Like John McClane in "Die Hard 2," Izzy Harrison saw the championship game of the Johnson County softball tournament playing out almost exactly like the 2019 sectional final had — and wondered how she could wind up in the same situation twice.
Two years ago, the Franklin pitcher went toe to toe with Center Grove ace Abby Herbst in a battle for the ages, with each striking out 17 batters before the Trojans finally broke through in the 11th inning for a 1-0 victory.
The same two teams squared off on Saturday afternoon on the same field, this time with Alexis Rudd in the pitching circle for Center Grove. Rudd and Harrison traded zeroes until the 12th inning before Harrison’s RBI single sparked Franklin to a 3-0 triumph in another instant classic.
"I was like, ‘It’s happening again,’" Harrison said. "But I just wanted it to have a different outcome this time."
And the senior Miss Softball candidate did everything in her power to will the Grizzly Cubs to victory. Having already pitched complete-game shutouts in the first two rounds of the tournament — against Greenwood on Friday and Whiteland on Saturday morning — Harrison was even more brilliant against the Class 4A No. 8 Trojans, striking out a preposterous 25 batters and allowing just one hit and three walks.
Yet Center Grove (18-7) was able to stay in the game because Rudd was almost just as good. She scattered 10 hits but kept herself out of serious trouble, striking out 11 and not allowing a Franklin baserunner to advance past second base until the final inning.
"I couldn’t be prouder of her," Trojans coach Alyssa Coleman said of Rudd. "So efficient, trusted her teammates. She is a fierce leader, and we will follow her."
The Grizzly Cubs (15-8) finally broke the two-hour scoreless stalemate with a two-out rally in the top of the 12th. Macy Hussung got it started with a base hit into right-center field, and Madison Snyder followed by drawing a walk — the only one allowed by Rudd on the day.
That brought Harrison to the plate, determined to end the game but equally determined not to psych herself out.
"I came up trying not to be a hero," she said, "and to get things done so we could move runners and so that we could score and finish the game."
And get it done she did. Harrison dropped a hit into shallow left field, allowing Hussung to come in from second with the decisive run.
Snyder then came home on a passed ball, prompting Coleman to make a pitching change, but the Grizzly Cubs were able to tack on one more insurance run when Harrison scored from third on a wild pitch.
The University of Kentucky recruit then retired the Trojans in order in the bottom of the 12th to end it, with the final out fittingly coming on her 42nd K of the day (she had tallied 17 more in the semifinal win over the Warriors).
Franklin coach Shelby Biehl was not expecting a championship run when Franklin first stepped on the field in the morning.
"We warmed up terrible before that first game," she said. "I thought we were doomed, honestly. But then we didn’t make an error all day, we were hitting from the beginnning. It was on."
Corin Dammeier delivered the necessary offense against Whiteland, driving in Morgan Carter and Maddie Hedges with a two-run single in the sixth inning. That was one of just three hits allowed by Warrior hurler Debbie Hill (10 strikeouts), who had split a pair of pitchers’ duels with Harrison in late April.
Meanwhile, in the other semifinal game, Center Grove’s bats were doing plenty of damage during a 16-1 shellacking of Edinburgh. The Trojans got two home runs apiece from Lex Warner (who drove in seven runs) and Riley Janda, as well as one each from Rudy Thompson and Payton Shimansky. Sydney McConnell added two RBIs.
Harrison, though, was able to silence that same Center Grove lineup — and do it for nearly two full games’ worth of outs.
"I knew Izzy had it as long as she had enough juice left in her," Biehl said. "Toward the end, we could see it — she was getting mad. Like, ‘We’ve got to do this now. I’m sick of it. I just want to go home.’"
With trophy in hand, of course.
