By RYAN WALKER
MUNCIE — A little six-inning magic was all Norwell needed to hoist its second softball regional championship in school history on Tuesday.
The Knights’ (18-7) miraculous late comeback stunned the hometown fans after a 3-1 victory over the sixth-ranked Yorktown Tigers (21-3).
Tigers’ starting pitcher Caitlin Laferney was pitching a shutout with only one hit through five innings, and was on her way to winning her 20th game on the mound this season. That was until senior outfielder Jordan Markley turned on an inside fastball. Markley crushed it to left field for a solo home run and got the Knights on the board.
“I knew that my first strike, I didn’t like it, but then the second one, as soon as I hit it, I knew that it was gone,” Markley said. “I knew that sort of started a rally, especially us having almost all hits after me.”
The game-tying blast lifted the team for its only offense all game, tacking on singles from Kara Brown, Reese Frauhiger and Kaydance Clark following the solo blast. Sami Lemler then saw a handful of pitches with the bases loaded and made hard contact to the shortstop, who fumbled the ball enough for Norwell to plate its second and third runs.
Outside of the sixth frame, the Knights had one hit.
“Obviously, the energy level in the dugout goes through the roof when you do hit a ball like that,” Norwell head coach Kevin Baird said. “Jordan’s our player leader on the field, and when she goes, we go. I think the young kids believe in her, and I mean, that ball is huge.”
“I think that we had the right spot in the lineup at the time, and sometimes the ball has to bounce and go your way,” he continued. “We got a couple of little dinker hits, got a couple of good hits — and when you’re able to load the bases with no outs, it puts a little pressure on even good teams.”
Norwell stranded the bases loaded after Lemler’s hit, but that proved to be the only runs the team needed to clinch victory.
Laferney’s 10 strikeouts and that one hit was the main story for the majority of the regional final, but it was her counterpart that came out with a win.
Lemler threw the completed seven innings and allowed one solo home run by Claire Hazen in the third inning. But that was all for the Tigers, who averaged over 10 runs per game and hit .383 as a group.
Ever since the postseason started, Lemler has been lights out in the pitching circle. She’s won three straight games, all in the postseason, allowing three earned runs in 19 innings of work. In fact, she’s only given up 13 hits compared to 18 strikeouts and posting a 1.42 ERA.
The senior is putting her team on her shoulders with her final high school season nearly finished. But what could be motivating her is something beyond the diamond.
“Honestly, I think it came down to the conference voting,” Baird said. “She’s a senior and felt like she pitched better this year — we won more games this year in conference than we did last year. I felt like she deserved to move up from honorable mention to second team, and she kind of pitched a little chip on her shoulder. Good for her. Whatever it takes to motivate you, that’s great.”
Whether or not on paper Lemler was first or second-team all-Northeast 8, she is pitching like one now when the Knights needed it most.
When asked, she downplayed the effects of the awards, but agreed that it was on her mind.
“I use that as fuel for my fire, and it just it was a big motivator, but I didn’t take it in my pitching or let it motivate me too much,” Lemler said.
She continued, “Just taking it pitch by pitch. Taking it batter by batter.”
The four seniors — Lemler, Markley, Nevada Lenwell and Addison Keller, have had winning success in the past during the postseason, but couldn’t quite get over the regional stage. This path that the Knights have taken has been unprecedented, winning all four postseason games against winning clubs, including a 20-6 Oak Hill team and a Bellmont team that crushed them earlier in the month.
Norwell is riding a nine-game win streak heading into the Semi-State, and for the senior girls, it’s a ride they won’t forget.
“It was very special knowing that I played with some of these girls for almost my whole life and knowing that I have a regional championship under our belt is a good feeling,” Markley said.
Only eight teams remain in the 3A field. The next stop for Norwell is at Twin Lakes, where the Knights will try and continue their magic in the Semi-State semifinal against No. 2 Western (26-2). First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, June 1.
The other side of the Twin Lakes bracket is NE8 foe Leo and Prairie Heights. The winner of these two matchups will play for the championship at 7 p.m. later that day.
ryan@news-banner.com
