Perfect season stamps Spartans among all-time greats

Published 11:17 am Sunday, June 14, 2026

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South Warren short stop McLaine Hudson (19) scores a run in the Spartans’ 8-0 win over the Bullitt East Chargers in the KHSAA State Softball Championship at John Cropp Stadium on Saturday, June 13, 2026. South Warren earns its first state softball title in program history and finishes with a perfect 45-0 season. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)

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South Warren Head Softball Coach Kelly Reynolds cheers on third baseman Parker Willoughby (11) after she got Bullitt East catcher Alivia Cooper (2) out on third in the Spartans’ 8-0 win over the Chargers in the KHSAA State Softball Championship at John Cropp Stadium on Saturday, June 13, 2026. South Warren earns its first state softball title in program history and finishes with a perfect 45-0 season. (Grace McDowell / The Daily News)

LEXINGTON – The South Warren softball team entered the season looking to join the state champion fraternity already occupied by Region 4 rivals Greenwood and Allen County-Scottsville.

By the time South Warren completed that task with an 8-0 win over Bullitt East in the championship game on Saturday at John Cropp Stadium, the Spartans found themselves in even more elite company – one of four teams to complete a perfect season.

South Warren blitzed through the season in dominant fashion – 45 wins and zero losses. It was the most wins ever in a season in KHSAA state fast-pitch softball history, besting Greenwood’s 44-0 season in 2013.

“45-0, wow,” South Warren coach Kelly Reynolds said. “Just to set so many records and everything. I’m just so proud.”

“ … They love softball. Every once in a blue moon you have a group come through like this. This was our group. They have been so close in years past but I think this year they were like, ‘We are not giving up. We are going all the way.’ ”

This final chapter came after a series of heartbreaking setbacks.

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South Warren’s run began in 2022 – a march to the semifinals that included five players on the roster that started in Saturday’s title game (Layla Ogden, McLaine Hudson, Kaylee Wilson, Courtney Norwood and Kinleigh Russell).

Ogden, Hudson and Norwood all appeared in that 11-0 loss to Ballard, which went on to join the 2013 Greenwood and 2019 Male teams as unbeaten state champions.

From there, the expectations started to grow.

South Warren was upset in the region final in 2023, but entered 2024 as a favorite and got all the way to the semifinals again before falling 2-0 to Henderson County.

Last season, South Warren had the target on its back again and was upset in the first round of the state tournament by Daviess County.

So with one final chance with this group – which also included seniors Parker Willoughby and Hadley Borders – the Spartans just kept winning and dominating.

South Warren only trailed once in 38 regular-season games, racking up 29 double-digit wins.

Hudson, named Kentucky Miss Softball on Sunday, was the lead-off hitter for an offense that led the state in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs.

The regular season also included a road win against the No. 1 ranked in the nation – Orange Beach (Alabama).

Then came the postseason.

South Warren outscored its opponents 52-0 in the first four games before breaking away in the sixth inning to beat Barren County 4-0.

After opening the state tournament with a 12-0 win against Oldham County, South Warren got its biggest test of the season in a quarterfinal matchup against Madison Central. The Spartans trailed twice – including 3-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth – before Ogden’s walk-off, two-run homer kept the season alive and perhaps exercised some demons of seasons past.

“I honestly think it helped us,” Reynolds said. “If we don’t have that game, then are we more tense in this game? Probably so. I felt like we were a little tense at first in this game, but once we scored two runs we were like let’s go.”

Norwood agreed that close call was a catalyst for what proved to be a dominating final weekend.

“That was a wake-up call for us,” Norwood said. “It went back and forth. They were a really good team … but I knew Layla was going to come through and get the win for us.”

Nothing in the final two games was as dramatic as the Madison Central game. Hudson’s homer on the first pitch of the semifinal win against Highlands set the tone for a dominating 10-0 win.

On Saturday, it was Russell’s turn to get the offense going with a two-run single in the third. South Warren was able to steadily pull away from there – with the final innings more of a celebration for the seniors who were about to close their prep careers as state champions.

“The road has been hard,” Hudson said. “There have been a lot of ups and downs. There have been a lot of doubters from outside, but we stayed together. I would do it all again to be here today.”

Now the Spartans get to celebrate – relishing in a quest five years in the making. South Warren was able to do it in historic fashion, putting the Spartans firmly in the conversation as perhaps the best fast-pitch softball team in state history.

“It’s just a relief,” Ogden said. “We did it. Forty-five games and not a loss. We did it. It just shows how good we are and how close we are and how our friendships pushed us to this moment.”

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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