South Warren Spartans Softball Eyes State Title

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – It’s your do-or-die time for the South Warren Spartans in Lexington.

After they shut out Highlands, the team is looking to top three tough opponents to claim the state title.

“We know we have our work cut out,” South Warren Softball Head Coach Kelly Reynolds said. “We know that once you get to this part of your season and postseason at the state tournament level, then pretty much every game you’re playing like a championship game.”

“It’s been an exciting run,” South Warren Softball Senior Elly Bennett said. “We’re a very energetic group. So, once we get into these high atmosphere games, we just kind of go crazy and we give it all we got.”

One advantage for this Spartan squad is they faced their opponent Henderson County earlier this year. South Warren played the Colonels in the Best of the West tournament, beating them 8-1.

“It does help,” Reynolds said. “We really do that on purpose. The coach from Henderson County, we always try to play each other. And we’ve played him for several years now. And last year, we played him and we beat him 1-0 with a solo home run and the top of the seven. They’re just a good solid ball team.”

But if the girls beat Henderson County, they could face arguably the best team in the state, the Ballard Bruins, before a chance at the state crown. No matter the result, this weekend, this squad has put on a show with only two losses on the year and experience for their younger players for years to come.

“It feels really good to be able to bring the seventh and eighth graders who are playing varsity into the atmosphere like this,” South Warren Softball Senior Carrie Enlow said. “I hope that brings them a lot of experience for the next season.”

“As a senior you know, it’s just really exciting,” Bennett said. “The past three years we’ve been region runner up so we’ve been so close, but haven’t been able to get to the state tournament and now that we’re finally here, it’s just really exciting.”

“You know, this weekend is truly it,” Reynolds said. “Hopefully we make it to Sunday. If we don’t, we’ve had a very successful season and these girls have a lot to be proud of. They’ve accomplished a whole lot this year and they have showed a lot of people in our community across our district or region in our state.”