Believe it or not, the Noblesville softball team’s first loss of the season may have proved that the Millers are a team to watch.
Noblesville played Lake Central, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 4A, Friday evening in its first game at the Carmel Invitational. The Millers were playing without their juniors and seniors, who were off enjoying Prom.
So a bunch of sophomores and freshmen took on the No. 2 Indians, and nearly beat them. The game was tied at 2-2 after seven innings, and Lake Central scored in the eighth to win 3-2.
“We’re very proud of how the girls played tonight,” said Noblesville coach Deke Bullard. “We did what we needed to do. We put the ball in play on offense and they made some things happen. Ella White had a home run.”
Lake Central scored in the bottom of the third inning, then the Millers answered right away in the fourth. Rylie Moore’s RBI groundout sent Ellie Karst home.
Noblesville took the lead in the sixth inning, on the very first pitch: Freshman Ella White cracked a home run into center field and put the Millers ahead 2-1. White may be a freshman, but she is one of four underclassmen that are on this year’s varsity team, along with fellow ninth-grader Madison Taylor and sophomores Olivia Stinson and Chloe Tragesser.
The Indians tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, although Noblesville got a force at third base to get two outs. A groundout sent the game to extra innings, which were played under tiebreak rules, where a runner is placed on second base to start the inning.
Lake Central quickly got a double play and a groundout of the Millers in the top of the eighth. The Indians then loaded the bases, and an infield single scored the winning run.
“We actually made a couple coaching mistakes that probably impacted the game some, in a negative way towards us,” said Bullard. “But they’re a great team and we knew they were going to be a good team. We knew it was going to be a battle with the girls we had tonight. But we’re proud of the girls and how they battled and they stayed in the game the entire game. We consider that a win.”
Tragesser hit a double, joining White in the extra-base hit column. Hits were at a premium for both teams, as both only had five in the game. Taylor pitched all eight innings for the Millers, striking out five.
Noblesville continues play at the Carmel Invitational today with two more Top 10 teams. The Millers take on 4A No. 3 Castle at 11 a.m. and 4A No. 9 Penn at 3 p.m.
“We knew the rest of our schedule this year is tough,” said Bullard, whose team is now 6-1. “And we knew this weekend was going to be tough. And so we were excited about it, and it’s a great test for us. And the way they battled today, I’ll take that group into battle any time, and obviously I’ll take our varsity girls into the battle anytime as well.”
Lake Central 3, Noblesville 2
(8 innings)
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Olivia Stinson 4 0 0 0
Chloe Tragesser 3 0 1 0
Ella White 3 1 1 1
Maddie Taylor 3 0 1 0
Ellie Karst 0 1 0 0
Abby Harvey 2 0 0 0
Alyssa Solomon 2 0 0 0
Rylie Moore 3 0 1 1
Mya Stuckey 3 0 1 0
Haley Wilson 2 0 0 0
Rylie Newcomer 1 0 0 0
Totals 26 2 5 2
Score by innings
Noblesville 000 101 00 – 2 5 2
Lake Central 001 000 11 – 3 5 0
HR: White. 2B: Tragesser. SB: Solomon, Stuckey. SAC: Harvey.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Taylor 7.2 3 1 5
Strikeouts: Taylor 5. Walks: Taylor 7.