Layla Ogden, right, had the game-winning homer Saturday. Teammate Parker Willoughby, left, led off the eighth inning with a hit and Courtney Norwood, second from right, got her 24th win. McClaine Hudson had two late defensive gems for South Warren. (South Warren Softball Photo)
It was not the position South Warren wanted to be in.
The Spartans had won 42 straight games going into Saturday’s state quarterfinal matchup with Madison Central in Lexington and were the overwhelming favorite to win the state title that has eluded them the last four years. However, a solo homer by Madison Central outfielder Luciana Robinson led South Warren trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth.
South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said her senior-dominated team stayed calm in the dugout and she tried to be the “encourager” for what might be the season’s final at-bat.
“I have full confidence in all our girls. Parker (Willoughby) gets on with the base hit up the middle and gets to second (on an error). Then Layla (Ogden) comes up and I could just tell … Layla presents herself very confidently and to a pitcher that is intimidating. Layla had full confidence in herself and I think it showed. She did exactly what she needed to do,” Reynolds said.
What she did was hit a high, deep bomb over the left field fence — she had hit even a deeper shot that went well foul earlier in the at-bat — that touched off an emotional victory celebration for the Spartans and crushed Madison Central’s upset bid.
Ogden, a Western Kentucky signee, came into the game with 12 homers and 63 RBI’s.
“She’s out there kind of dancing to the music as she’s getting ready. She’s full of confidence. She’s our fun bubble,” the South Warren coach said. “She kind of keeps us hyped and keeps us going. That’s her all the time. I want them to have fun. They play their best when they have fun. It’s when they feel pressure that they tend to tense up.”
It was an intense game from the start with no backing down from Madison Central led by pitcher Katie Drury. She had seven gutty innings against the potent South Warren offense and gave up five hits and three earned runs, walked four and struck out four. Drury also drove in a run with a third-inning hit
Drury did something no pitcher has done this year — she held McClaine Hudson hitless. Hudson is a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year bound for Florida State who is the state’s all-time hits and home run leader and on the verge of having the state’s all-time highest batting average.
South Warren pitcher Courtney Norwood, a Kentucky commit, improved to 24-0 despite giving up an eighth-inning homer to Robinson after coming back to the mound after being relieved by Ogden for 2 1/3 innings where she gave up one run on two hits. Norwood finished the game with 11 strikeouts, walked one and gave up six hits.
Junior shortstop Reille Parks had two hits for Madison Central, which had not played in the state tournament for 24 years. Outfielder Kalie Kuzma led the South Warren offense with two hits while Hadley Borders also had a hit and drove in a run.
“Courtney and Layla pitched their hearts out. We’ve all been playing together or against each other since we were five. I don’t know if there’s a secret sauce or what, but we all just love each other so much,” Hudson said. “I’m so proud of Layla Ogden. She deserved that moment. I’m genuinely more happy for her with that home run than any of my home runs I’ve hit.”
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The win puts South Warren into the state semifinals Friday against Highlands.
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I ts my understanding that got 6 division one players on the team and most of them were transfers from another school they went on a recruiting trail.
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