What we learned after Harrison softball faced top ranked Lake Central

ST JOHN — Harrison seniors catcher Ava Mobley, pitcher Rylan Gick and first baseman Chelsea Parker kept the message simple after huddling with teammates during a windy night 78 miles northwest of their home field.

"It wasn't our 'A' game but we're definitely not going to let it burn us," Mobley said. "We know what we are capable of and we are going to prove it."

Mobley, Gick and Parker were overmatched by Lake Central who is ranked No. 10 in the country by the USA Today Network and consensus No. 1 Class 4A program in Indiana.

Armed with three Power 5 conference Division I signees third baseman Katie Renschen (Northwestern), outfielder Jolie Adams (Auburn) and shortstop Taylor Schaefer (Ohio State), Lake Central pounded away at Harrison from the opening batter.

The trio of Adams, Renschen and Schaefer combined for nine hits with Adams dealing the final 2-run single to left center and Harrison fell to Lake Central 10-0 in five innings.

Gick surrendered seven earned runs over four innings but made adjustments by mixing a rise ball and changeup to create different eye elevations for Lake Central and tossed a scoreless third inning.

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Lake Central (21-0) overall was just too skilled and adapted quickly to Gick's adjustments.

"I was trying to mix it up the second time," Gick said.

Harrison (8-2) entered as the No. 13 ranked 4A program in the state by the Softball Coaches Association of Indiana and were forced to deal with an hour weather delay and made the 2-hour trek before first pitch started at 6 p.m.

The Raiders looked out of sorts as the offense managed just three hits off junior Sofia Calderaro. Calderaro retired the first six batters she faced and induced eight flyouts.

Lake Central closed the game using a pair of errors from the mostly consistent defense from Harrison.

Lake Central has made a habit of making quick work from some of the state's strongest programs with 10-run rule wins over Avon, Carmel and a 4-2 win against Penn of Mishawaka led by junior third baseman and Notre Dame commit Ava Zachary.

Harrison is armed with Division I talent of its own with Parker signed to DePaul and Mobley to Bradley University.

Harrison ultimately received a wake up call whether it was wanted or not at midseason against an opponent with extreme talent across its lineup.

Lake Central finished the five inning affair by blistering Harrison for 14 hits.

"At first we were watching too many pitches and then we were being too aggressive," Mobley said. "We got this. We just got to come out with more energy and we'll be good."

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: What we learned after Harrison softball faced top ranked Lake Central