The Floyds Knobs Little League Softball team will play for the World Series title Sunday against Pennsylvania at 3 p.m. on ABC in Greenville, N.C. after beating defending champion North Carolina 2-0 on Saturday. It is Indiana’s first appearance in the title game.
“I knew I had to have (starter Briley Mercer’s) back because if I’m not having a good day, she always has mine,” reliever Grace Fiore said on the ESPN+ broadcast after getting a strikeout to clinch the victory.
Neither team scored through six innings, sending the game to extra innings. Alyvia Kolish started the inning on second base for Indiana and went to third when Sawyer Abel bunted for a single. Abel took second on defensive indifference to eliminate the force and with the North Carolina defense playing back, Scarlett Renn grounded to second, scoring Kolish to make it 1-0.
With the North Carolina infield still playing back, Fiore grounded to second to score Abel to make it 2-0. It was an excellent display of smart softball by Indiana as Renn and Fiore were able to hit behind the runners and score the deciding runs.
Mercer started and threw 5 shutout innings for Indiana, allowing 4 hits and 3 walks but striking out 5. Fiore took over in the sixth to keep Mercer eligible to pitch on Sunday, allowing one hit and striking out 1 in 2 innings to pick up the win.
“I knew Grace would shut them down,” Mercer said on the broadcast.
