‘Whatever it takes.’ No. 1 South Warren survives Madison Central upset bid
When South Warren senior Layla Ogden stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday against Madison Central’s Kate Drury in the Softball State Tournament quarterfinals, everybody in black and gray — including Ogden herself — believed a walk-off home run was imminent.
The Spartans’ Parker Willoughby had already reached second base on a well-placed single to left field, which caused a scramble and throwing error on the play to put her tying run in scoring position with no outs.
All Ogden had to do was connect bat with ball to at least even it up.
“So, I did go 0-2 (at first). And I was kind of a little nervous,” said Ogden, a Western Kentucky signee and one of six South Warren seniors. “But I knew. I was like, ‘All my work that I’ve put in for a long time is going to put me through.’ ...
“I knew that (Drury) was going throw another change-up. And then she was going to come in with an inside pitch, because that was the last pitch she threw.”
Strike. Foul ball. Foul Ball. Ball. Ball. Smash.
Ogden lifted a towering fly ball over the left field fence to give the Spartans the 4-3 victory and keep their hopes for the program’s first state championship alive.
Moments earlier, South Warren trailed Madison Central 3-2 following the Juliana Robinson’s home run in the top half of the eighth.
The unbeaten Spartans (43-0) had only trailed an opponent once this season, and that was to an out-of-state team. They trailed Madison Central twice on Saturday.
South Warren’s roster knows the doubts about them, Ogden said. The Spartans suffered a first round exit last season. Many players were part of their state semis loss the year before.
Sky-high expectations come with hitting a team average .492, boasting five Division I signees and a University of Kentucky commit and being ranked No. 1 in both the state and the nation per at least one national poll.
It took until its final at-bat, but South Warren met the hype and added some more.
“I knew that these girls were going to produce,” Ogden said. “And I knew that I would put this team against anyone in the state or in the nation … In the state tournament, we’ve always had these close calls, and we’ve always fallen short. We’ve gotten down on ourselves. But this year, it’s whatever it takes.”
Madison Central opened the scoring in the top of the third inning after Reille Parks’ single and Mollie Neeley’s sacrifice bunt set up Drury’s RBI single to center.
Through four innings, the Spartans had only one hit against Drury and no runs to show for it, something few would have predicted from a squad that has scored 543 runs in 2026, an average of nearly 13 per game, and 70 more runs than the next closest team.
Even McLaine Hudson — who leads the state in average (.756), home runs (26) hits (93) and runs (102) — struggled. The Florida State signee drew a walk but went a rare 0-for-3 at the plate in her leadoff spot a day after earning Gatorade player of the year honors for the second straight season.
However, South Warren has never simply been “McLaine Hudson and the Spartans.” And it’s easier to maintain confidence when the home-run record broken by Hudson was previously tied by Ogden herself, who smacked 24 last season.
South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds knows she can always count on Ogden at the plate, but, Saturday, she asked Ogden for help in the circle, too, opting to make the switch from starter Courtney Norwood, the UK commit, in the fifth inning after a leadoff double by Madison Central’s Lexi McIntosh.
“They started kind of hitting Courtney,” Reynolds said. “Squaring the ball up a little bit more, and we thought, ‘Let’s mix it up a little, let ‘em see Layla some.’ Obviously, Courtney throws really hard, and the harder you throw, sometimes you can stick your bat out there and the ball’s going to go. It was nice being able to go with Layla and get a few extra at-bats there.”
The circle swap was successful, as Madison Central squandered the scoring chance with three fly ball outs.
The Spartans faithful got something else to cheer about in the bottom of the fifth. South Warren scored its much-needed first run when a Madison Central fielding error on Hadley Borders’ single helped eighth grader Kalie Kuzma score from second base. Kuzma led off with a double.
Willoughby then executed a sacrifice bunt — prompting another Indians throwing error and allowing Borders to score and give South Warren a 2-1 lead.
But Madison Central (27-9) would not be denied. Despite a pair of outs in the top of the sixth inning, Kaylee Rice’s RBI single knocked in Jenna Scarberry to tie it again at 2-2. Scarberry had singled and moved up to second on a walk to Miley Cooke a few moments earlier. Lexi McIntosh worked Ogden into a full count, but her pop out to second base ended the rally..
A scoreless seventh inning for both teams saw Norwood return to the circle for South Warren.
Norwood struck out the first two Indians batters in the eighth ahead of Robinson’s stunning go-ahead homer. That set the stage for South Warren’s walk-off.
Madison Central coach Randy Hall was told by Reynolds after the game that “they gave us way more than we wanted.”
This year’s state tournament berth marked the Indians’ first in 24 years, and proved to the entire state — 11th Region and beyond — that they’re a program to remember.
“I really don’t want anybody on our team to be satisfied with the loss,” Hall said. “But if there’s any losses you could be close to being satisfied with, this maybe would be one of them. They’re No. 1 in some nation poll, and in the state, obviously, they’re No. 1, nobody’s beaten them. So I was really excited and proud of our team for the way we showed up. And we didn’t seem intimidated from the get-go, and then once they came back, we could have laid down, but we didn’t. We punched back.”
South Warren will continue its quest toward a perfect season and a state championship on Friday against Highlands (35-6) in the semifinals.
Saturday’s other quarterfinal games
Highlands 3, North Hardin 2 (8 innings): It took an extra inning to decide who would advance to next week’s quarterfinals, but ultimately it was the Bluebirds who emerged victorious thanks to a walk-off RBI single from senior Cam Markus to bring senior Payton Brown home all the way from second base.
However, it was the Trojans who drew first blood in Saturday’s quarterfinals opener, when junior Kaylee Johnston and senior Tykeria Davis both scored in the top of the fourth inning on a Highlands throwing error to take a 2-0 lead. Highlands’ answer was quick, coming in the bottom of the fourth as sophomore Layla Zepf scored from second base off a bunt single from senior Morgan Pompilio to pull within one run.
Highlands would tie it in the bottom of the seventh behind a sacrifice bunt from junior Allison Meyers — sophomore Kate Class capitalized on a North Hardin throwing error in the same sequence to score from first base, positioning the Bluebirds to walk it off in the eighth inning.
Senior Kaitlyn Dixon was credited with the win in the circle for Highlands; Dixon allowed two runs on two hits across eight innings, struck out five batters and walked one. Sophomore Brooklyn Carmickle allowed three runs on nine hits across seven innings for North Hardin; Carmickle struck out eight batters and walked one.
Bullitt East 16, Hazard 8: Mackenzie Mingus’ two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning helped spark a six-run rally for the Chargers (31-4) and turn an 8-7 deficit into a victory going away.
A Kinnley Murphy double and a walk to Ryleigh Watrous followed around a Hazard pitching change from Sami Noble to Peyton Fields. But Fields uncorked a wild pitch to score Murphy, gave off a single to Katlyn McDonald and hit both Kylee Wills and Payton Holt. Holt was hit with the bases loaded. Mollie Johnson followed with a two-run single to left field to put Bullitt East up 13-8.
Alivia Cooper and Murphy also homered. McDonald went 4 for 5 with three runs scored.
Hazard (24-13) got a hit, a run and two RBI from Ragan Elkins. Fields went 2 for 5 with two runs scored.
This story will be updated.
State High School Softball Tournament
What: Softball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare
Where: University of Kentucky’s John Cropp Stadium.
Tickets: via GoFan.
Streaming: KHSAA.tv.
Saturday’s quarterfinals
Highlands 3, North Hardin 2 (8 innings).
South Warren 4, Madison Central 3 (8 innings)
Bullitt East 16, Hazard 8.
Henderson County vs. George Rogers Clark (n).
Friday’s semifinals
3:30 p.m.: Highlands vs. South Warren.
6:30 p.m.: Bullitt East vs. Henderson County-George Rogers Clark winner.
June 13 final
7 p.m.: Championship game.
