By RICHIE HALL
WEST LAFAYETTE – It’s always fun when a team surprises itself in a good way.
Noblesville softball coach Deke Bullard had been going through scenarios for the Millers’ Tuesday Regional 4 game at Harrison. A 9-1 rout for Noblesville was not one of them.
“I told the girls that I had played this game 50 times in my head in the last three days,” said Bullard. And that was not the outcome that I was thinking.”
But the Millers will take it, as they are regional champions for the first time since 2018. Noblesville won its fourth regional title in program history and will return to Harrison Saturday for the Class 4A north semi-state.
Noblesville got up early, as it led off with back-to-back singles by Reis Sjoholm and Abby Harvey. Later, Cameron Grayson batted them both in with a center field hit.
That gave the Millers a 2-0 lead. The Raiders got a run back in the second inning, but Noblesville responded with three runs in the third. Ella White blasted a triple to score Sjoholm and Harvey, then Grayson’s RBI groundout sent White home.
The Millers put up three more runs in the fourth inning. Harvey singled in Erin Clark and Sjoholm, then later scored on Grayson’s double. Harvey struck again in the sixth inning, cracking a triple into left field to bring in Myah Stuckey.
“Here’s the thing: We have hit well all season,” said Bullard. “And we showed up early with our bats and we kept them going through the whole game. When you hit the way we did, good things can happen. And so, we got on early and we took advantage of our runners getting on base and were able to drive them in, and that’s ultimately the difference in the game.”
Harvey had a perfect day at the plate, going 4-for-4, driving in three runs and scoring three more. Sjoholm and Grayson each had two hits.
Grayson pitched another complete game, striking out eight against four hits and two walks.
Noblesville improved to 25-5 with the win. The Millers will play the second semi-final game Saturday at Harrison, taking on Penn at around 1 p.m. The first semi-final, between No. 3-ranked Lake Central and Columbia City, starts at 11 a.m. The winners play the championship game at 7 p.m.
NOBLESVILLE 9, HARRISON 1
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Reis Sjoholm 3 3 2 0
Abby Harvey 4 3 4 3
Ella White 3 1 1 2
Cameron Grayson 4 0 2 4
Lauren DeRolf 3 0 0 0
Kira Thomas 1 0 0 0
Gabby Fowler 2 0 0 0
Taylor Thompson 3 0 0 0
Rylie Newcomer 3 0 1 0
Erin Clark 0 1 0 0
Myah Stuckey 1 1 0 0
Totals 27 9 10 9
Score by Innings
Noblesville 203 301 0 – 9 10 1
Harrison 010 000 0 – 1 4 0
3B: Harvey, White. 2B: Grayson. SB: Harvey, Sjoholm, Stuckey. SAC: Stuckey, White.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Grayson 7 1 1 4
Strikeouts: Grayson 8. Walks: Grayson 2.