If softball games had MVP awards, Debbie Hill would have been the unanimous choice on Monday evening.
The Whiteland senior starred on the mound and the plate, firing a two-hit shutout with a season-best 15 strikeouts and knocking in the winning run with a one-out single in the seventh inning as unbeaten Class 4A No. 2 Whiteland nipped visiting No. 9 Shelbyville, 1-0, in a showcase game and potential regional preview.
If Monday’s softball showdown is any indication on what the upcoming state tournament will be like, fans are going to be thrilled.
“That was such a fun game,” Whiteland coach Katie Mitchell said. “(Shelbyville) is a great team and I knew it was going to be like that. It was unlike any game we played yet.
“It was a mentally tough game.”
Fun and tough, especially for Hill.
Hill was facing a Shelbyville team whose top three hitters, Karissa Hamilton, Kylee Edwards and Addison Stieneker, were batting .600, .535 and .471, respectively, with just one combined strikeout in 14 games.
The three combined for seven strikeouts and only one hit against Hill.
Golden Bears hurler Cheyenne Eads was also having a nice game, despite some trouble in the first and fifth innings which could have ended the game early.
Whiteland (15-0) had loaded the bases in the first with one out, but Eads got Warrior batters to pop up and fly out to get out of the jam. After surrendering back-to-back singles to Emma Piercy and Josslynn Harbert in the fifth, Eads got the next three Whiteland hitters to hit the ball to her defense, and again the Warriors had nothing to show for it.
Meanwhile, Shelbyville was equally frustrated thanks to Hill.
Except for a bloop single in the second, Hill was in total command, retiring 13 Shelbyville batters in a row at one point.
Still scoreless heading into the top of the seventh, the Golden Bears got a golden chance when Edwards busted out of the mini-slump with a double to right field. Hill then coolly struck out Stieneker and then struck out Eads with Edwards on third to end the threat.
“My team had my back in anything, and they were my biggest supporters,” Hill said. “I can’t thank them enough for that.”
Not only did they have Hill’s back, they had the bats.
Consecutive singles again by Piercy and Harbert put them in scoring position for Hill, who was determined to swing away on the first offering from Eads.
Hill connected with a sharp single to right, easily scoring Piercy and sending anyone in orange and blue wild with joy.
Piercy had three hits in addition to scoring the game’s lone run, while Harbert had two.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a game like this,” Hill said. “Honestly, I was just swinging at the first pitch I saw because I didn’t want to get down in the count.”
With the victory, the Warriors have already matched last year’s win output. Shelbyville (11-4), which had knocked off previously unbeaten New Palestine last week, saw its modest four-game winning streak end.
It was only the second time this year the Golden Bears were blanked.
“Debbie threw a great game. She trusts her teammates and I know they are always going to score,” Mitchell said. “It was a great team win, and we’re just proud to come away with it.”
Whiteland hopes to extend its unbeaten year this afternoon when it travels to face dangerous Mid-State Conference rival Decatur Central.
