NEW PALESTINE — Sam Booe only needed nine pitches. No more. No less.
Sitting at eight strikeouts against Class 4A No. 20 Carmel entering the top of the seventh, the New Palestine ace revved back and sat the visiting Greyhounds down in order to punctuate the final three outs at Dragons Field on Friday night.
“I was excited to get it over with,” the senior remarked after the fifth-ranked 4A Dragons won 5-1. “It was a fun game and good to get back in the circle after sitting a game to rest.”
On Wednesday, Booe pitched her first complete game of the season against 4A No. 12 Franklin Central with seven strikeouts and one walk as the Dragons prevailed 10-8 in a slugfest.
Her effort on Indianapolis’ south side was mildly taxing, however.
Hit by a sharp comebacker during the midweek game, the University of Louisville recruit surrendered an uncharacteristic eight earned runs, three home runs and 12 hits.
Against Carmel (2-5), she course corrected quickly to cap a grueling four-game stretch highlighted by three road games — amounting to nearly 200 round-trip miles on a bus.
Booe retired the first 10 batters she faced and struck out the final five Greyhounds — two looking in the seventh — to lock down her third pitching victory of the year and the unbeaten Dragons’ eighth consecutive win.
“It was hard. I know a lot of the girls are tired and a little sore. A lot of us, our allergies are getting bad, too. It’s pollen season,” Booe laughed. “But, I think we’re all glad to go home and get some good sleep tonight.”
The Dragons were grateful just to be home, finally, after traveling to 4A East Central on Tuesday where they won 8-1, followed by another bus ride to 4A Franklin Central and a short jaunt to 4A No. 18 Hamilton Southeastern on Thursday for a 14-2, five-inning victory.
New Palestine’s win against Carmel marked the program’s sixth straight over a 4A foe, beginning with a 5-4 triumph against 4A No. 15 Avon at home on April 7.
The Dragons run ruled 4A Plainfield 14-0 in five innings on the road last week Friday, April 9, to kickoff their four-game road swing.
“I feel good. I think the girls played really well. They have prom tomorrow night, too, and sometimes you kind of look ahead to that, and to their credit they didn’t because it’s been a rough week with four great 4A programs,” New Palestine head coach Ed Marcum said. “I’m pretty proud of them for staying with it this week.”
The Dragons’ hitters rarely take a night off, and they backed Booe from the first inning.
Hitting .388 as a team, senior Kinsey Mitchel put the Dragons up 1-0 in the bottom of the first with a lead-off home run to supply New Palestine’s 76th run scored this season.
Junior Alaina Miller (1-for-3), senior Lexi Campbell (2-for-4) and junior Alexa Holman (1-for-4) each connected for RBI singles in the bottom of the second to increase the lead 5-0.
Aglaia Rudd (2-for-4) plated the Dragons’ second run on an error two at-bats after she reached with a one-out double.
“We’re just ready to keep going and keep rolling with it. We’re just thinking about keep winning,” said Booe, who now has 24 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched.
The Dragons scored 37 runs this week through four games, which gives them 80 total in eight contests.
Campbell, an Akron recruit continues to be one of the key catalysts, among many one through nine in the Dragons’ batting order.
Mitchell is hitting .500 behind a team-leading 32 plate appearances, while Campbell is pacing the squad with six home runs. Since the Plainfield game, she’s belted five homers, including a pair against HSE on Thursday.
For the week, Campbell connected with four home runs and drove in 11 RBI. She has 18 on the year.
“I’m honestly thankful to keep it going. Softball is a game of failure, and the moments when you’re not failing, it’s great, so I’m just going to live on the ride until the time comes, and then work through it when the time comes when I’m not successful,” Campbell said.
See ball, hit ball remains the mantra in New Palestine, and the Dragons have done so with 92 hits overall this season and 31 this week alone during their 4A tour.
“Personally, I feel a lot of people probably underestimated us as a team coming into it because they knew we lost a lot of seniors going into this year, and I think it’s great to just go out there and prove some people wrong,” Campbell said. “We’re putting up a lot of runs, and it’s always a different person. Our team is just so dynamic and it’s so great.”
After winning three 3A state title in a row before the lost 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dragons are focused on a potential fourth state championship, seventh all time and first in 4A.
They are looking the part from all aspects so far.
“I wanted Sam to come back after the (Franklin Central) game when they hit her the last couple of innings. I thought the first couple of innings here would set the tone and I think it did,” Marcum said. “You look at (Carmel’s) statistics, and it’s crazy what they’ve been doing, so for her to come in and shut them down like she did, she was incredible.”
Carmel is hitting .384 this spring with 14 home runs (compared to New Palestine’s now 13) and had seven players with batting averages at .320 or higher.
The Dragons’ lineup countered with eight batters recording at least one hit with 12 overall.
No. 8 hitter Sydney Oliver, a freshman, went 2-for-3 to up her average to .545 in 14 plate appearances. Kendal Calvert, an IUPUI recruit, was 2-for-3 from the ninth spot in the order.
The only hiccup against Carmel for the Dragons were the 10 runners they left on base — five in scoring position.
Carmel’s defense played a part, though.
In the bottom of the third, the Dragons had the bases load, but a hard hit by Rudd was tracked down by Carmel’s Megan Nichols in deep center field for the third out.
The Greyhounds’ lone run scored on a double steal in the top of the fifth as Lilly Sullivan reached second base during a rundown and two outs off a single by Ella Ohrvall.
“It was a close game. We couldn’t break it open. We had some chances and left a lot of people on base, but to their credit, they were making play after play,” Marcum said. “I felt we hit the ball pretty good, but they did a great job defensively.”
The Dragons (8-0) open Hoosier Heritage Conference play on Tuesday at home against 3A No. 2 Yorktown, who New Palestine beat 10-0 in the 3A state title game in 2019.
New Palestine travels to 4A Zionsville on Wednesday before hosting HHC rival Mt. Vernon on Thursday.
