Spartans get rolling with 12-run rally against BG

Published 10:22 am Friday, April 18, 2025

By Jeff Nations

South Warren softball coach Kelly Reynolds thought her team looked sluggish at the start of Thursday’s home matchup against District 14 rival Bowling Green.

Even after grabbing a quick three-run lead in the bottom of the first inning, Reynolds didn’t think her team was quite as locked in as usual – the standards are sky-high for the state’s No. 1-ranked team in the Kentucky High School Coaches Top 25 poll.

The Spartans predictably snapped out of it, blasting the game wide-open with a 12-run second inning en route to a 17-1 win in three innings.

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“When the game started, I thought we were a little flat,” Reynolds said. “I said to the girls, and it’s the week after spring break and trying to get readjusted to everything, but first district game .. we should be super fired up for it.”

South Warren (15-2 overall, 1-0 District 14) collected nine of its 14 hits in that devastating second inning, with junior McLaine Hudson accounting for five RBIs in the frame. After the Spartans started the rally by scoring a run off an error, Hudson flashed blazing speed by easily scoring on two-run, inside-the-park home run after hitting a tailing liner to right field. The Kentucky commit did even more damage her next time up in the inning, ripping a bases-loaded triple to left-center field to drive in three more runs.

“My speed definitely gets things going for us, stealing bases, getting an extra base here and there really helps us,” said Hudson, who had one of the Spartans’ six stolen bases in the win. “My seventh-grade year, I think we only stole three bases as a team. And from that point on, we were really like, ‘We have the speed, so let’s steal some bases.’ So we’ve really been able to put pressure on the defense this year.”

Hayden Holloway and Layla Ogden each connected on a two-run home run in the second inning as South Warren sent 14 batters to the plate.

Bowling Green (8-7, 0-1) got off to a decent start against the Spartans. After collecting a pair of hits in the top of the first but failing to score, the Lady Purples answered South’s early three-run rally with a run of their own when Amparo DeJesus launched a solo home run over the left-field fence to lead off the top of the second.

But shaky defense hurt Bowling Green in bottom of the second – three errors helped the Spartans’ rally along.

“I told them if we just made the plays that were so close, I’d like to know what the difference in the game could have been,” Lady Purples coach Penny Reece said.

The Spartans still needed one more run to end the game early via the 15-run mercy rule in the bottom of the third. After Parker Willoughby reached first on a one-out single, freshman Keegan Pruitt gave her team double what it needed for an early ending with a walk-off, two-run homer.

“I was just really thinking just hard ground ball, just get something going, get that run to score,” Pruitt said. “It just happened to go over (the fence).”

Pruitt also tallied a double to join Hudson with two hits in the game, along with Jenna Lindsey, Kinleigh Russell – who also had two RBIs – Hadley Borders and Holloway.

That was plenty of support for Ogden, who pitched all three innings for the win.

A huge matchup awaits for South Warren on Tuesday when the Spartans travel to face district rival Greenwood – the state’s No. 3-ranked team. The Lady Gators beat South Warren 6-3 on April 5 when both teams were in Florida on spring break.

Bowling Green was slated to visit Hopkins County Central on Friday.

BGHS 010 – 1 3 4

SWHS 3(12)2 – 17 14 0

WP: Ogden. LP: Turner.

Sports Editor, Bowling Green Daily News

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