Spartans’ Reynolds, Croghan sign to play college baseball – Bowling Green Daily News

It’s always a big day for a high school program to host a signing ceremony to mark a future college athlete.

South Warren’s baseball team had two in one day Wednesday in the school auditorium, as seniors Ethan Reynolds and Ty Croghan inked to play next season at the collegiate level. Reynolds is staying in town to play at Western Kentucky, while Croghan is traveling a little over an hour up the road to play at Lindsey Wilson in Columbia.

“We strive to push all our kids, win or lose, we want them to go to the next level,” South Warren assistant baseball coach Wes King said. “It’s awesome to see two guys like Ty and Ethan who have been in our program since the start of their high school career going to the next level and also that they’re going to colleges right around here so we still get to keep up with them after they’re gone too.”

Reynolds, the son of South Warren softball coach Kelly Reynolds, is coming off a stellar junior season for the Spartans after leading the team with a .455 batting average along with nine home runs and 38 RBIs. A strong-armed right fielder at South Warren, Reynolds said WKU is looking at him as a future corner outfielder for the Hilltoppers.

Having Griffin Rardin, the son of WKU head coach Marc Rardin, as a teammate at South Warren made Reynolds even more comfortable with playing for the program in his hometown.

“It’s very cool to have Griffin on the team,” Reynolds said. “It definitely helps the relationship, getting coach Rardin to the games and seeing everybody play. It was very cool playing in front of him and playing with his son.”

That proximity to home also means Reynolds’ family can easily catch his games at Nick Denes Field starting next season.

“It factored in a lot,” Reynolds said. “Family means a lot to me. I enjoy being close to my relatives and everybody in my family. Being able to play in front of them is surreal, something you can’t beat.”

King said WKU is getting a talented and tireless worker in Reynolds.

“He actually started his eighth grade year in the district tournament,” King said. “And then ever since then, a guy that works his tail off every single day. There’s times that we actually have to lock him out of our facility and tell him just go home because he works so hard in the weight room, hitting, anything that he takes pride in he works his tail off at.”

Croghan is joining a traditionally strong NAIA program at Lindsey Wilson.

“I know some grads, even from South … (South Warren head Chris) Gage’s son went up there, he loved it, said the competition was great and they really made him into a better baseball player.”

Croghan said the Blue Raiders are looking at him as a middle infielder, most likely at second base. But after seeing time at third base and in the outfield for the Spartans last year, Croghan intends to keep getting reps in other positions to increase his versatility.

“I’m lucky enough to have a pretty good bat, that keeps me on the field,” Croghan said. “And my glove is all right as well, so I’ll probably end up playing middle infield up there and hopefully my bat can get me in the lineup early on.”

King thinks the lefty-swinging, right-handed Croghan has elite skills at the plate that will translate in college.

“He’s had 191 at-bats and only 22 strikeouts in his three-year career so far with another year going, which is an insane stat,” King said. “He just does all the right things. He’s a leader.”

Now that they’ve made their future plans official, there’s still one more high school season left at South Warren for Reynolds and Croghan. After winning the Region 4 tournament championship as sophomores in 2023 and falling in the opening round of regionals last year, the goal is to advance further than any South Warren team ever has this year.

“We’ve really been talking about how we want to go even further than anyone’s been in South Warren history,” Croghan said. “It seems like we always get stuck in that Elite Eight, never made it further. We want a ring. We want to win state and make history.”

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