The South Warren dugout cheers on pitcher Courtney Norwood during South’s 11-0 win over Clinton County in the Region 4 Tournament at the WKU Softball Complex on Monday, May 26 (JACK DOBBS / Bowling Green Daily News)

For the South Warren softball team, the season begins this weekend.

The No. 1 ranked team in the state has powered its way to a 34-3 record and a third Region 4 title in four years, but all of that was the precursor for the ultimate prize – an elusive state title.

South Warren appeared in the cusp last season, but waa stunned by eventual state champion Henderson County in the semifinals. Now pretty much the same roster is back, looking to finally take that next step and finish the quest for a state title.

“We’ve been working since last season,” South Warren senior outfielder Jenna Lindsey said. “We never really took a break and just kept on pushing. I feel like we are excited for it to finally be here and we are ready to show what we are about.”

It starts at noon CDT on Thursday against Region 3 champion Daviess County in the opening round of the KHSAA State Softball Tournament at John Cropp Stadium in Lexington.

The Spartans are again considered the team to beat in the field, but head coach Kelly Reynolds said it’s anyone’s game at this point.

“I feel like overall we are sitting in a good spot,” Reynolds said. “You prepare all season for postseason and, for us, we were just really stressed in that region tournament championship game. We really try to focus on the mental game. We work on fundamentals, but we focus a lot on the mental part of it – being strong mentally and hitting the reset button if you make a mistake or don’t make a hit.

“I do feel like throughout that region championship game the girls were not as upbeat as they usually are. I think even the crowd was that way. I feel like going forward we are sitting in a good place.”

South Warren enters the tournament with the top offense in the state – the leader in runs scored (426), hits (407) and home runs (70). Layla Ogden leads the state in homers (24) and RBIs (75), while leadoff hitter McLaine Hudson leads the state in runs scored (77).

In the circle, South Warren is seventh in the state in ERA (1.23) with Ogden and Courtney Norwood both pitching in the state tournament for the third time in four years.

“When you look at our girls, it is no secret we have the most talented team in the state – as far as the general talent on one team, one specific high school team,” Reynolds said. “Everybody knows that, but it’s also teenagers. It’s also dealing with a sport that has its ups and downs. It’s a game of failure. It’s a game of inches. All those things play in, so you really never know what could happen. It could be one bad inning that is a snowball effect that we can’t get out of or it could be one great inning for us that overpowers the team you are playing. You really never know how it is going to go.”

After rolling through the postseason the first four games, South Warren faced its biggest challenge in almost a month – grinding out a 2-0 win over Warren East in the Region 4 championship.

Lindsey said that game was the perfect barometer for what to expect in the state tournament.

“Since it was such a close game it shows we have grit to play until the end,” Lindsey said. “I know that is going to end up happening (at state). All of these games are going to be close and we just have to keep pushing through.”

The road to the state title won’t be easy, with South Warren one of four teams ranked in the top 7 in the final coaches’ poll on the top part of the bracket.

It starts with No. 6 Daviess County, who is sixth in the state with a 1.08 team ERA. The Spartans beat Daviess County 8-4 on March 22, but did not see the Panthers’ top pitcher Kamryn Timmons – who is fourth in the state with a 0.65 ERA.

“Just because you beat a team in the regular season it really doesn’t mean anything,” Reynolds said. “I feel 99% sure that we are going to see Daviess County’s best pitcher. They know if they do not get through it, there is no second chance. And then we have to wait a whole other season and get through everything next year to even try to get to that place. It’s hard. It’s a hard, long road.”

A win Thursday could set up a rematch with Henderson County, ranked fifth in the state, in Saturday’s quarterfinal.

“Obviously it doesn’t matter what we did in the regular season,” Lindsey said. “It only matters what we do in the postseason. Obviously, we learned that from last year. I think we are ready to show what we are about and all the work we’ve done in the offseason.”

If the Spartans can win the first two games, they will have to wait a week to play again with the semifinals scheduled for June 13 and the championship game June 14. With the way the schedule is, Reynolds said she approaches it like two separate four-team tournaments.

“I feel like last year when we got into that second week – I feel like that whole week we prepared mentally,” Reynolds said. “The girls are ready to get their summer started. It’s different. I get it in baseball because you are trying to extend your pitching and get your aces back and get those rest days. In softball it’s hard when it is strung out over two weekends.”

Reynolds added she is hopeful her team’s experience will be a big factor in a deep run in Lexington.

“I think back to the first time we went to state with me coaching,” Reynolds said. “It was 2022 and the excitement was through the roof and the nerves were through the roof. It was like all in one. Now it is a little bit more balanced. The girls know they have a job to do. They know their job is not finished. They know it is one game at a time. You can’t look forward.

“But I think the experience we bring to the field that so many other teams don’t kind of helps calm the nerves. This will be, for some of these girls, the third time to play on UK’s field. The field doesn’t look as massively big and as overwhelming as it did the first time they went.”

And for Lindsey, the lone senior, she can think of no better way to end her career than with a state title.

“It would mean a lot,” Lindsey said. “Getting that ring… one more thing to add to my career.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

Reynolds isn’t the only one in the household who will be in Lexington this weekend competing for a state title. Her son Ethan Reynolds is a senior on the South Warren baseball team that opens play on Friday against Highlands in the state baseball tournament.

With the tournament sites next to each other and the possible quarterfinal games scheduled at different times, this weekend gives Reynolds a unique chance to coach the softball team but also be there to cheer Ethan on as well.

“It’s really exciting,” Reynolds said. “I couldn’t ask for a better way for him to go out and as a coach to be able to be there with our team, but also as a mom with him.”

While both are preparing for state tournaments, Reynolds said there really hasn’t been much talk about it at home the last week.

“It’s been kind of interesting – even over the weekend – we really haven’t talked much about baseball and softball at all,” Reynolds said. “Neither of us are really talking about stuff. He asked me (Sunday) night, ‘Mom, are you locked in?’ and I was like ‘Yeah, are you?’ And that was it. That was the end of our conversation.”