Something that I don’t know if I thought about but it has been something that has been special for sure.”

  Coach Ingram’s first region title came with Gabby in 2015 as a part of seven straight region crowns. The second came in 2019 with Zoë and the third came in 2026 with Ashley. But with the amount of success he has shared with his teams as well as his daughters, Ingram has always been guarded about not being dad and being just coach.

  “It takes it a while to set in,” he said. “I am very intentional about putting a wall up and keeping me as a coach and being a dad very separate. But when things like regional championships happen and you start to reflect, it is something that is special for me for sure.” 

SAME BUT DIFFERENT

  Although all three sisters played for a state championship, all three had different experiences in the same tournament. Gabby’s state tournament run played under the old double elimination format at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro while Zoë and Ashley had the experience of playing at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington which is the home of UK Softball. Gabby’s team played into Saturday’s Final 4 before falling to McCracken County in the semifinals, 6-0 followed by a 9-2 elimination loss to Louisville Male to end their journey in third place.

  Since that run, the format has drastically changed with the double elimination rounds being eliminated and each team playing under the win or go home mentality.

  “I don’t know if that’s super unique, but watching them play in that style compared to the double elimination was a crazy difference especially stretching it between multiple dates and not having it all happen in one weekend,” Gabby said. “The other side of that is we got to play in the winners’ series for the championship game. So, definitely just watching how the style of the tournament has changed over the last 11-12 years is crazy and such a huge improvement for the game.”

  The tournament departed Owensboro after the 2018 season and headed to Lexington, but only the top eight teams came to John Cropp, as they played under the Semi-State format. Zoë’s senior season allowed the Ingram sisters' streak to continue as Ashland returned to the state tournament for the first time since 2015. However, Ashland had to overcome a unique way to win a game in the Semi-State against Johnson Central to advance to Lexington. Ashland was no-hit by Johnson Central, but managed to pull off a 1-0 win to move on to the Elite 8 before falling to Warren East, 8-1.

  Since 2021, all 16 region winners have advanced on to Lexington, including Ashley who rounded out the sister’s legacy with a region title in her senior season.

  “I think it’s super cool,” Ashley said of the feat. “As the youngest though, I have always known I wanted to win a region and make it to state just like my sisters. So, being able to finish my senior year, doing that made it special.”

  Ashley has had the most unique vantage point of the three as she has been to all three state tournaments while supporting her older sisters until she got the chance to play in her own this year.

  “I was six years old when Gabby was at the state tournament and 11 when Zoë was,” Ashley said. “I feel like I was able to look up to all the girls and see what it was like to not only play at the state tournament but learn how to be a better player and teammate in general. I think being around softball and so many great players my whole life definitely shaped who I was as a player.”

WHERE IT BEGAN

  From 2009 until 2015, Ashland Softball ruled the 16th region with an unprecedented seven consecutive region titles. Dave Miller had been at the helm until Scott took over in 2015 while having to live up to the expectations from the word go. Ashland defeated Boyd County four times that season while racking up a 32-9 record which would become the foundation for Coach Ingram’s program moving forward.

  “At the time I don’t think I realized how special it was,” Gabby said. “He was in his first year as head coach and had been an assistant coach the year before. We were both still trying to find our footing in the coach/player/dad/daughter relationship at the time. Reflecting back on it, especially having a child of my own now, I can appreciate how special the moment was and it really is a moment I will cherish forever.”

  Scott said each sister had their own unique path to their region title, but Gabby’s might have come with some added pressure during his rookie season as the new Kittens’ coach.

“Each of them are obviously different in various ways,” he said. “I think the common thread is how competitive they are and how much they want to win. Gabby was just kind of finding a role in the lineup, it was her junior year, my first year which was also the first year that we won a region with me coaching. She was steady defensively and got better at the plate as the year went on. She had to deal with some other things, possibly more than Zoë and Ashley for a variety of reasons. It was more of a relief in a way for her than celebration just because I think with me coaching she didn’t want me to look bad.”

   Zoë had to battle through the seasons of East Carter and Montana Fouts who rolled off four straight before Fouts departed for Alabama. But the Kittens return to the top in 2019 was a sigh of relief for the middle Ingram sister who just wanted to follow in the footsteps of Gabby.

  “All four years of high school, my goal was to win a regional title,” Zoë said. “I watched my sister go to state year after year when she was in middle school/high school and how much fun the environment was at state. “I wanted to represent Ashland the way Gabby did. My freshman year was the team that lost the 7-year region streak which was Gabby's senior year and honestly that hurt. For Ashland Softball, winning region was just ‘what you did’ and was something that was expected. So, playing in the regional semifinal game and losing was a lot to take in. I held onto that hurt and that feeling for the rest of my high school years.”

Zoë’s final shot at a region crown in 2019 would be one she would never forget.“Going into my senior year, I knew I had one more shot to get to experience winning region like my sister did,” Zoë said. “Every part of winning my senior year was my favorite but hitting a homerun in the first inning of the region game, beating Johnson Central–which funny enough I am an assistant coach for them now–who no-hit us to make it to the Elite 8 and doing it with some of my best friends that I grew up playing the game with is what stands out to me.”

  Gabby kidded when reflecting on the time that had elapsed between the region titles and cracked a joke at her dad.

  “That just means dad is old,” Gabby laughed. “Making it to the state tournament as an Ashland Kitten is something that is instilled and expected out of the program. So, I know we all dreamed of doing it, Ashley & Zoë just had to stress us all out and wait until their senior year to win it. It’s just a special bond that we will have now, especially Zoë & Ashley both getting to play at John Cropp.”

  While each had their own unique experience playing at state, Coach Ingram said that each had their own niche to their team in their own special way.

  “Zoë had a different role in 2019 than Gabby did in 2015,” he said. “She was one of our main pieces that year in our lineup.  She, I think, looked at it as part of her responsibility to do what she could to help get our team to that regional championship. That is the mindset that the whole senior class had. They wanted to be part of our proud history as a program and get that regional title back to Ashland. She would have looked at it as a failure if she would not have been able to win a region, which was unacceptable to her.

  “Ashley has obviously seen both her sisters win. She fell asleep while holding the trophy in the car in 2015. Her and Zane snuck in the dugout at Boyd before the last out in 2019 to give Zoë and I a hug. She had lived Ashland Softball almost literally her whole life. Her role the last couple years has been to anchor the outfield defensively and provide some consistency in the bottom third of the order.”

HE’S OUR DAD

  Being a coach to your child can be one of the most difficult things to balance, but it was a balancing act Ingram learned how to do from his first year at the helm of the Kittens.

  “It is just hard to separate sometimes I can’t really explain it,” he said. “My daughters are my daughters at home, but it is just again that barrier I put up at the field. I just have loved each team and the girls that I have had the privilege to coach.”

  Regardless of the barrier, each daughter explained how special it was to have their dad guiding them through the game they love. Gabby and Zoë have entered into coaching roles while Ashley got to enjoy the final journey with her father.

  “Being able to be a coach and a player for Ashland and under my dad is something I am forever grateful I had the opportunity to do,” Gabby said.

  Zoë said she knew her dad coached because he loved the game but it was still special to have that moment to share with each daughter individually at the pinnacle of their career.

  “He will be the first to tell you that he didn’t start coaching for us,” Zoë said. “He coaches because he truly loves the game and enjoys teaching the game to athletes. But the best part about all of this is that we each kind of got our own moment with our dad on the field and both sisters in the stands watching on. When Gabby played at state with my dad it was in 2015 and Ashley and I were in the stands cheering them on. In 2019, Gabby and Ashley were in the stands cheering me and dad on. Now in 2026, Gabby and I were in the stands cheering both of them on. Being the middle sister is special because part of my time playing and practicing softball was spent on the field with just Gabby and the last half was spent on the field with just Ashley and the best part of it all was getting to do it with the best coach out there, our dad.”

  But the journey getting to those moments were sometimes as smooth as a cobblestone roadway, making the outcomes all the more special.

  “Growing up, me and my dad used to but heads all the time on the softball field,” Zoë said. “I’m going to tell on myself a little here, but it was always Gabby waiting to go out and practice for hours. I only wanted to go for 30 minutes and then would complain the rest of the time. Gabby would listen and apply every instruction my dad gave her, I questioned him and tried to prove he was wrong.”

  But the middle sister admitted she was quick to learn that dad had plenty to teach her and she had plenty to learn from one of the most important people in her life.

  “Getting to play for him as a player was the best experience,” Zoë said. “I know I’m 100% biased, but he is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. My time on the field with him coaching me and teaching me not only about softball, but about life is some of the moments I hold close to my heart. So getting to win region with my dad and go to the state tournament with him was kind of a full circle moment. All the time he had put in with the team and the extra round of BP after practice with me or the extra work on ground balls finally paid off. I remember the moment vividly that I got to hug my dad after winning the regional championship and a win in the first round state game. I knew he was so proud of me and that's a moment I’ll never forget.”

  As Ashland lined up to receive their region title trophy this season after defeating Rowan County, Ashley was the first person Coach Ingram searched for to share that special moment with his daughter on the field.

  “I think it made it even more exciting,” Ashley said of the moment. “He has been my biggest supporter and pushed me to do my best always so being able to do it with him has been so incredible.”

THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FEELING

  Ask any coach about the difficulty in winning a regional championship and the recipe will be much of the same. The team must be good but at the same time, a little luck has to find its way in as well. In 11 seasons spent coaching on the field (excluding 2020 for COVID), Ingram has not only won three regional championships, but managed to do so with each daughter individually, making the feat even more remarkable. Although winning led to the same venue, the path getting there for each was unique.

  “Each one was different and for different reasons,” Coach Ingram said. “It is just hard to look at them specifically in those terms sometimes because obviously the goal is to win period and all of the girls that I have coached, I want the best for all of them and I want all of them to experience winning and learning the game and how it applies to real life. But looking back on them each one was different.

  “With Gabby, it did feel like a relief for both of us. We wanted to win but with other pressures maybe self-induced by both of us  it was a lot of relief but joy also. She had done it before as a player but it was still special to be able to take a moment and know what it meant to share that with her.

  “With Zoë and just looking at it from the dad's perspective, I knew how much she wanted to win it, almost to a fault. I knew the pressure that she was putting on herself. To see the joy that she had and to have a front row seat for it was great.

  “With Ashley it was maybe a little of both Zoë and Gabby combined. Being to the championship three years in a row. 2025 ending painfully. Then the way everything went this year it was just a fun experience for sure. She wasn’t as verbal about it at home as maybe Zoë was in ‘19 but I knew how much she wanted it without her having to say it. So, again to get to see the joy for her from a dad perspective was fun also.”

  While the playing careers of his daughters have come to a close, Coach Ingram admitted all the memories of their time together on the field will have a special place in his heart for years to come.

  “The things after coaching have allowed me to do things like Gabby getting to help me coach and looking across and seeing Zoë coaching against her are moments that hit me harder sometimes than when they were on the field with me,” Coach Ingram said. “That being said I am not totally oblivious that when these things have happened that it doesn’t add a little something extra and I know it is something that as time goes on, will probably be even more special.”