Noll gets the breaks in win over Hanover

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:06PM

HAMMOND - Things had to get better for the Bishop Noll girls softball team. After all, could it get any worse?

The Warriors came into a duel with Hanover Central losers of two straight shutouts and are still missing key players because of a wide variety of injuries (and even coach Ralph Laramie has torn ligaments in his right hand).

So for a team that has suffered so many bad breaks - literally, with two girls out with broken arms, one with a concussion, and two with broken ankles on the JV squad - Wednesday's 8-3 win over the Wildcats was a welcome change from the first few weeks of the season.

Once again, all the breaks went Noll's way. But this time, it was a good thing.

A three-run fourth and two-run fifth inning - of which all of the runs were unearned - broke the game open. In both innings, catcher Rose Mullaney doubled in runs, part of her four-hit day in which she also scored three times. Match that with a 13-strikeout day for Vanessa Hartzell and the Warriors jumped over the .500 mark at 4-3.

"We've had a rought start but we've been working hard in practice," said Mullaney. "We wanted to get some runs on the board and do the job on defense."

It didn't hurt that Hanover Central (2-5) had problems defensively.

Three errors led to the decisive fourth-inning run and two more miscues the following inning were the Wildcats' undoing. And even when it came to little things like wardrobe, coach Larry McMillen said his girls also dropped the ball.

"They complain about the cold but before the season I told them to buy clothes that will help them when it gets cold and they didn't," he said. "Plus we didn't protect the ball and kept taking too many first-pitch strikes."

And thanks to Hartzell, they also saw plenty of third strikes with the righthander picking up the win and outdueling Hanover Central's Ashley Loways. Don't let the eight runs fool you. Loways did not pitch a bad game, picking up 10 strikeouts.

Hartzell gave up only six hits while at one point striking out four of five batters, then later striking out four in a row.

"That helped today," said Laramie. "They (Hartzell and Mullaney)stepped up and took over. We still have a bunch of injuries, hopefylly we can get all of our players back by sectional time."

It's the second game this week that Hanover Central ran into a hot pitcher with Hebron's Mollie Linedman striking out nine in the Wildcats 5-1 loss Monday.

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