By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Over the past couple years, there seems to be a regional rivalry developing between the Noblesville and Harrison softball teams.
The Millers have won two regional titles, both at the Raiders’ softball field. This year, Harrison came down to Noblesville and turned the tables. The Raiders beat the Millers 5-2 to win the Class 4A Regional 4 championship, their first regional title since 2013.
“We’ve gotten them a couple times,” said Noblesville coach Deke Bullard. “There’s probably a little payback owed to us.”
Harrison, coached by Carmel graduate Kelsi (Jones) Clark, got on the board right away with a run in the first inning. The Millers made their move in the third inning by scoring two runs. Reis Sjoholm got the first run on a passed ball, then Gabby Fowler smashed a center field hit to bring in Lauren DeRolf.
The score stayed at 2-1 for the next few innings, with Noblesville playing solid defense against a big-hitting team. But Harrison broke through in the sixth inning, tying the game with an RBI single, then scoring two to take the lead. Another RBI single gave the Raiders their fifth run of the game.
Harrison then clamped down on defense, not allowing Noblesville another base runner during the remainder of the game.
“They’re a great team, well-coached with a lot of great players,” said Bullard. “Today was their day and it’s been our day against them a couple of times in the past. It’s a good team and they’ll represent our area of semi-state very well. They’ve got a good chance to go win semi-state.”
The Millers had five hits in the game, including a 2-for-3 performance from Fowler. Sjoholm, DeRolf and Kira Thomas all had one hit.
Noblesville finished the season 16-13 and defended its sectional championship.
“We accomplished things that no one thought we would do,” said Bullard. “We accomplished things that no one gave us credit for and we were able to do that because they came together as a team.”
HARRISON 5, NOBLESVILLE 2
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Reis Sjoholm 4 1 1 0
Lauren DeRolf 2 1 1 0
Gabby Fowler 3 0 2 1
Scout Duplaga 3 0 0 0
Taylor Thompson 3 0 0 0
Kira Thomas 3 0 1 0
Kinsey Pfeiffer 2 0 0 0
Bella Schatko 2 0 0 0
Erin Clark 1 0 0 0
Tatum Ball 2 0 0 0
Aidan Gates 1 0 0 0
Totals 26 2 5 1
Score by Innings
Harrison 100 004 0 – 5 11 0
Noblesville 002 000 0 – 2 5 1
SB: DeRolf, Thomas.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Emme Yee 3 1 1 5
Lulu Van Beek 4 4 1 6
Strikeouts: Yee 1, Van Beek 1. Walks: Yee 1, Van Beek 1.