Bishop Noll defeats defending state champ Wheeler

Updated: May 28, 2011 12:24AM

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

That’s basically what Bishop Noll coach Ralph Laramie told his team multiple times during Friday’s Class 2A Wheeler Sectional semifinal about the Warriors’ opponent, the reigning state champ Bearcats.

“I told them (Wheeler) isn’t going to give up,” Laramie said. “They’re not going home without a fight.”

Luckily for the Warriors (21-7), they built up enough of a lead to hold off the determined comeback for a 7-6 victory and a spot in today’s final against Hanover Central.

“It’s good to beat the defending state champions,” Laramie said with a touch of relief in his voice.

But it didn’t come without a major scare. Wheeler trailed Noll 5-0 after two innings and 7-0 after four before the rally began.

The Bearcats scored once in the fifth after finally breaking through for their first hit against Noll pitcher Vanessa Hartzell, who struck out nine in the nail-biting, complete game.

Wheeler added another run in the sixth on a run-scoring single from senior Emily Bisch to cut the lead to 7-2 before sending all nine hitters in the lineup to the plate in the seventh.

The inning started with four straight singles from Sabrina Roldan, Paige Finch, Amber Anderson and Meghan Zappia to score a pair of runs. After Karessa Sweeney struck out, Mari Medina added a RBI single and Nickole Finch got hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Needless to say, Noll was running out of fingernails to gnaw on.

Then came the defensive play of the game that was almost the mistake of the game. Bisch scalded a grounder to Noll third baseman Rachel Williamson. The ball got away from her, rolling into foul ground. She kept her foot on the bag while lunging for the ball, and grabbed it to barely force the runner.

The sixth run scored, but there was two out with senior Caitlin Herzog up and runners on first and second.

She popped up to short right field, and when Noll second baseman Salina Espino clutched the ball, the Warriors survived.

“They never quit playing,” Wheeler coach Marc Bruner said. “We’re a young team with five seniors who played their butts off all year. (Bisch and Herzog) are two kids I want up in that situation. Nothing they do surprises me, unless they don’t fight ... and they are always fighting.”

Roldan had two hits for Wheeler while Rose Mullaney, Lauren Ritchie and Elena Palomo each had a pair of hits for Noll. Vicky Papach also reached base all four times she batted for the Warriors, scoring a run and driving in another.

“Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes,” Laramie said about his team’s three errors. “The long layoff — we haven’t played since (last) Friday. Mistakes almost killed us.”

Noll will be going for its first sectional title since 2006 while its opponent Hanover last won in 2008.

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