Jim Mashek

OGDEN’s BLAST ELIMINATES MADISON CENTRAL, 4-3; SPARTANS WILL FACE HIGHLANDS ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT UK

LEXINGTON — South Warren High School’s Layla Ogden took a vicious cut at the pitch.

And followed through.

She took a few quick steps out of the batter’s box, pausing only briefly as the ball sailed out of UK’s John Cropp Stadium, and picked up the pace of her gait after making the turn at first base.

Ninth-year South Warren head coach Kelly Reynolds was waiting, in the third-base coach’s box, as Ogden’s teammates hurried out of the dugout and waited for her at home plate.

There was no stoppin’ the Spartans in the KHSAA state quarterfinal on a warm, sunny and windy Saturday afternoon at the University of Kentucky.

Walk it off, indeed.

In the bottom of the eighth.

Ogden’s 13th home run of the season lifted South Warren to a pulsating 4-3 victory over a talented Madison Central squad, a team buoyed by junior pitcher Kate Drury and a scrappy offensive lineup. The Spartans made it happen, in improbable fashion, in earning their 43rd consecutive victory.

Without a single defeat.

“We’ve had a very successful season,” Reynolds said on Sunday morning, “but we’ve talked a lot, about pressure, and I thought that even though we were in a very pressured situation yesterday, our girls never lost confidence in themselves.”

And Ogden, an animated sort who will play next season at Western Kentucky University, did it all as the Spartans took a critical step toward a possible state championship, which would be the first in school history.

“I really just wanted to hit it hard, get a base hit,” Ogden said when it was over. “I knew a base hit would get Parker (Willoughby, the Spartans’ senior third baseman) home from second …

“I knew (Drury) was going to come in inside, and she did, with a screwball … We really didn’t doubt ourselves, at all, even when we were down a run.

“I’d put this team up against any other team in the state, or even the nation.”

The Spartans trailed twice, on Saturday, first falling behind 1-0 in the top of the third inning. Kate Drury’s RBI single up the middle with two outs brought speedy leadoff batter Reille Parks home from second base.

South Warren left ’em loaded, in the bottom of the third, before going down in order in the fourth.

In the fifth inning, however, the Spartans’ bats came to life.

Right fielder Kalie Kuzma, an eighth grader at South Warren Middle School, lined a Drury pitch just inside the left-field foul line for a leadoff double. All-state shortstop McLaine Hudson unleashed a fly ball to right field, with Kuzma tagging up before sliding safely into third base.

Center fielder Hadley Borders, who will play in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Missouri, twice failed to get a bunt down, with Kuzma cheating in a little bit from third base. Then Borders slapped the ball up the middle for an RBI single, and she made it all the way to third base on a two-base error in the outfield.

“Kuzma has stepped into a big role this year,” Reynolds said. “She’s an athlete, and has handled the pressure really well. She knows she’s in good hands, and all her teammates believe in her.”

Madison Central had three errors for the game, three more than the Spartans.

Senior third baseman Parker Willoughby, who has signed with Ohio State University, got a squeeze bunt down to score Borders from third base, putting the Spartans in front, 2-1.

Willoughby moved into second base, on a throwing error by the catcher, but Madison Central’s Kate Drury retired the next two batters she faced, and the Lady Indians trailed by just a single run.

Madison Central wasted no time answering in the top of the sixth.

South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds had moved Layla Ogden from first base, to the pitcher’s circle, in the fifth inning. But in the sixth, she gave up an RBI single to Madison Central’s Kaylee Rice, and the Lady Indians would strand two base runners themselves in that inning.

South Warren would go down, in order, in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings.

And then the Lady Indians would go BACK IN FRONT, on Luciana Robinson’s solo home run off South Warren right-hander Courtney Norwood with two outs in the eighth.

Suddenly, there may have been visions of Henderson County 2, South Warren 0 — the score of the Spartans’ state semifinal loss in 2024 — and Daviess County 3, South Warren 1, the first-round game that sidelined the Spartans for the season last year.

Reynolds said the Spartans remained calm, even though they were facing an uphill battle again.

South’s Parker Willoughby battled Drury for seven or eight pitches before lashing a hard grounder to the right of Madison Central shortstop Reille Parks.

The ball skipped into center field, and the Lady Indians made another critical error in the outfield, allowing Willoughby to motor into second base.

That’s when Layla Ogden stepped to the plate.

And that’s when Ogden penned a memorable chapter to the Spartans’ run toward a possible state championship.

“We knew we were prepared,” Ogden said. “Whatever it takes …”

All it took was one decisive swing of the bat, and a ball that caught a little tailwind while sailing out of the yard.

The Spartans would live to fight another day.

South Warren (43-0) will face Highlands High School (35-6 overall) in the opening semifinal on Friday at UK’s John Cropp Stadium. Highlands slipped past North Hardin, 3-2, in eight innings in the first quarterfinal game on Saturday.

The other half of the bracket will feature George Rogers Clark High School (38-5 overall) and Bullitt East (31-4). GRC outlasted Henderson County, 2-1, in quarterfinal play Saturday evening.

Parker Willoughby, the Spartans’ senior third baseman, put the day in succinct terms before the team boarded the bus for Bowling Green.

“We’re ready for anything,” she said. “We live to see another day …”

Stay tuned.