Grace Swedarsky keeps mowing 'em down, HSE wins first softball sectional title since 2017
CARMEL – After a sectional runner-up finish last year, Hamilton Southeastern softball had some unfinished business this postseason.
On Saturday afternoon during the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship, the No. 12 Royals finally got the job done and won their first title since 2017.
Sophomore ace Grace Swedarsky pitched a complete-game with 12 strikeouts — her 12th double-digit performance this season and fifth straight — and senior Reese Garland provided the power with a pair of home runs, as the Royals defeated rival Noblesville, 5-2.
“Since last year and losing in this game, we knew we wanted another chance to win this,” Swedarsky said. “We had another opportunity, and we took advantage.”
A year ago, the 2024 Hoosier Crossroads Conference champion Royals (21-4) lost in the sectional final to Westfield, 1-0.
This season, they enacted their revenge during the regular season, besting the defending sectional champions, 3-0, before eliminating the Shamrocks in the quarterfinal round Monday, 6-0, for the sweep.
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Swedarsky struck out 12 batters against Westfield to open the postseason. She posted 17 more against Zionsville in a 2-0 semifinal win, setting up a rematch with Noblesville (16-11), which lost 5-4 in 11 innings at Hamilton Southeastern on April 30.
“Lots of extra innings last time, so it was good to come back and get that second one,” HSE coach Emily Pusti said. “When they showed up in the locker room before we left today, they were excited. The energy was hot starting from 10 a.m., so that was good.”
Delayed a day due to rain and lightning Friday night, the Royals showed zero lag despite the postponement and set the tone quickly with two outs in the top of the first once Garland stepped up to bat.
“When I’m third batter, I know I’m getting up the first inning, so I’m just timing up the pitcher and then just trying to put it in play. Get on so someone can score me. That was my goal,” Garland said.
Garland (2-for-4) achieved both, crushing a solo home run over the left-center field wall to put HSE up 1-0 before belting a two-run bomb over the right-field wall in the top of the fifth to increase the lead 5-1.
“When we played Noblesville in the regular season, it was an 11-inning game, so we knew we had to come ready to play,” Garland said. “That was really exciting. Usually, either you hit another home run or it’s not so good, so you just hope for the best.”
Against Swedarsky, the Millers had to be nothing less but their best, as she scattered two hits and a walk through two innings until the right-hander ran into some trouble.
A leadoff walk to Delaney Rundle (1-for-3) in the top of the third kicked off a string of two Noblesville base hits, including an RBI single by Millers’ all-time home run leader Gabby Fowler (2-for-3).
A failed bunt attempt killed the potential rally, however, when Garland caught the unintentional pop up and turned a swift double play to catch the lead runner off third base.
That putout followed by a ground out induced by Swedarsky launched a run of eight straight Millers’ batters retired.
“We could not string hits together, and when you face someone like Grace, that’s what you have to do,” Noblesville coach Deke Bullard said. “She is a dominant one in the circle, and we have to face her for two more years.”
Swedarsky struck out 15 batters when the Millers and Royals met last month, and now carries a 1.19 ERA with 205 strikeouts and a 13-2 record.
She logged five frames of two or more strikeouts against the Millers, and with the exception of an RBI groundout by Addi Emmerson (1-for-3) in the bottom of the sixth, Swedarsky was unflappable.
“She finds a way to just find that groove and ride that groove. We just kind of follow along with that vibe,” Pusti said.
“Our girls were really locked in, especially on Thursday. We spent time just putting the bats down, putting the gloves down, and we actually talked strategy. We called it studying, and the girls kind of laughed because it’s been finals week. We took time to study Noblesville because they have a lot of really good players.”
Fowler, an East Carolina commit, proved the lone thorn for Swedarsky. The only Miller with two hits against the Royals ace, Fowler finished the season with 11 home runs and 45 overall in her career for a new school-record total.
Swedarsky walked two batters, allowed seven hits and stranded six runners, including four in scoring position.
The Millers were competing without their top pitcher, senior Claire Cullen (7-1, 4.63 ERA), and starting catcher, sophomore Haley Schatko (.292, 18 RBI), due to injuries.
“Noblesville is a really good hitting team, and if we limit the number of base runners they have, then it gives us a chance of winning,” Swedarsky said. “We didn’t want what happened last year to happen again.”
The offense and defense had Swedarsky’s back.
“These girls have really wanted to kind of play off of how we ended last year and just grow. Not just in skill, but they have found, especially about halfway, three-fourths of the way through, what it really means to be a family and have each other’s backs,” Pusti said. “Since then, they’ve just kind of executed on the feeling, and it’s just shown in the batter’s box, in the field and in the energy. I think that’s what has helped get us here.”
A bases-loaded walk by senior Alex Kiemeyer in the top of the third gave HSE a 2-0 advantage, and a Noblesville error on a relay throw following senior Addy Justice’s (3-for-4) third hit in the top of the seventh added some insurance.
HSE’s lineup finished with six hits, four walks drawn, five strikeouts and four runners stranded — two in scoring position.
The sectional title marks HSE’s 15th in program history, fourth in 11 years and first for Pusti, who took over the Royals last season for Dave Cook.
“I don’t look that way I do, winning as a first-year head coach without my assistant (Casie Fletcher),” Pusti remarked. “I think we can see it tonight. The investment is big, but when you work hard in that investment, it all pays off.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA softball sectionals: Grace Swedarsky leads HSE past Noblesville
