'To be coached by him is to be loved.' Noblesville softball carries assistant's memory with them

Indianapolis Star

21 hours ago

WEST LAFAYETTE – A few parents are there to welcome the Noblesville softball team upon its arrival at Harrison High School for Wednesday's Class 4A regional championship game. It's a dreary, humid afternoon and there are concerns over an incoming storm front, but that's done little to dampen the excitement. One fan waves a giant black-and-gold flag, while another proudly rings a cowbell as the players step off the bus.
And everyone is cheering.
The Millers are wearing their black pinstripe uniforms for the occasion and nearly everyone has the same word written on their arm: Lutz. That's been a season-long tradition for this tightly knit group, a tribute to longtime assistant coach Craig Lutz, who died of a sudden medical emergency in early January.
He was 53.
"It's a good thing to see his name physically there," senior pitcher Emme Yee said Thursday from inside the NHS press box. "Seeing his name on our arms, especially when you're looking at a call on your wristband, it's a reminder that he's there and he's present with us."
Lutz's ties to Noblesville run deep. A 1990 graduate himself, he played baseball with senior second baseman Addi Emmerson's uncle, basketball with senior outfielder Macie Duvall's uncles and helped coach senior outfielder Delaney Rundle's brother, Bret, on the Millers' 2014 state champion baseball team.
Lutz poured his heart into the school every day and was always there for his players with a smile on his face, ready to make them laugh, Rundle said. "If you were coached by him, you knew what love was. He was an amazing person."
Noblesville coach Deke Bullard and assistant coach Jennifer Thompson informed their players of Lutz's passing the morning after his death. As their teammates dispersed, the seniors — Duvall, Emmerson, Rundle, Yee, Nevaeh Nash and Brookelyn Grayson — stayed behind. They were processing it, said Nash, an IU signee. Some cried. Some didn't. "We just stayed together."
There was anger, Rundle added. Why does this have to happen to us, to our community? Why did someone who was so important to us have to be taken away from our lives?
"But we realized in that moment that we were going to be playing for him each and every single day. It was going to be all for him," the Marian-bound outfielder continued. "Obviously that day was super hard, but I think it brought our team a lot closer and made us realize life is short, so you need to cherish the things you have and the moments you have with the people you love."
Noblesville had just begun loosening up when the first wave of precipitation arrived, a steady drizzle that steadily intensified over the next 30 minutes.
Don't let the weather affect you, a coach calls out. It's impacted you too many times this year.
The team is eventually forced into the dugout where after a few minutes, Bullard gathers them together on the home-plate side. He explains there is a tight window for them to fit the game into and urges his players to start fast. Harrison's 10-12 record may indicate otherwise, but it's extremely dangerous and not one to let hang around, he says.
Get ahead early and don't let up.
"You guys have prepared for this moment," assistant coach Shawn Kauzlick says. "You are ready for today, ready for this test. Let's show them what we can do."
Time to get it done.
When the rain relents and the teams are cleared to continue pregame prep, Thompson watches over starter Addison Retzinger as she warms up with catcher Reese Newsom. The sophomore pitcher has been brilliant this season, collecting six wins and 138 strikeouts with a 2.54 ERA, and as she nears the end of her session Wednesday, Thompson provides an assessment to Bullard: "Have you seen her screwball today? It's like, woah."
There was no hesitancy — among the seniors, at least — about returning to the diamond following Lutz's untimely passing. It lit a fire under them; galvanized them, Rundle said. They were playing for something much bigger than themselves.
Do it for Lutz.
That's been Noblesville's slogan this season, a source of inspiration as it won 16 games against one of the state's toughest schedules, then eliminated No. 9 Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers and No. 3 Zionsville en route to its ninth sectional title.
You'll find it on all their social media channels, on the stickers affixed to the back of each player's helmet and on the practice shirts and blue wristbands the seniors designed before the season.
Do it for Lutz.
"That is something I'm taking outside of Noblesville," said Duvall, a Glenville State signee who's been out injured since April 28. "I'm gonna play for Lutz my next four years. It's not something I'm going to leave. I'm going to wear this bracelet until it breaks. And when I break this one, I'll get a new one."
Lutz had at least 30 family members in attendance for this year's Miller Invite, the seniors estimated. And all of them were sitting in the front row, wearing the same blue shirts as the players with a script Millers across the front and Lutz written across the back — except for his grandchildren, whose shirts said "Pop Pop Lutz" on the back.
For Wednesday's regional, Amy Lutz, Craig's wife, gave the entire team friendship bracelets with one of her husband's favorite phrases: "Deuces, get 'em hot." (Whenever the count reached 2-2 with two outs, he would call that out as the players swiped two fingers across their temple.)
Amy also gave them a large, framed photo of Lutz, asking if they would bring Craig with them to West Lafayette.
"He would want more than anything to be here with us (and) I was glad that he was there for us," Emmerson said, referencing the photo which they leaned on the bench inside their dugout.
"Amy is doing exactly what Lutz did. He always cared for us," Emmerson later added. "That whole family is such a blessing to our program and getting to play for him — I don't know if there's ever a program or coach that I'm going to play for that is going to be so impactful. It's unfortunate he didn't get to be with us this season, but I will never take the last three years for granted."
The somber tone as the Millers head inside Harrison High School for the game's first rain delay makes it feel as if they're on the verge of being run-ruled.
The players line either side of the hallway and are sitting mostly in silence until Bullard walks down the aisle and reminds them where they stand. Yes, the Raiders seized momentum with a double right before the break, but it's still only the second inning of a scoreless game. "What kind of team are we? Don't let it bother you. It happens."
"You're going to get punched in the mouth. You have to respond. We just have to do it as a team," he concludes before walking outside.
"We've had the curse of the rain," Duvall said the following morning. "I went back (Wednesday) night and thought about every single game we played in the rain — and we've struggled each time. So I think it was underlying thoughts of, 'Oh no, we're playing in the rain and we've struggled with that in the past.' It made us tense up."
After a few minutes of silence, Grayson addresses the team, analyzing Harrison pitcher Bradi Odom and strategizing how she and her teammates should adjust.
"Thanks, coach Brookie," a teammate says.
Grayson, a Duke commit, is back with the Millers following a two-year hiatus and has been a perfect fit.
A first team All-State honoree, she leads the team in average (.545), hits (42) and runs (35) and ranks third with 23 RBIs, while in the field, having her at shortstop has allowed everyone else to return to their natural positions.
"Brookie is someone I look to when I need someone to pick me up and need encouragement," Rundle said, both responsibilities all six seniors have embraced this season.
"We've taken the role of not necessarily being the type of leader who bosses people around, but picks other people up," she continued. "Each of us has been selfless this year."
"Addi prays for the team before every game which helps us settle in, and of course we're always thinking of Lutz and reminding ourselves that he's here with us," Grayson added. "I think that gives us a moment to relax and say 'We're here. This is an opportunity we need to take advantage of and not be scared of the moment.'"
As the rains begin letting up, Bullard re-enters and offers another pep talk before play resumes, imploring them to find their energy and asking how many games they've been down in.
We're not even down, Emmerson interjects.
"Yeah," Bullard continues, "you guys are acting like your dog just died."
It was at this point the players immediately looked at Grayson. Unbeknownst to Bullard, her cat recently ran away and "is likely dead now" — making for an awkward, but also darkly humorous exchange that brought a bit of levity to the room.
"How bad do we want it?" one of the seniors calls out as the Millers file out of the building.
"We didn't come all the way up here just to lie down."
Rundle kept repeating the same thing over and over to Izzy Zapp as she tracked a third-inning fly ball to right field.
Trust yourself. Trust yourself. Trust yourself.
No one was blaming Zapp for the second-inning double that preceded the initial rain delay and ultimately resulted in Harrison's first run. It's normally a routine play for the sophomore outfielder, but with raindrops the size of mini-marshmallows pelting her in the face, the level of difficulty was raised exponentially.
"She's made how many catches out there in that exact same spot?" Grayson said. "Watching that play I was like, 'Oh, she's going to catch it,' but when there's a downpour coming at you and you're looking up — I mean, for me at least, I wouldn't be able to catch it."
It can be easy for a player to get down on themselves in that situation, Rundle observed, so the seniors and coaches immediately set about picking up Zapp. "Knowing that she has her teammates behind her has really helped her throughout the season, but Izzy's definitely had a huge role in our success," she said.
Trust yourself.
When Harrison hit a fly ball to the exact same spot in the third, Zapp fielded it without incident, stranding a runner on second and holding the score at 1-0.
"That's really us embodying Lutz," Emmerson said, recalling how Lutz would tell her a joke, then ask her to give one back to keep her spirits up during games and at practice.
"That's exactly how he was. Always positive and encouraging," the Lee commit continued. "And I think missing him challenged us to fulfill that role in ways, as teammates, that we hadn't thought of before."
There's a sense of confidence among the seniors as they look ahead to the final 2.5 innings of their 4A regional final vs. Harrison from the NHS parking lot Thursday morning. They understand the challenge ahead, but also recognize this type of situation can bring out the best in them, accentuating the grittiness that enabled this group to have so much success.
And considering what they've already overcome this season, by no means does a 7-0 deficit with no outs in the bottom of the fifth seem insurmountable
"I know he's probably listening to this interview right now, so Lutz, we all love you and we miss you. And we can't wait to keep playing for you," Rundle smiled.
Noblesville's journey ended Thursday night, 24 hours after it began. The Millers escaped the fifth inning without allowing another run, but were unable to capitalize with two runners on in the sixth, then went down in order in the seventh.
Final score: 7-0.
Harrison (11-12) advances to face Penn in Saturday's semistate semifinal; Noblesville finishes 19-8.
As they reflected upon the possible end of their season, the seniors — as they have all year — were quick to provide perspective.
"Having the chance to play at regionals and having the chance to play in general is just a blessing," the Bellarmine-bound Yee said. "To be here together in this community, in this program, is something we should cherish. Win or lose, we should do what Lutz did and have a smile on our face; be positive and carry on his (legacy) and the love he had for his family and everyone around him. That's something we should all carry on together, not just in softball, but in life in general."