Lady Spartans fall 3-1 in opening round matchup with Daviess County

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Thursday marked the start of the 2025 Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Softball State Tournament, and it was a heavyweight matchup in the second game of the day between the 3rd Region winners from Daviess County and the 4th Region winners from South Warren.

Both teams entered the matchup with just three losses on the season, with the Lady Panther boasting a 26-3 record and the Lady Spartans stepping in at 34-3.

South Warren was unanimously number one throughout most of the season, according to the 2025 Kentucky High School Softball Coaches Poll, but Thursday it was all about one game. Whoever won would move on, and it was a thriller of a matchup.

Courtney Norwood got the nod for the Lady Spartans in round one, and the sophomore shined in the circle immediately, getting strikeout after strikeout.

She would finish the day with seven total strikeouts and spoke postgame on what was the key to that success.

“Just like my connection with like Hayden [Holloway], I was feeling it pretty much, and I was just throwing my game,” said Norwood.

The score was knotted at zero through four innings until future Wildcat McLaine Hudson stepped into the box, felt right at home, and launched an RBI double off the top of the left field wall, giving South Warren the first run of the contest and a 1-0 lead.

The Lady Panthers would respond in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs off the bat of Kamryn Timmons.

She hit the softball nearly to the same spot in left field and Daviess County would strike with two outs, going in front 2-1.

The rest of the way, the home team on the scoreboard held on, and even added an insurance run leading Daviess County to a 3-1 opening round victory over South Warren.

Following the game, head coach Kelly Reynolds and junior McLaine Hudson shared how the other team may have had the upper hand on Thursday, but the result is even more of a reason to work hard in the offseason.

“When they scored those two runs, it kind of took the gas out of us a little bit and it’s just hard to be that team when you have to fight from behind, especially when you’re in a close ballgame with two good teams,” said Reynolds.

“I mean, I think we have all the reason to work even harder,” said Hudson. “We’ve felt like this three times before, so I mean, it starts in the weight room, it starts in the cages whenever we get home, like the season starts right now for next season. We just have to keep pushing and hopefully we have a different ending next year.”

South Warren finishes the season 34-4 after falling in the opening round to the Lady Panthers.

The majority of the team are juniors, with the lone graduating senior being centerfielder Jenna Lindsey, so now the page is flipped to focus on a senior season where the group will eye the school’s first ever state softball championship.