By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – The Noblesville softball team had never defended a sectional championship before this weekend.
The Millers finally did that on Saturday, and did so in dramatic fashion. A walkoff fielder’s choice hit by Kinsey Pfeiffer scored the winning run for Noblesville, who got past Carmel 5-4 in the Class 4A Sectional 8 title game at Fishers.
The victory is the eighth in program history for the Millers, and it didn’t come easy. Noblesville led 4-3 with two outs in the top of the seventh, but the Greyhounds’ freshman sensation Elsa Morrison tied things up with a solo home run. The Millers didn’t panic, though.
Gabby Fowler drew a leadoff walk to get on base, then moved to second when Scout Duplaga hit a single. Taylor Thompson then hit a sacrifice bunt to move Fowler to third and Delaney Rundle (running for Duplaga) to second base.
Kira Thomas was intentionally walked to load the bases, during which time Macy Duvall came in to run for Fowler. Next up was Pfeiffer, and she made contact on an 0-1 pitch, getting to first base on the fielder’s choice while Duvall headed home to score the winning run.
Pfeiffer said when she was at the plate she wanted to be “selective” and to “hit where the holes are basically.” She found one, and it clinched the victory.
Noblesville thus easily recovered from any letdown of being one out away from a trophy in the top of the seventh, then having to come out and play the bottom of the inning.
“We play, according to MaxPreps, the toughest schedule in the state,” said Millers coach Deke Bullard, saying his team gets “beat up” during the season.
“We do that for a reason, for these games,” said Bullard. “We don’t play any cupcake games, unless we’re trying to pick up something or anything like that. But our schedule is brutal. That’s the whole reason we do it. It’s so we get into these things. We know that, we get punched in the face, we got to punch back.”
Noblesville made the big punch in the first inning, scoring the game’s first run. Lauren DeRolf got on base with a one-out double, then scored quickly as Fowler singled her in. DeRolf’s double wound up being the only extra-base hit for the Millers, as they used small ball quite well for the game.
“I feel like it’s very important to be able to hit long ball and small ball,” said Fowler. “My singles were very effective today, and moving runners and scoring them.”
Noblesville added a second run in the fourth inning when Bella Schatko singled in Taylor Thompson. The Greyhounds came back in the fifth inning, tying the game with two runs. Audrey Hussain doubled Kylie Cunningham home, then Jessica Remm sent a double into center field to bring in Hussain.
The Millers got the lead right back in the bottom of the fifth. Fowler’s center field hit scored Reis Sjoholm, then Thompson batted in DeRolf. Carmel added a run in the sixth inning when Hope McDonald singled in Ella Ohrvall, cutting Noblesville’s lead to 4-3.
Both teams also stepped up defensively. Center fielder DeRolf ended a sixth-inning bases-loaded threat by making a double play; she caught a fly ball for the second out, then sent it into Schatko at second base to make the inning-ending tag.
“Our coaches work really hard to look at the past plays and stuff and line us up pretty well,” said DeRolf. “Then we see the pitches and we line ourselves up and we all do a really good job at trying to figure out where the ball is going to be hit.”
Morrison, the catcher for Carmel, also made some big defensive plays with a pair of tagouts at home.
“She gets better every game, and I think as she continues to age, just the knowledge of the game will continue to grow as well,” said Greyhounds coach Ginger Britton.
DeRolf, Fowler, Duplaga and Thompson all had two hits for the Millers. Lulu VanBeek got the pitching win. McDonald and Kylie Cunningham both had two hits for Carmel, which finished its season 16-10.
Noblesville is 16-12 and hosts Harrison Tuesday for the Regional 4 championship.
NOBLESVILLE 5, CARMEL 4
Carmel AB R H RBI
Elsa Morrison 4 1 1 1
Sophie Esposito 4 0 0 0
Ella Ohrvall 3 1 1 0
Lily Sullivan 2 0 0 0
Hope McDonald 3 0 2 1
Kylie Cunningham 3 1 2 0
Audrey Hussain 3 1 1 1
Maddie Stacy 3 0 0 0
Jessica Remm 3 0 2 1
Totals 28 4 9 4
HR: Morrison. 2B: Remm 2, Hussain.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Lucy Broughton 2.0 2 2 6
Paxton Law 0.1 1 1 1
Stacy 4.0 2 2 5
Strikeouts: Stacy 4. Walks: Law 2, Stacy 2, Broughton 1.
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Reis Sjoholm 3 1 0 0
Lauren DeRolf 4 2 2 0
Gabby Fowler 3 0 2 2
Macy Duvall 0 1 0 0
Scout Duplaga 4 0 2 0
Taylor Thompson 3 1 2 1
Kira Thomas 2 0 1 0
Kinsey Pfeiffer 2 0 0 1
Erin Clark 1 0 0 0
Bella Schatko 3 0 2 1
Tatum Ball 3 0 1 0
Totals 28 5 12 5
2B: DeRolf.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Emme Yee 4.2 2 2 5
Lulu Van Beek (W) 2.1 2 2 4
Strikeouts: Yee 1. Walks: Van Beek 1.
Score by Innings
Carmel 000 021 1 – 4 9 0
Noblesville 100 120 1 – 5 12 0