By RICHIE HALL
Grace Smith, a Noblesville senior softball player, had never hit a grand slam before Tuesday.
She picked a great time to her first one. Smith’s slam broke the Class 4A Regional 4 championship game open for the Millers, who eventually won over host Harrison 6-3.
The regional victory was the first for Noblesville since 2015. The Millers will go back to Harrison on Saturday to play in the north semi-state, taking on Leo in the second semi-final at 1 p.m. Penn plays Lake Central in the first semi-final at 11 a.m., with the championship game at 7 p.m.
“If you look back at just our last three wins, with Fishers tying it up on us in the sixth, Carmel being up on us 2-0 and then 2-1, and then these guys being up on us 2-1 for the majority of the game, I would say that we are battle-tested and we continue to fight,” said Noblesville coach Deke Bullard. “That’s what I love about this group of girls. They continue to fight and we’re going to continue to fight as long as we can.”
In order to get to the semi-state, Noblesville had to play the No. 4-ranked Raiders, who came into the game with a 26-2 record. The Millers got the first run of the game in the top of the first inning, when Abby Brown scored after Emily Minett reached on a fielder’s choice.
The Raiders took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-RBI hit by Kenzie Rusk. The score would remain there until the sixth inning, when Noblesville set the stage for a big comeback.
Ella White and Madison Taylor both drew walks to get on base. Abigail Harvey would come in to courtesy run for Taylor, and both she and White advanced a base on a wild pitch.
That brought up Minett, and after two balls, she was gifted first base on an intentional walk to load the bases and allow a force out at any base. But another wild pitch sent White in to score, and Harvey and Minett up a base.
Julia Furiak then drew a walk, loading the bases again. That brought up Smith, and she clobbered a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence, just a few inches fair. Just like that, the Millers led 6-2.
“The entire time in this game, I had a plan,” said Smith, who had been dealing with an injury during the season. The plan, she said was to get everything up the middle – “just base hits, nothing over the top, and what was best for the team at that moment was to get on base, and good things came from that.”
“A grand slam isn’t obviously how you draw it up from a kid who’s hurt, but we’ll take it,” said Bullard. “It’s a storybook ending for her on that one, that’s for sure.”
The Raiders scored a run in the bottom of the sixth: Kiara Dillon tripled on to base, then Kaeley Hallada sent her home with a single. But that would be it. Harrison got a runner on base in the seventh inning, but Furiak made a tag at home plate with two outs to end the game.
Chloe Tragesser was 2-for-4 at the plate. Taylor pitched a complete game. The shortstop Smith and second baseman Tragesser both made big catches in the first inning.
“We had a great defensive game,” said Smith. “Our pitcher pitched great. Our outfield did great and our infield did solid just like we do all season.”
Noblesville is now 20-10 for the season.
Noblesville 6, Harrison 3
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Abby Brown 3 1 1 0
Olivia Stinson 4 0 0 0
Chloe Tragesser 4 0 2 0
Shea Sterrett 0 0 0 0
Ella White 3 1 1 0
Madison Taylor 3 0 1 0
Emily Minett 3 1 0 1
Julia Furiak 2 0 0 0
Grace Smith 3 1 1 4
Kyleigh Lowry 3 0 0 0
Abigail Harvey 0 1 0 0
Alyssa Solomon 0 1 0 0
Totals 28 6 6 5
Score by innings
Noblesville 100 005 0 – 6 6 1
Harrison 020 001 0 – 3 7 0
HR: Smith.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Taylor 7 3 2 7
Strikeouts: Taylor 3. Walks: Taylor 1.