Jim Mashek

SOUTH’s COURTNEY NORWOOD FIRES 1-HITTER; SPARTANS WILL FACE MADISON CENTRAL ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON

LEXINGTON — There’s takin’ care of business, which is always the primary goal for South Warren High School’s top-flight fastpitch softball program, and then there’s winning in style.

The Spartans handled both objectives with little trouble in first-round play of the KHSAA State Tournament on Thursday night at the University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.

Junior right-hander Courtney Norwood was on point, in the circle, and the Spartans collected 12 hits in a 12-0 drubbing of Oldham County High School.

Norwood fired a one-hitter, while striking out nine batters — all swinging — as No. 1-ranked South Warren rolled into Saturday’s quarterfinals with the resounding victory.

South Warren (42-0 overall) will tangle with Madison Central on Saturday, with a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT. South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds has yet to make a decision on the Spartans’ starting pitcher.

In this game, however, Norwood was nothing short of dominant.

Much like she was in last week’s KHSAA 4th Region championship game against Barren County, a 4-0 victory that sent the Spartans to the state tournament for the third consecutive season.

“Courtney was locked in, and our defense was ready,” Reynolds said.

South Warren’s senior catcher, Kinleigh Russell, took that one a step further.

“From the first pitch, Courtney dominated in the circle,” she said.

Norwood needed just 57 pitches, 41 of them going for strikes, in remaining unbeaten in 23 decisions. The 6-foot-1 University of Kentucky commit also had two hits, at the plate, including a line-drive double down the left-field line to lead off the top of the third inning.

“I just tried to work through each batter, pitch by pitch,” Norwood said. “Kinleigh did really well behind the plate and we were able to get off the field and into the dugout.”

The Spartans may have cleared at least one mental burden in taking the bull by the horns in their state tournament opener.

South Warren was the odds-on favorite in this tournament, last year, but the Spartans struggled defensively in first-round play and dropped a 3-1 decision to a top-flight Daviess County squad.

They’d finish the 2025 season with a sparkling 34-4 record, but in some circles, it seemed overshadowed by the first-round exit in the KHSAA state tournament.

That clearly wasn’t going to happen this time.

“It’s great, to get our feet wet, and set the tone for the whole tournament,” Russell said.

South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds was particularly happy for Russell after the game.

“Kinleigh’s been a little up and down (offensively),” Reynolds said. “She carries a lot of weight behind the plate. She’s the boss, on the field.”

South Warren built a 3-0 lead before Norwood even moved into the circle for the bottom of the first inning.

The Spartans would load the bases with three consecutive one-out walks, and Russell lashed the first pitch from Oldham County pitcher Anabelle Brisco through the right side for a two-run single. Keegan Pruitt, the Spartans’ sophomore second baseman, then brought teammate Layla Ogden across the plate with a safety squeeze bunt that made it 3-0.

South Warren was clearly on the path to victory.

Oldham County coach John Thompson made pitching changes in both the second and third innings, but nothing could stop the South Warren bats in this game.

The Spartans mobbed right fielder Kaylie Kuzma, an eighth grader at South Warren Middle School, after she crushed a pitch from Brisco for a solo home run in the top of the second.

“I knew she’s probably throw me a first-pitch fastball,” Kuzma said, “and it was on the inside half of the plate. I just swung as hard as I could … when I passed first base, I saw it was over (the fence) … I was definitely surprised.

“It was like, ‘Heck yeah.'”

That was pretty much the theme for the game, as far as the Spartans and their fans were concerned, as South Warren scored in every inning to punch its ticket to the quarterfinals. They’ll face Madison Central, a 7-1 winner over Lawrence County, on Saturday at UK’s John Cropp Stadium.

South Warren catcher Kinleigh Russell finished 3-for-3 with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly and FOUR RBI.

All-state shortstop McLaine Hudson, Courtney Norwood and Kaylie Kuzma all collected two hits, before it was over, and Norwood struck out four of the last six batters she faced to bring the proceedings to a sudden halt.

Third baseman Aubrey Batts had Oldham County’s lone hit, a two-out single through the right side of the infield.

“We set goals each week, and set some before we came here,” South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said. “The girls are playing so selflessly … We’re ready (for Saturday’s quarterfinals).”