Noblesville and Carmel advanced to the championship game of the Westfield softball sectional on Tuesday.
The two teams will play each other at 6 p.m. Thursday in the title game.
In the evening’s first semi-final, the Millers beat Fishers 4-3. Noblesville got on the board in the second inning when Emily Minett hit a home run in the inning’s first at-bat.
Minett struck again in the fourth inning, smacking a two-run homer into left field. Madison Taylor got on base with a double in the previous at-bat, then Abigail Harvey came in to courtesy run, and Minett sent her home.
Noblesville was now up 3-0, but the Tigers tied the game in the sixth inning. Brooke Benson batted in Fishers’ first run with a single to score Courtney James. Benson was sent home soon after, as Hannah Mays stepped up and knocked in a two-run homer.
The Millers responded with a run in the seventh inning, and that would be the difference. Julia Furiak got on base with a hit, after which Alyssa Solomon came in to courtesy run for her. Solomon moved to third on Olivia Stinson’s sacrifice bunt, then Kyleigh Lowry sent Solomon home on a sacrifice fly.
Minett finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate. Taylor pitched a complete game for the win. As for Fishers, James also was 2-for-3. Mays pitched a complete game. Noblesville is now 18-10 for the season, while the Tigers finished their season 15-11-1.
Carmel won the second semi-final 8-0 over North Central. The Greyhounds were led by Sommer Edwards, who pitched a no-hitter. Edwards tossed five strikeouts and allowed only one walk.
Meanwhile, Carmel did its job on offense. The ‘Hounds got on the board in the top of the first inning when Stormy Kotzelnick scored after Sarah Goddard reached on error. Kotzelnick got home again in the third inning, tagging up and scoring after Sydney Fox hit a sacrifice fly.
Carmel ran away with the game in the sixth inning, pouring in six runs. Megan Nichols hit a sacrifice fly to score Cate Harden. Fox smacked a center field hit to send Edwards and Ariana Zdobylak home. Goddard singled in Kotzelnick, then Fox scored on Darby Roberts’ sacrifice fly. Goddard made the score 8-0 when she got home after Sophia Derziotis reached on error.
Edwards was 2-for-4 at the plate, with Fox totaling three RBIs and Kotzelnick scoring three runs. Carmel is 12-16 for the season.
Noblesville 4, Fishers 3
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Abby Brown 4 0 1 0
Grace Smith 2 0 0 0
Abigail Harvey 1 1 1 0
Chloe Tragesser 4 0 0 0
Ella White 2 0 0 0
Madison Taylor 3 0 1 0
Emily Minett 3 2 2 3
Julia Furiak 3 0 1 0
Olivia Stinson 2 0 0 0
Rylie Moore 0 0 0 0
Kyliegh Lowry 2 0 0 1
Alyssa Solomon 0 1 0 0
Totals 26 4 5 4
HR: Minett 2. 2B: Taylor. SAC: Lowry, Smith, Stinson. HBP: White.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Taylor 7 3 3 5
Strikeouts: Taylor 1. Walks: none.
Fishers AB R H RBI
Courtney James 3 1 2 0
Diane Abbott 3 0 0 0
Brooke Benson 3 1 1 1
Hannah Mays 3 1 1 2
Caroline Bernhardt 3 0 0 0
Jade Frye 3 0 0 0
Olivia Latimer 3 0 0 0
Sydney Milburn 3 0 1 0
Kristi Gordon 2 0 0 0
Totals 26 3 5 3
HR: Mays. SB: James. HBP: Gordon.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Mays 7 4 4 6
Strikeouts: Mays 1. Walks: none.
Score by innings
Noblesville 010 200 1 – 4 6 0
Fishers 000 003 0 – 3 5 1
Carmel 8, North Central 0
Carmel AB R H RBI
Stormy Kotzelnick 3 3 1 0
Sydney Fox 2 1 1 3
Sarah Goddard 4 1 1 1
Darby Roberts 4 0 0 1
Sophia Derziotis 4 0 0 0
Maddie Searles 2 0 0 0
Cate Harden 1 1 0 0
Sommer Edwards 4 1 2 0
Ariana Zdobylak 3 1 0 0
Lauren Reiter 1 0 0 0
Megan Nichols 3 0 1 1
Totals 31 8 6 6
Score by innings
Carmel 101 006 0 – 8 6 0
North Central 000 000 0 – 0 0 6
3B: Kotzelnick. SB: Goddard, Kotzelnick. SAC: Fox, Nichols. HBP: Harden.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Edwards 7 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Edwards 5. Walks: Edwards 1.
Carmel’s Sommer Edwards pitched a no-hitter for the Greyhounds in their sectional semi-final win over North Central Tuesday at Westfield. Carmel won 8-0 and plays Noblesville in Thursday’s championship. (Andy Duvall)