Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

Shelby Nunn and Karson Williams.

The senior pitchers have formed quite the dynamic duo for the South Warren softball team, helping the Spartans get back to the KHSAA Fast Pitch Softball Tournament for a second straight year.

Last year Williams carried the load while Nunn sat with a shoulder injury. This year both are healthy and ready to play a part in a deep run for South Warren, which opens against Central Hardin at 5 p.m. Thursday at Jack C. Fisher Park in Owensboro.

It’s a last hurrah for longtime friends who have been playing together since they were 5 years old.

“It’s exciting to know that we started it and now can possibly finish it together,” Nunn said. “It’s good to know because we have worked so hard for this.”

They’ve formed quite a pair this season, the perfect complement to the other. Nunn, a right-handed power pitcher who has signed with Western Kentucky University, is 17-1 with a 1.05 ERA – striking out 146 batters in 103 innings. Williams, more of a finesse left-hander who has signed with Campbellsville, is 13-2 with a 2.10 ERA. She has 64 strikeouts in 80 innings of work.

“Shelby has more power than me,” Williams said. “I wish my ball had more velocity like hers does. It is just hard to hit.”

Nunn is also quick to praise her teammate.

“I am kind of jealous because Karson has that left-handed appearance,” Nunn said. “Some people get freaked out by hitting against a left-hander. I am just a plain Jane righty.”

South Warren coach Chris Riggs said he has envisioned this pair leading the charge on the mound for four or five years, but it finally came together this year with both healthy and throwing well.

“It’s huge to have,” Riggs said. “If one is sick, the other one steps in. It’s a great combination to have. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”

Nunn’s health was an issue last season, but it gave Williams a chance to have a breakout season, throwing 184 innings entering the state tournament.

Williams said Nunn played a lot into her success last year, serving as a de facto pitching coach.

“She really took a step back and watched the game from a different perspective,” Williams said. “Whenever I was doing something she would tell me, ‘Do this or do that.’ It really helped me out.”

Nunn joked that Williams probably got tired of her, but said the experience of being unable to play last year made her appreciate the game more.

“Watching from the bleachers was a lot different than watching from the dugout,” Nunn said. “It’s something that I wouldn’t want to experience again, but I saw some things that we thought were perfect and we thought were working were not as perfect as we thought it was.”

Williams’ success also made it easier for Nunn to start this season. She said she knew she didn’t have to rush back to the field because Williams could hold down the fort until she was fully healthy.

“Physically it made it a lot easier, but mentally I was a little shaken up,” Nunn said. “It helped a lot knowing that I had people there.”

Riggs said it allowed him to bring Nunn along slowly, while also providing matchup problems for opponents.

“We could throw one three or four innings and then the other three or four innings,” Riggs said. “They knew what they had to do in those games and knew they had a certain amount of innings. It really helped both get in a rhythm.”

And the support when one pitches and the other sits has remained a constant throughout this season.

“Whenever I am down or in a slump, she really picks me up,” Williams said. “I do the same for her. It’s a good combination.”

Both say it’s going to be bittersweet with this being the last weekend they will be teammates, but they are looking forward to facing each other in the fall when WKU and Campbellsville meet. They’ve already got a taste of facing each other in practice, although they both concede that no one has the upper hand in head-to-head matchups yet.

But before that can happen, the dynamic duo is ready for one more run as Spartans.

“We are definitely very driven,” Williams said. “I think we are going to make a good run and prove who we are.”{&end}