BOMBS AWAY: South Warren takes down Lady Gators in slugfest
Published 11:03 am Wednesday, April 23, 2025
The battle between the top two teams in the state turned into a slugfest, with No. 1 South Warren powering past No. 2 Greenwood 17-11 on Tuesday at Greenwood High School.
South Warren (16-2 overall, 2-0 District 14) hit five homers – three from junior Layla Ogden – to avenge a time-limit loss to the Lady Gators in Alabama earlier this month.
It was a game where both teams opted to hold out their respective top pitcher, leading to a day where both offenses thrived.
“I told the girls yesterday at practice, ‘Here is who’s pitching. Here is what we are doing and our offense has to be on to generate more runs than they do,’ ” South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said. “We told the girls that every time they punch we have to punch back harder … constantly raising the ante every single time.”
South Warren lost 6-3 to Greenwood on April 5, but the Spartans exploded for five in the top of the first.
Kinleigh Russell and Ogden went back-to-back with solo shots, while Jenna Lindsey had a two-run double and Parker Willoughby capped the rally with an RBI double.
“It was just a statement,” Ogden said. “You have to start early. You have to not have a goose egg on the scoreboard. You have to score the first inning because the best teams score in the first inning. The teams that win score in the first inning.”
Ogden added an RBI double in the second to make the score 6-0 before Greenwood (20-6, 1-1) struck in the third – aided by two South Warren errors that extended the inning. Five straight batters reached for the Lady Gators, capped by a three-run homer from Macie Murray that cut the deficit to 6-5.
South Warren finished the night with five errors.
“Our defense let us down quite a bit,” Reynolds said. “We gave them quite a few runs. We can’t do that. If we want to be the team that we want to be and are expected to be then we can’t make those defensive errors.”
South Warren answered in the fourth with four runs including a solo homer from McLaine Hudson and a two-run shot to center by Ogden.
Kate Rippy opened the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot for Greenwood. The Lady Gators added two more unearned runs in the inning to pull within 11-8.
The Spartans once again were able to extend the lead with two in the fifth – including an RBI double from Hadley Borders – and a three-run homer from Ogden in a four-run sixth that made the score 17-8.
Greenwood made one final push with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh. After an error extended the inning, Julianne Parker delivered a two-run single. Two batters later, Savannah White drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 17-11.
Reynolds opted to bring Ogden in to finish it off – with the right-hander striking out Elsie Kirby on three pitches to end the game.
“They saw Layla in Huntsville,” Reynolds said. “It’s no secret there. At that point and time it’s like, ‘Let’s get out of here. We’ve played almost a three-hour ballgame. Let’s go.’ Layla came in and did exactly what she needed to do.”
Ogden finished with four hits and seven RBIs, while Lindsey and Russell added three hits each.
Emmie Goss pitched for the second time this season, earned the win allowing one earned run and seven hits in four innings.
White and Madelyn Allen paced the Greenwood offense with two hits each.
“We didn’t have the right mindset tonight,” Greenwood coach Rodney Bush said. “That’s where we are struggling a little bit. That’s where we can get better. We’ve got the talent. I’m failing them on mindset. Still trying to figure it out.”
Both teams return to action on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. with Greenwood traveling to Bowling Green and South Warren hosting Warren Central.
SWHS 510 524 0 – 17 17 5
GHS 005 300 3 – 11 9 4
WP: Goss LP: Nealon
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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