State softball tournament: Middle school stars align for South Warren’s present and future
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Kentucky high school sports state championships
KHSAA state championships played out this weekend across four different sports in Lexington, and the Herald-Leader’s staff of writers and photographers covered all the action. Click below for highlights from the baseball, softball, tennis and track and field state championships.
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This could be South Warren’s year to win a state softball championship. If it’s not, though, the Spartans’ long-term outlook is blinding.
An 8-0 victory over Highlands late Saturday night at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington was their 29th straight dating back to March, and their first in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop KHSAA Softball State Tournament. South Warren (37-2) came into this year’s event ranked No. 3 by state coaches, behind undefeated Ballard (36-0) and perennial contender McCracken County (33-2).
It figures to be near, or at, the top of the poll for a while. South Warren’s starting pitcher, Courtney Norwood, is a seventh-grader playing her first varsity season. The team’s next-best pitcher, Layla Ogden, is in eighth grade, as is lead-off batter McClain Hudson, who leads the state in hits and runs scored.
Norwood and Ogden pitched the Spartans out of one of the state’s toughest softball districts and regions despite not yet having stepped foot in a high school classroom. They combined to allow just three hits in their state-tournament debuts. It was South Warren’s first time playing at state since 2017.
“I knew we had it from the first pitch I threw,” said Norwood, who got the start and had four strikeouts in five innings.
The Spartans’ middle schoolers are no strangers to high-level competition; they all play for major travel teams throughout the summer. The nerves hit a little differently, though, when you’re playing for a crowd of hundreds wearing the same colors as you and can focus on one pressure-packed game rather than a daylong schedule of events.
“It’s just awesome being able to represent your school,” said Hudson, who was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Ogden was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Carrie Enlow, who caught both her and Norwood, was also 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Enlow is one of four seniors, all of whom start, for South Warren. They have just one crack left at a state title, and if their less-seasoned teammates keep playing above their years, they might just make it happen.
“Our girls have played a lot on the big stage within their travel-ball tournaments and I think that’s been a benefit to them,” South Warren Coach Kelly Reynolds said. “That’s been nothing but help to them and us.”
Lopsided softball
South Warren’s rout was the last of several in the latter half of this year’s first round.
Following a first day in which three of the four games were decided by less than three runs — including walk-off wins by Harrison County and Lexington Catholic — only one game on Saturday was close.
Daviess County in a 3-0 win over Estill County allowed just four hits. The Panthers clung to a 1-0 lead before adding insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Raylee Roby, pitching in her second straight state tournament, went the distance and struck out seven.
Ballard and Henderson County both advanced with run-rule wins decided in five innings.
The Bruins toppled Johnson Central, 10-0. Brooke Gray struck out 10 of the 14 batters she faced while Sydney Blair, Emory Donaldson and Eden Jessie each drove in two runs in the victory.
Henderson County managed 17 hits while allowing just one to Oldham County in a 13-0 win. Kaytlan Kemp was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with three RBI.
State tournament
At UK’s John Cropp Stadium in Lexington
Schedule listed in bracketed order
FIRST-ROUND RESULTS
Louisville Holy Cross 8, Corbin 0
McCracken County 9, Elizabethtown 6
Lexington Catholic 2, Boyle County 1
Harrison County 1, Lewis County 0 (13)
Daviess County 3, Estill County 0
Henderson County 13, Oldham County 0
QUARTERFINALS
Friday
11 a.m.: Harrison Co. (31-11) vs. Lexington Catholic (28-6)
2 p.m.: McCracken Co. (33-2) vs. Louisville Holy Cross (22-14)
5 p.m.: South Warren (37-2) vs. Henderson Co. (33-2)
8 p.m.: Daviess Co. (31-5) vs. Ballard (36-0)
SEMIFINALS
Saturday
11 a.m.: Friday morning winners
5 p.m.: Friday evening winners
CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday
3 p.m.: First pitch
This story was originally published June 5, 2022 at 10:09 AM.
