By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – After 11 days off, Noblesville softball coach Deke Bullard said the Millers were “fearful we’d have some rust” coming into their Tuesday game with Fishers.
There was no need to worry. Noblesville cruised past the Class 4A No. 10 Tigers 15-0 in a five-inning Hoosier Crossroads Conference game at the Millers’ field. Noblesville scored in every inning and also got a dominant performance out of sophomore pitcher Addison Retzinger to take an early 2-0 lead in the conference.
“Hitting is contagious and I think we got on the ball early, and we had a lot of things go our way,” said Bullard. The coach said his team was “able to string some hits together with runners on base.”
Bullard also praised Fishers: “They’re a good team and they’ve got a great pitcher in the circle, so I do not think that was indicative of that team at all,” he said.
Fishers’ Kenney Shockley makes contact with the ball. (Richie Hall)
Another Millers sophomore, Reese Newsom, got her team on the board with a three-run home run in the first inning. Noblesville followed that up three more runs in the second inning: Sophomore Izzy Zapp cracked a two-run double into center field, then scored on Newsom’s sacrifice fly.
Newsom
“I was very excited to get us going again and continue playing,” said Newsom. “We practiced really hard. I was only hoping for good things.”
The Millers kept their foot on the gas in the third inning. Sophomore Bella Hughes drove in two runs with a left field double, then was sent home by senior Delaney Rundle’s RBI groundout. Nevaeh Nash scored on a passed ball to give Noblesville a 10-0 lead.
“We hit well when people were on base,” said Bullard. “We did a good job getting on base. And we did a good job keeping them off base.”
Retzinger came in to bat in the fourth inning, and she sent a two-run double into left field. Nash and Rundle followed that with RBI hits, then Zapp scored Nash with a sacrifice fly.
Nash was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 and scoring three runs, while Zapp was 2-for-3. Addi Emmerson also hit a double.
Meanwhile, Retzinger put together a solid complete-game outing. She struck out 10, including a strikeout of the second inning side, and allowed only two hits and one walk.
“Addi threw amazing in the circle,” said Newsom. “She had 10 out of 15 outs. That’s crazy. And we just backed her up with our bats and defense.”
Fishers’ two hits came from senior Hailey Kinder and junior Adrianne Cook, who hit a double in the fifth inning.
“This is just one of those nights where you got to put it behind you and move on,” said Tigers coach Daren James. “Once a team gets rolling like that, there’s not much you can do to stop them.”
Noblesville is unbeaten overall at 3-0 and plays at Carmel tonight. Fishers is 5-3 and hosts Harrison Thursday.
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