Jim Mashek

SOUTH WILL OPEN AGAINST A FAMILIAR OPPONENT, DAVIESS COUNTY; SPARTANS HAVE WON 22 OF THEIR LAST 23 GAMES

South Warren High School’s fast-pitch softball team is nothing short of a machine, a talented, disciplined bunch but clearly a team that enjoys playing together.

It’s one of the secrets to the Spartans’ success.

Another is their relentless offense and balanced lineup, although junior shortstop McLaine Hudson, a University of Kentucky commit, is clearly the catalyst at the top of the order.

Another one is the Spartans’ ability to score runs in bunches, to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes and create a lopsided score on their way to victory.

That didn’t happen Thursday night in the KHSAA 4th Region Championship Game at the WKU Softball Complex.

Warren East, the school that brought the curtain down on South Warren in 2021, the plucky underdog from the Glasgow-based KHSAA 15th District, traveled across town once again for 4th Region play. And once again, the Lady Raiders looked to upset the apple cart.

One problem.

Her name is Courtney Norwood.

Norwood, the 6-foot sophomore right-hander, hurled a 1-hitter to guide the Spartans to a tense 2-0 victory over the plucky underdog on Louisville Road. She struck out eight batters and didn’t issue a walk. In fact, she only went to three balls, in the count, a handful of times. Norwood has a rare chemistry with South Warren catcher Hayden Holloway, a 6-foot-1 junior who has committed to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida.

(Hey, makes sense. Holloway’s a disciple of ‘sun’s out, guns out’ behind the plate, and she’ll get plenty of that when she’s playing at FAU two years from now.)

South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds is thrilled her team is returning to the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium next week, for a first-round game against Daviess County. The Spartans improved to 34-3 overall, while Warren East finishes its season at 27-14-1.

“Courtney did a great job. She was very calm,” Reynolds said. “Very composed, throughout the whole thing. She just did a really good job for us.”

It was critical, because Warren East coach Jennifer Brooks’ strategy of alternating her top two pitchers over the course of the contest kept the Lady Raiders in the game. Sophomore pitchers Autumn Brooks and Tristen Lindsey took turns challenging the Spartans’ batters, and South could manage nothing more than a two-run third inning over the course of the game.

South Warren had a string of nine consecutive games scoring 10 more or runs snapped, and they’re gonna need to be swingin’ the sticks when they square off with Daviess County (26-3) in first-round play next Thursday in Lexington.

“I don’t know if we were nervous. I don’t really know what happened,” Reynolds said. “But Warren East did a good job, switching up pitching on us, keeping us in check. We ended up with eight hits, but not at some key moments. I think we left 14 runners, on base.

“Hopefully, we’ve got those jitters out, and we’ll be ready for next week.”

You get the impression — quickly, mind you — that the Spartans are in lockstep, at least on that front. South Warren reached the semifinals of last year’s KHSAA state tournament, only to fall to eventual state champion Henderson County, 2-0. It wasn’t too surprising that Henderson County crushed North Laurel, 11-0, in the championship game.

South Warren shortstop McLaine Hudson, a starter since her seventh-grade year, said there is plenty of motivation for the return trip to Lexington.

“It’s been a long journey, from when last year’s season ended in Lexington,” Hudson said. “Our offseason started as soon as the tournament ended. It started on the bus ride home. We weren’t fulfilled, about how we finished that (39-4) season. We think we could have pushed ourselves harder, pushed ourselves to make something happen on offense.”

South Warren will be making its third appearance in the state tournament in four years.

“All year long, we understood that we’ve got an experienced team,” South coach Kelly Reynolds said. “They’ve been in the limelight before, which helps … It’s also being able to come together, in those critical monents.”

One of those critical moments arrived in the third inning of Thursday night’s 4th Region title tilt.

Warren East’s Autumn Brooks was in the circle when South’s junior third baseman, Parker Willoughby, crushed a pitch that went off the center-field wall for a one-out triple. Hadley Borders followed, and she lined an RBI single into center field to get the Spartans on the board.p

Autumn Brooks retired the Spartans’ Jenna Lindsey, the only senior on South Warren’s entire roster, on a line drive that went to die in right field. Hayden Holloway drew a walk, and freshman Keegan Pruit followed with a yet another line drive, an RBI single to center field that made it 2-0.

That’s all Courtney Norwood would need, but she stayed on the attack, anyway. Norwood had a no-hitter through four innings, but Warren East’s Kenzie Upton led off the bottom of the fifth with a bloop single that fell just inside the foul line in shallow left field.

Norwood didn’t flinch.

“I just try to get ahead in the count. I trust Hayden (Holloway) back there (at catcher),” Norwood said. “She’s going to frame the ball in there, and she’s great at blocking the ball in the dirt.”

South Warren has been the Commonwealth’s No. 1-ranked team all season, and junior shortstop McLaine Hudson knows the Spartans will have a bull’s eye on their collective back when they arrive at UK’s John Cropp Stadium. It’s familiar territory, too, because Hudson and the Spartans want to knock this final barrier down, and bring a state championship trophy back to South’s campus on Nashville Road.

“We definitely have a bull’s eye on our back,” Hudson said, “but at the same time, we have a lot to prove, because we haven’t won a state championship yet.”

With Courtney Norwood in the circle, backed up by the versatile Layla Ogden, a WKU commit, and Hayden Holloway behind the plate, the Spartans have a big part of the formula to win a state championship down pat.

“We know we’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” South coach Kelly Reynolds said.

Starting with next week’s opening game against Daviess County. Stay tuned.