Lady Titans Softball Prepares To Defend Region Title
The Harrodsburg Herald/Samuel Warren
The 2025 Lady Titan softball defending 12th Region Champions are pictured from left to right, kneeling: Natalie Johnson, Maddy Bragg, Cheyenne Phillips, Reese Ransdell, Peyton Woods, Mackenzie Carrier, Mia Floro, Seagan Wood, and Bella Rector; standing: Ella Davis, Hallee Ransdell, Emory Thompson Annika Campbell, lzzie Carlton, Ava Musick, Kadence Bottoms, Chloe Batten, KJ Sutton and Jaley Bowman. Not pictured is Madelyn Pyles.
Samuel Warren
Herald Staff
[email protected]
The Lady Titans softball program is still reeling from a historic 12th Region Title run a season ago. The program dominated the postseason, and stellar defensive displays led the Lady Titans to five straight postseason victories in which they allowed only four runs. The run began with a shocking upset of top-20 program West Jessamine in the opening round of the 46th District Tournament and culminated in a 4-3 victory over the Pulaski County Lady Maroons in the 12th Region Championship.
The Lady Titans graduated four star players from the historic championship team, all four of whom signed to continue their softball careers in college. Other changes to the roster include the departures of outfielders, Jayla Sanders and Lily Hart. Several underclassmen will be stepping into new roles in 2025. Senior KJ (Karleigh) Sutton will anchor the outfield while sophomores Natalie Johnson and Jaley Bowman will step into the other two outfield spots.
2024 graduate Ashley Howard led the Lady Titans in the circle a year ago, and her dominant performances inspired each of the Lady Titan’s postseason wins.
“She bought in those last 11-12 games, she wanted the ball in her hand and she just executed. There’s no doubt in my mind that we have the pitching for that this year, it just all comes down to execution,” said second year Head Coach Darren Ransdell. Junior Ella Davis, freshman Ava Musick and eighth grader Reese Ransdell form the three key members of the Lady Titan’s pitching rotation this spring. Musick and Davis combined to pitch 112 innings for the Lady Titans last year, and their experience will go a long way whether or not they’re in the circle. Ransdell plans to rotate pitchers into second base much like the Titans did a year ago. It may be the case that Mercer will feature each of its pitchers in the defense at a time this season, at second, shortstop and in the circle. Emory Thompson will step onto third base and do her best to replace the efforts of Hanna Beasley from a year ago. “She is a utility type player,” said Ransdell of the junior, who can play any infield role if need be. Bella Rector is another talented player who will earn plenty of varsity experience this season despite being a freshman. She is another option for Mercer at third base. “She has really, really been a bright spot this year,” said Ransdell. Hallee Ransdell is another talented player who will have an impact on the team despite still being a freshman. “They’re talented enough, they’re athletic enough, we’ve just got to get the experience underneath of them,” Ransdell said of the youth in the infield.
Junior Mia Floro will step behind the plate and fill the catcher role left open by 2024 graduate Haylee Ransdell. “She has worked her butt off this winter and really bought in. She’s stepping up and being a leader, she’s really loud in practices and that is huge for her to step into that role,” said Ransdell, who added that Bowman can also play catcher if need be. “We’ve got a lot of pieces in some very key places, it’s just a matter of me figuring out which rotation works the best to give the team the best chance to win.”
Sophomore Izzie Carlton only recently left the basketball court following Mercer County’s appearance in the regional tournament, but is expected to make a significant impact at first base. “Every coach’s dream is to have a first baseman like that,” Ransdell said of Carlton, who stands 6 ‘2.
The youth in this year’s Lady Titan squad will have a strong backing from a trio of seniors. Sutton Annika Campbell and Seagan Wood are each preparing for their final season with the Lady Titan softball program. Campbell suffered a lower leg injury, sidelining her for the entirety of her junior season and she has still not fully recovered, and Wood is not recovering as fast as she had hoped from a surgery on her arm this offseason.
“You need more than just nine players on the field and she shows up to practice everyday with a great attitude. She’s huge to have in the program because you preach that you need a team full of kids like that, and she shows up to work everyday without complaint,” Ransdell said of Wood, and added in regard to Campbell, “for her to not give up on it after a big injury, and to finish her senior season even being limited, is huge. She is being a great teammate and working as hard as she can, so I’m really proud of her for finishing this thing out.”
Sutton has made a concerted effort to take the team’s young players under her wing this offseason, and altogether, the trio of seniors is a model of how to lead and be great teammates, setting the standard for both work ethic and team spirit.
The 2025 Lady Titans will have the benefit of an extremely challenging regular season schedule, including matchups with three region champions from a season ago. Mercer will face Region 9 defending champs Highlands in the season’s opening weekend, and face Region 11 powerhouse Frederick Douglas three times in the first three weeks of the season.
Mercer will travel to face region champions Assumption and North Laurel in the final week of the regular season, and will also face two region runners-up from a season ago in Woodford County and Bethlehem. Perry County Central was 28-11 last season before being upset by Letcher County Central in the Region 14 semi final.
“Win or lose, you can’t play a cupcake schedule trying to prepare for district and region, essentially, we’re going to be playing a region champion level team every week,” said Ransdell. To make things even more difficult, only 11 of the Lady Titans 31 games this season are scheduled to be played in Harrodsburg.
Despite having a young squad with several roles being filled by players lacking an abundance of varsity experience, Ransdell made no concession about the Lady Titans expectations of themselves this season.
“I don’t want to get it crossed up, we’re going to win every game,” Ransdell said of his team’s attitude as the season approaches.
“Winning is a measurement of success, but in saying that, a lot of people have asked me ‘are you going back-to-back,’ well Mercer County has only won the region one time, yes that’s our goal, but for me as a coach, I have to see growth. If I don’t see growth, then we won’t be very successful this year. I need to see growth individually and as teammates, but the biggest growth I need to see, and I think that will be what we’re missing at the beginning of the season compared to last year’s team, is how are we gonna handle the pressure late in the game,” said Ransdell.
The Lady Titans will open their season on Tuesday, March 18, when they travel to Liberty to face the Lady Rebels of Casey County. Marion County will travel to Harrodsburg two days later for the Lady Titan’s home opener, scheduled at 6:30 p.m.
