Noblesville hitting stride at right time. 'We're finally backing each other up.'

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ZIONSVILLE — Deke Bullard had a sizable collection of bullet points to go through with his players when they gathered in left field following Noblesville's 4-2 win over Hamilton Southeastern in the Class 4A Sectional 8 semifinals Tuesday.

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Each declaration from their head coach was followed by two claps from the players, with an occasional "ooh" and stray observation sprinkled in.

The highlights…

>> Addi Retzinger pitched an absolute gem, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with nine strikeouts. The junior ace threw just 111 pitches — 80 of which were strikes.

>> Haley Schatko tied Gabby Fowler's single-season home run record (15) with a solo shot in the third. Bullard told the IU-bound senior to hit the scoreboard in left-center. "She said screw that, I'll hit it over," he laughed.

>> Maggie Kern enjoyed a three-hit night, while Reese Newsom and freshman Lilly Brown clocked two apiece. Newsom also scored twice and Brown drove in her 17th RBI of the season.

>> Most importantly, the Millers' defense was dialed in, committing only two errors and minimizing the extra outs they allowed HSE. 

After imploring his players to spend the off-day focused on recovery, Bullard reminded them of last week's win over Avon: I told you we were starting to look like a softball team after that one, he said. And here we are.

"We were much cleaner and had fewer errors," Bullard explained afterwards. "And that rolled into tonight."

Maggie Kern was quietly critical in the field, tracking down foul pop-ups in front of the visitors' dugout in the first and fourth innings. Those plays may seem insignificant in the final play-by-play, but they are ones that have eluded Noblesville (and proven costly) throughout the season.

"The biggest thing was we wanted to really focus on cleaning up the defense, because when you start making the pitcher get 5-6 outs, it's tough," said Bullard, who has fielders playing out of position at first, shortstop and third (all catchers). "When you catch those foul balls and get those outs, it gives us a lot of energy."

For their part, the players noted a late-season shift in mentality, as well.

They needed to trust each other, Kern observed. They were playing "selfish softball" and focused too much on their own stats amidst a mid-season stretch that included No. 1 Lake Central, Pendleton Heights, defending 3A state champion Cathedral, Westfield and Decatur Central.

"Now we're finally backing each other up and getting hits for each other," she said.

"The most important thing is we know our own stats don't matter," Schatko added. "As long as we're putting runs on the board or making a difference for the team, we don't care what we did. It's just awesome everyone's playing so selflessly."

Schatko provided a perfect example of this in the fifth inning, dropping a sacrifice bunt to score Newsom and extend Noblesville's lead to 3-0.

Bullard wasn't sure if that's the first time the senior slugger's been asked to bunt, but they obviously don't do it a ton with how well she hits (.543 season average, 50 hits). 

"These girls will put the team above themselves every single time and in that situation, we're asking her to give herself up to get a run without getting a hit — and she did it," he said. "This is a remarkable group of girls (and) they're figuring it out as we go."

Now the Millers will look to defend their sectional championship against an upstart Westfield team that's led by one of Bullard's former players (Maddie Moore) and longtime assistants (Matt Moore), and is riding the momentum of back-to-back walk-off wins.

"They're not going to go away," Newsom said. "They're going to compete the entire game. They're not going to quit."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA softball: Noblesville beats Grace Swedarsky, Hamilton Southeastern

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