By RICH TORRES
WESTFIELD – As a freshman making her first career postseason start, Madison Taylor admitted she was a little nervous coming into the Class 4A Sectional 8 opener on Monday night.
It sure didn’t show.
Taylor, a verbal Florida State commit, tossed a three-hit gem with three strikeouts and drove in four runs as Noblesville cruised past host Westfield 11-1 by run-rule in five innings.
The Millers logged 14 hits and plated nine runs through the first three innings to win their fourth straight game and secure a meeting with Fishers in the sectional semifinals on Tuesday at Westfield.
“We had some great hitting, and everyone did their job today,” Taylor remarked after improving to 15-4 on the season. “Just go out and play, and see what we can do.”
The Millers did exactly what they wanted against Westfield, led by Taylor and fellow freshman Ella White, who finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs.
Taylor went 1-for-3 with a run and four RBIs, plating runs in all three of her at-bats.
In the bottom of the first, Taylor’s hard-hit single to second, which was misplayed for an error with the bases loaded, scored two of the Millers’ four runs in the inning.
Her infield groundout brought home White in the bottom of the second, and a single to center field put Noblesville ahead 10-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
White capped the run-rule victory in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI-single, scoring Grace Smith from second base after she reached on one of Westfield’s four errors.
“We wanted to come out and get a W tonight. That’s what we worked for all year,” White said. “We were pretty confident, but you can’t think too highly of yourself. You want to come out and play every game like it’s the best competitor you’ve faced.”
In the first, the Millers sent nine batters to the plate, and they used seven at-bats to build a 7-0 lead behind a three-run second inning.
Smith, who went 2-for-3, and Kyleigh Lowry both posted RBI swings in the bottom of the third. Emily Minett was a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI single in the first, and leadoff hitter Abby Brown was 2-for-4.
“This is what you play for. This is the tournament, so you never know how they’re going to react to that additional pressure and that additional scenario, and I thought they responded well,” Noblesville head coach Deke Bullard said. “I felt we played all aspects of the game well.”
No more so than in the circle where Taylor retired the first six batters she faced and six in a row after the Shamrocks posted their first hit with a leadoff single by Corrine Molter in the top of the third.
Westfield had five base runners total and made the Millers work for the win after an error supplied its lone run in the top of the fifth, cutting the margin 10-1.
The Shamrocks delayed the Millers’ initial run-rule attempt as Emily Revercomb muscled a single up the middle to start the top of the fifth.
A Caroline Maymon one-out single put two runners on base, while a passed ball advanced both into scoring position. A two-out error on a Regan Oland contact swing scored courtesy runner Maddie Hunter from third.
In the bottom half, White closed it out with a two-out base hit.
“That was kind of our game plan. We knew we could play a little small ball and move runners and be quick. Their pitcher is fantastic though, and it’s hard to do those kinds of things against her, but we could have knelt down. But we fought,” Westfield head coach Brian Revercomb said. “I thought they did a great job and fought to get that one run.”
Westfield concludes the season with a record of 9-16 despite contending with the loss of several starters due to injuries.
They will graduate five seniors, including Ashley Swartout, a Trine recruit, who ended the year hitting .533 with 41 RBI and 11 home runs – all three led the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
In her career, Swartout clubbed 25 home runs, drove in 115 RBI and recorded 115 hits with a .421 batting average.
“Our program is getting there. These kids worked 11 months out of the year. Where we’re at today from three years ago, I couldn’t be more proud of a group of 36 kids,” Revercomb said. “Ashley Swartout is the kind of kid everyone should want on their team. She’s a leader. She knows the game, and she’s a smart kid. She’s got so much ahead of her.”
Noblesville 11, Westfield 1
(5 innings)
Westfield AB R H RBI
Regan Oland 3 0 0 0
Regan Nickel 3 0 0 0
Ashley Swartout 2 0 0 0
Sara Haymeyer 2 0 0 0
Savannah Arvin 2 0 0 0
Emily Revercomb 2 0 1 0
*Maddie Hunter 0 1 0 0
Corrine Molter 2 0 1 0
Caroline Maymon 1 0 1 0
Brooklyn Carey 2 0 0 0
Totals 19 1 3 0
Westfield pitching IP R ER H
Avery Wagner 1.1 7 5 6
Alexis McClure 1.2 2 2 3
Lizzie Batta 2.0 2 1 5
Strikeouts: Batta 1, Walks: Wagner 1, Batta 1.
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Abby Brown 4 1 2 0
Grace Smith 3 2 2 1
Chloe Tragesser 2 2 1 1
Ella White 4 3 4 2
Madison Taylor 3 0 1 4
*Abigail Harvey 0 1 0 0
Emily Minett 3 0 3 1
Julia Furiak 3 0 0 0
Olivia Stinson 3 1 1 0
Kyleigh Lowry 3 1 0 1
Totals 28 11 14 8
2B: Tragesser, White, Minett. SB: White 2, Minett 2, Stinson 2, Lowry.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Taylor 5.0 1 0 3
Strikeouts: Taylor 3. Walks: Taylor 1.
Score by innings
Westfield 000 01 – 1 3 4
Fishers 432 11 – 11 14 1
Noblesville’s Madison Taylor pitched a complete-game win and batted in four runs during the Millers’ first-round sectional win over Westfield on Monday. (Andy Duvall)