The Simon Kenton–Grant County softball rivalry refuses to obey the laws of probability. The ongoing series between 32nd District high school adversaries has become a back-and-forth tussle that has blurred the lines of expectations with its surprising results.
“Our rivalry is like a box of chocolates,” Simon Kenton coach Chris Young said. “You never know what you’re gonna get in our games.”
Coach Young knows softball rivalry dynamics and best movie moments in Forrest Gump, and he also understands best practices. “It all comes down to practice,” the coach said. “Work on it every day and get better at it like it’s second nature so when surprises happen, you’re ready.”
Young’s philosophy is a thesis statement in disguise. The Simon Kenton-Grant County rivalry is unpredictable. Softball is unpredictable. Life is unpredictable. Preparation is the only constant.
Young delivers the advice nearly every day in some form or another as motivation. The iconic line about a box of chocolates was delivered by Forrest Gump’s mother and echoed by Gump later in the 1994 film, making it a timeless reminder of life’s surprises.
To the coach, the simplicity of the box-of-chocolates phrase not only encapsulates the randomness of life but also the joys and hardships that come with it. Now, if he can just figure out the rivalry with Grant County, because with the Braves, it’s not just about the games, it’s about the pattern, the psychology and the weirdness of the rivalry.
“We can beat Grant,” said junior tri-captain Taylor Jones, one-half of a sister tandem along with twin Jayden. “I feel like everything is finally starting to click for us.”
Simon Kenton (6-8) and Grant County (3-13) renew acquaintances at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a 32nd District seeding game in Independence. Forget the records. There’s a lot of drama surrounding the contest between 2025 district tournament finalists. The Pioneers have won four of their last six games. Grant County has won two in a row. Both teams are young, adding to the unpredictability.
“We have struggled a bit with getting that big hit. But we have lots of potential,” said captain Adreena Barton, the lone returning senior. “I feel good about our pitching, and I feel good about us.”
Rivalry origins
As good as Barton feels now, there was a time when nobody knew what to think about the rivalry.
The Simon Kenton-Grant County series picked up in earnest in 2006 when the Pioneers left the Ninth Region and joined the Eighth Region’s 32nd District, home of the Braves. Back then, Grant County was a 20-win power, and the Pioneers were a sub-.500 team.
This changed in 2008 when the Pioneers finished 25-5 and Grant County went 12-20. Despite that, the Pioneers were able to beat the Braves by just two runs and one run in their meetings that season. Then back and forth they went.
Grant County re-emerged in 2010 while the Pioneers suffered a few down years. Simon Kenton re-emerged in 2012 while the Braves took a dip in 2013.
Both fell on harder times in 2014, but it didn’t stop the Pioneers from beating the Braves during the regular season. The Braves answered by ending the Pioneers’ season entirely with a win in the district tournament.
Simon Kenton began a stretch of success in 2015 that coincided with some lean years for the Braves and that’s pretty much the way it stayed up until 2021.
Then things got really weird.
Rivalry update
Recent evidence of a massive tug-of-war waged by the district mates can be found in the results. This isn’t just a list — it’s a phenomenon.
Last season, the Pioneers shut out the Braves at Grant County during the regular season. But Grant turned the tables and blanked the Pioneers in the district tournament final at Simon Kenton.
In 2024, same thing. Simon Kenton beat the Braves during the regular season, but Grant stunned the Pioneers in the district final.
That 2024 Pioneers victory marked coach Young’s first win over Grant and ended a four-game losing streak to the Braves going back to his inaugural season of 2022. The unpredictability of the rivalry predates Young. The previous coach, Jeff Morgan, also had his share of headaches. In Morgan’s last year in 2021, the Pioneers routed Grant during the regular season, then lost to the Braves in the district final.
It was a sudden reversal of fortune. Simon Kenton had beaten Grant in every previous meeting dating to 2014, a streak of 10 straight wins. Simon Kenton won five consecutive 32nd District titles from 2015-19. Grant supplanted the Pioneers and won five straight district crowns beginning in 2021.
To recap, that’s a Pioneers win followed by a reversal in the playoffs, another Pioneers win followed by another playoff reversal, a Pioneers losing streak to Grant that contradicts the previous decade, and a decade that contradicts the previous decade. The series, to say the least, is irrational.
“Yes,” junior captain Lauren McIntosh said. “But in the end, the best teams come from their own perseverance, and we have a lot of that.”
Rivalry renewal
On the field Thursday for Simon Kenton are some special ballplayers who also happen to be special people. Scarlett Cochran, a Scott transfer, joins Barton as the team’s only other senior. She is one of just four Pioneers who can hit and pitch.
The Jones twins are raking. Leadoff-hitting Taylor is batting a team-best .455. Jayden is hitting .432 out of the cleanup spot. “They’re two of the hardest workers in the program,” Young said.
Barton and junior Alli Fowler both have extra-base pop. Barton, fully recovered from a torn ACL that ended her junior season, is heading to Northern Kentucky University. She’ll try out with the softball team when she gets there. “Good player, hard worker and a quiet-type leader,” Young said of Barton. “And she’s one of the nicest girls you’ll ever meet.”
Barton carries a 3.85 grade-point average. McIntosh and Jayden Jones were recently named to the highly selective Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program.
Even the kids are alright. Cara Swope is doing the swiping with a team-best six steals. Fellow sophomore Myka Brown is nearing a .400 on-base percentage. Freshman Payton Reinhardt is driving in runs. Seventh-grader Cheyenne Borgemenke is hitting .421.
Pitchers McIntosh, Brown and Borgemenke all have respectable ERAs around 4.00 or under, with Borgemenke leading at 2.80. McIntosh twirled a three-hit shutout while handing George Rogers Clark one of its two losses. Cochran allowed just one earned run in a win over Woodford County. Brown is a reliever who can start.
Grant features .300 hitters Aubrey Isaacs, Peyton Gosney and Calleigh Hammons, the top pitcher. “But they don’t have Brianna Knochelman, one of the best pitchers in the state over the last 10 years,” coach Young said of the 2025 Northern Kentucky Softball Coaches Association Division I player of the year. “It was pretty hard to beat her.”
Knochelman’s ERA the past five seasons: 0.97, 1.25, 0.88, 1.19 and 1.18. She’s now pitching in college.
“Knochelman not being around makes a difference, but we still have to hit and pitch,” Young said. “We might have peaked early last year and this year our motto is ‘It’s not how you start but how you finish.’ And we want to finish strong.”
The Simon Kenton-Grant County rivalry is filled with characters, but it’s almost a character‑like force itself. Coaches are trying to prepare. Players are trying to improve. Fans are trying to predict. History is trying to repeat. Logic is trying to assert itself, and the rivalry keeps breaking the pattern.
“It’s crazy,” Taylor Jones said. “But it’s also nice to have the opportunity. Winning just makes it better and we’re learning how to win.”
Thursday, we’re bound to learn more.