By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern softball teams are well-known for being historically big-hitting teams, but no one could’ve possibly imagined the end result when the two teams clashed Wednesday night at the Royals’ field.
From start to finish, the game between the Greyhounds and Southeastern was wild. At times it was chaos. That may be dramatic, but how else does one explain a game where the teams combine for 49 runs and 41 hits, six of them home runs?
With all of that offense, no lead was safe during the game, which finished with Carmel hanging on for a 26-23 victory over the Royals, bringing the Greyhounds’ record to 2-0 for the season. In those two games, Carmel has scored 37 runs.
“I was really proud of them for going out there every inning offensively and just staying in the game,” said ‘Hounds coach Ginger Britton. She credited her players with “jumping on with what the person in front of them was doing and being willing to take their role and work with it, which was move runners, and therefore you’re going to get runners in.”
Carmel was getting many runners in during the first two innings, as the Greyhounds led 6-0 midway through the second. In the first inning, Sophie Esposito scored the first run on an Ella Ohrvall single, then Kylie Cunningham scored after Hope McDonald was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Carmel followed that with four runs in the top of the second. Ohrvall got home on an error, then Elsa Morrison tripled in Cunningham. Lily Sullivan then blasted a home run, also scoring Morrison.
The Royals now trailed by six runs, but they took care of that really quick by scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the second. Emma Vance singled in Maddie Bucher, Stephanie Penny scored on a bases-loaded hit by pitch, then Laila Wanza scored on a bases-loaded walk.
Morgan Hicks, then doubled in Vance and Lani Wyrick, and an RBI double from Payton Fox tied the game. Alex Kiemeyer then connected on a two-run single. By now Southeastern had batted around, and Penny came back up to blast a two-run home run. Just like that, the Royals led 10-6.
“We battled the whole game, but we were down six-nothing,” said HSE coach David Cook. “We could’ve thrown it in there, and we come back and score 10 and take the lead.”
Carmel took the lead back in the top of the third by scoring five runs. McDonald was sent home by Ohrvall’s RBI fielder’s choice, then Maddie Stacy got home on a bases-loaded walk. Morrison hit a sacrifice fly brought in Esposito, then Ohrvall and Cunningham scored to get the ‘Hounds ahead 11-10.
The Royals tied the game at 11-11 in the bottom of the third; Wyrick scored the run. Southeastern then added four runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead 15-11. Anna Kiemeyer led off with a solo home run, Taylor Larson cracked a two-RBI single, then was sent home by Jenna Chase’s base hit.
The Greyhounds cut the lead to 15-13 in the top of the fifth. Ohrvall laid down a bunt that eventually brought in Esposito, then Ohrvall eventually scored herself. Southeastern got one run back in the bottom of the inning when Bucher stole home plate.
Carmel went into the sixth inning trailing 16-13. The Greyhounds went wild in the top of that inning, blasting in 11 runs for a 24-16 lead. McDonald started with a two-run homer, then Esposito smacked a two-run home run of her own. Cunningham singled in a run, Sullivan’s base hit scored two more. Audrey Hussain and Sullivan both got home when McDonald reached on error, McDonald scored when Paxton Law reached on error, then Law scored on a passed ball.
But even an eight-run lead wasn’t safe. The Royals added four runs in the bottom of the seventh. Larson doubled in Vance, then Chase – who threw over 250 pitches between HSE’s Tuesday night and Wednesday night games – clobbered a three-run homer into center field.
Carmel led 24-20 after six innings. But neither team was done yet. Hussain and McDonald both singles in runs for the ‘Hounds in the top of the seventh, giving Carmel a 26-20 lead. Then, the Royals kept fighting in the bottom of the seventh.
Vance led off with a double, then Wyrick singled her home. Wyrick later scored on an error, then Halle Guiden was batted in by a Fox single. Finally, Lucy Broughton got a strikeout for the third out.
“Any team in the area, I think defensively, it’s always going to be a little rough as pitchers settle in coming out of the gym and everything,” said Britton. “With our ability right now just to be able to put the bat on the ball and do it hard, just gives us some opportunities to make mistakes and still be able to come out on top.”
All nine Carmel players scored at least one run and got at least one hit. Esposito, Ohrvall and Cunningham all scored four runs, with Ohrvall, Hussain and McDonald getting three hits. McDonald batted in six runs.
Meanwhile, Wyrick had five runs for the Royals, with Larson and Kiemeyer each getting four hits. Chase totaled five RBIs.
“I told the girls, that’s two high-powered offenses right there,” said Cook. “There were some balls crushed, both ways.”
“We got to play better,” said Cook. “We’re making too many mistakes. We’re not making routine plays. We made some good plays, but we’re not making routine plays.”
Both teams will be off for the next several days for Spring Break. The Royals, now 0-2, will return to action first, playing at the Terre Haute South tournament on April 8 and 9. Carmel is back on April 12 when it plays at Lawrence North.
CARMEL 26, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 23
Carmel AB R H RBI
Sophie Esposito 4 4 2 2
Ella Ohrvall 5 4 3 4
Kylie Cunningham 4 4 2 2
Elsa Morrison 5 3 1 2
Lily Sullivan 4 3 2 4
Audrey Hussain 5 2 3 1
Hope McDonald 5 3 3 6
Maddie Stacy 6 1 1 0
Paxton Law 5 2 1 0
Totals 43 26 18 21
HR: Esposito, McDonald, Sullivan. 3B: Morrison. 2B: Law. SB: Esposito, Hussain, Ohrvall, Stacy, Sullivan, Morrison, Cunningham. HBP: McDonald, Sullivan.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Lucy Broughton (W) 6 18 18 20
Law 1 5 5 3
Strikeouts: Broughton 5. Walks: Law 3, Broughton 2.
Southeastern AB R H RBI
Lani Wyrick 4 5 3 2
Taylor Larson 6 2 4 3
Sage Ladig 1 0 0 0
Jenna Chase 3 1 2 5
Halle Guiden 0 1 0 0
Morgan Hicks 5 1 2 2
Paige Gould 0 1 0 0
Payton Fox 6 1 2 2
Alex Kiemeyer 5 1 4 3
Maddie Bucher 0 3 0 0
Stephanie Penny 5 2 3 2
Laila Wanza 2 2 1 0
Tessa Sexauer 2 0 0 0
Emma Vance 4 3 2 1
Totals 43 23 23 20
HR: Penny, Kiemeyer, Chase. 2B: Larson, Vance, Hicks, Wanza, Fox, Kiemeyer. HBP: Wyrick 2, Hicks, Chase.
HSE pitching IP R ER H
Ladig 1.2 6 6 5
Chase 5.1 20 10 13
Strikeouts: Chase 3. Walks: Chase 5, Ladig 3.
Score by Innings
Carmel 245 02(11) 2 – 26 18 3
Southeastern 0(10)1 414 3 – 23 23 12