2 days ago
Noblesville struggles with downpour, Harrison's bats. Need 'to come off the bus ready to go' when regional resumes
WEST LAFAYETTE – Deke Bullard was just looking to buy some time. Noblesville trailed Harrison, 4-0, in the Class 4A regional championship game with two on and no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but more pressing were the rapidly deteriorating conditions. Wednesday's weather cell that forced a nearly 20-minute delay earlier in the game had returned with a vengeance, and the steady downpour was making it nearly impossible for sophomore pitcher Addison Retzinger to grip the ball.
'I told the girls I was out there stalling, trying to see what they're going to do with the rain,' Bullard said. 'That's all I was doing. … Because I already knew she couldn't hold onto the ball. When you're switching the ball every pitch, that's hard on a pitcher. It's hard to get into a groove.'
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The umpire sent Bullard back to the dugout and after trying to stall a few more seconds — all while the rains increased to more of a torrential downpour — Retzinger was forced to throw another pitch.
It came out flat and sophomore Anna Hainje capitalized, launching it over the left-field wall for a three-run homer.
The game entered a delay as soon as she crossed home plate and play was suspended shortly thereafter.
Officials hope to resume play at 6 p.m., Thursday, with West Lafayette Harrison batting with no outs in the fifth.
'It's flat-out pouring,' Bullard said. 'You can't see the ball. You can't hold onto the ball. And we held off probably three pitches too long before they called that. I mean, the last three pitches were in the dirt because the pitcher can't hold onto the ball. I'm not going to blame the umpires. We haven't played well. But you have to be aware of that.'
The night's heaviest downpours occurred with Noblesville in the field — Murphy's Law, Bullard deadpanned — but the visitors came out flat, their coach observed, and that proved costly against Raiders pitcher Bradi Odom, who's working a four-hit shutout with only one walk and five strikeouts.
'We have done some guessing on what she's doing and what we're trying to do,' Bullard said. 'She's kept us off-balance and done a really good job. Kudos to her.'
At the plate, Harrison's generated 11 hits with three from Hainje — she's also scored two runs and has been generally excellent — and two apiece from juniors Becca Knight and Della Bossung. Hannah Voll and Alex Waitkoff accounted for the Raiders' other two RBIs.
If it can escape the fifth without further damage — a fairly significant 'if' against a lineup of WL Harrison's caliber (seven earned runs on 11 hits with only three strikeouts) — Noblesville will have six outs to generate seven runs, a by-no-means impossible task for a lineup that averages nearly eight runs per game and hung nine runs on two of the state's top talents in the sectional: Hamilton Southeastern's Grace Swedarsky and Zionsville's Leah Helton.
'We've had big innings before. They're going to have to come off the bus ready to go. And it's going to take a tremendous effort on our part to be able to do anything, to even make it close. Seven? With no outs in the fifth? That's a big hill. … We'll come back tomorrow and see what happens.'
