IS TAGGED OUT AT THIRD BASE
IN THE TOP OF THE SEVENTH INNING.
SPARTANS FINISH ANOTHER ACCOMPLISHED SEASON WITH 34-4 RECORD; DAVIESS COUNTY WILL SQUARE OFF WITH DEFENDING STATE CHAMPION HENDERSON COUNTY ON SATURDAY
LEXINGTON — South Warren High School’s fast-pitch softball team set its sights on a KHSAA state championship one year ago, after Henderson County slipped past the Spartans, 2-0, in the semifinals at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.
Henderson would win that state championship, crushing North Laurel 11-0 in the title game. The Spartans tried to turn the page and look toward the 2025 campaign, in pursuit of an elusive state championship that now seems farther away.
No. 1-ranked South Warren entered this year’s KHSAA state tournament as the favorite, based on its talent, experience and 1-2 punch in the circle with pitchers Courtney Norwood and Layla Ogden.
The Spartans struggled at the plate on Thursday afternoon, much like they did in last week’s 2-0 victory over Warren East in the KHSAA 4th Region Tournament at the WKU Softball Complex. Tradition-rich Daviess County grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, and added an insurance run in the sixth as the Lady Panthers eliminated South Warren, 3-1, before a crowd of 1,037 at John Cropp Stadium.
“When you get to the big stage, you’ve got to perform,” South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said.
ALLOWED JUST THREE HITS WHILE
STRIKING OUT SEVEN BATTERS.
ROBS THE SPARTANS’ PARKER WILLOUGHBY
OF AN EXTRA-BASE HIT IN THE THIRD.
IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH INNING.
ALLOWED FOUR HITS IN SIX INNINGS PITCHED.
Courtney Norwood, South’s starting pitcher, kept her team in the game, putting up a series of zeroes until the Spartans broke a scoreless tie with a single run in the top of the fifth.
Junior outfielder Kaylee Wilson, the final batter in the South Warren lineup, led off the top of the fifth by lining an 0-2 pitch into left field for a single. Wilson scored when South’s all-state shorstop, McLaine Hudson, ripped an RBI double to left field.
Daviess County responded in the bottom of the fifth. Camryn Timmons delivered a two-run double to left field, a shot that sailed over the head of the Spartans’ Kaylee Wilson before hitting the outfield fence.
Daviess County right-hander Sophia Cain returned to the circle in the sixth, after yielding to teammate Kamryn Timmons in the fifth. South went down in order in that inning, with junior catcher Hayden Holloway called for base runner’s interference on a pop fly inside the first-base line for the final out of the frame.
South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds was pleased with Norwood’s performance. The 6-foot Spartans sophomore yielded to teammate Layla Ogden in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Lady Panthers struck for a critical insurance run.
Annie Newman’s bloop hit to shallow right field was misplayed and went for a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth. The Lady Panthers’ Molly Hancock followed with a run-scoring single to right field, extending the Daviess County lead to 3-1.
INTO SATURDAY’s QUARTERFINAL GAME AGAINST
DEFENDING STATE CHAMPION HENDERSON COUNTY.
WENT 2-FOR-3 WITH AN RBI DOUBLE IN THE FIFTH.
ONE EARNED RUN IN THE BOTTOM OF THE SIXTH.
ADDRESSES HER TEAM AFTER THE GAME.
South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said Courtney Norwood, her starting pitcher, answered the bell before giving way to Ogden in the sixth.
“I thought (Norwood) had a great game,” Reynolds said. “Ultimately, our offense let her down.”
Norwood allowed just three hits, and two earned runs, in five innings pitched. She recorded seven strikeouts, without a walk. Five of those seven strikeouts were on called third strikes.
The Spartans threatened in the top of the seventh before a base running error all but doomed their chances.
South Warren’s Keegan Pruitt, the leadoff batter, was hit by a 1-2 pitch from Daviess’ County’s Sophia Cain, who had returned to the circle after teammate Camryn Timmons worked a flawless sixth.
That brought McLaine Hudson, the Spartans’ junior all-state shortstop, to the plate.
Hudson ripped a single down the left-field line, and Pruitt reached third base ahead of the throw, only to stumble rounding the base. The throw from DC left fielder Kylie Clark was taken in by Sadie Morris, the Lady Panthers’ third baseman, and Morris applied the tag on Pruitt for the first out of the inning.
“I was bringing Keegan (Pruitt) the whole way (to third). You’ve got to take a chance there,” Reynolds said.
So instead of base runners at second and third, with no outs, Hudson was on second base with one out. Cain retired South’s Kinleigh Russell and Layla Ogden on routine fly balls, and the Lady Panthers were on their way to Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup against defending state champion Henderson County.
“Daviess County is a tough team,” Reynolds said. “They’re gritty, they’re fighters … When you get to the big stage, you’ve got to perform.”
McLaine Hudson, who had two of South Warren’s five hits while playing a flawless game at shortstop, said the Spartans “had a big target on our back” as the state’s No. 1-ranked team, adding that the Spartans “were just a little bit tight.”
South Warren finishes its season with a 34-4 record, while Daviess County takes a 27-3 mark into Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinal matchup with Henderson County (32-6).
EDITOR’s NOTE: I’ll have more on South Warren’s first-round exit in the KHSAA state tournament later this weekend. The South Warren baseball team plays in its first-round tournament game on Friday afternoon. The Spartans (30-8) will face Highlands High School (27-7-1) in a first-round game at UK’s Kentucky Proud Park on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
FOR ITS FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP.
MEETS WITH THE MEDIA AFTER THE GAME.
AFTER THURSDAY’s LOSS TO DAVIESS COUNTY.
FROM THE KHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT.
AND HER FAMILY LEAVE UK’s JOHN CROPP STADIUM.