Fishers High School

Fishers JV2 Silver Tigers (3-8) and Carmel JV Gold Greyhounds battled through a back-and-forth, extra-inning thriller on Saturday, but Fishers came up just short in a heartbreaking 9-8 walk-off loss. Carmel struck first in the bottom of the first, taking advantage of early traffic to grab a 1-0 lead. Fishers quickly responded in the second, putting together quality at-bats and capitalizing with a big two-run single from Zach Dowd to take a 2-1 advantage. The lead didn’t last long, as Carmel answered in the bottom half of the inning to reclaim a 3-2 edge. Both teams continued to trade momentum early, but Fishers delivered one of their biggest innings in the fourth. The Tigers strung together multiple hits, including RBI singles from Mason Walker and Dawson Gustin, along with a productive groundout from Max Bishton, to surge ahead 5-3. From there, the game settled into a rhythm as John Frank found his groove on the mound. After a shaky start, he locked in and delivered several strong innings, highlighted by a dominant third inning where he struck out the side. Fishers’ defense backed him up with clean, efficient play through the middle innings to maintain the lead. In the sixth, Fishers extended their advantage with aggressive, heads-up baseball. The Tigers manufactured runs using bunts, situational hitting, and smart baserunning. Bishton’s sacrifice bunt brought home a run, and continued pressure pushed the lead to 7-3, giving Fishers valuable breathing room heading into the late innings. Fishers added another key insurance run in the seventh when Alex Stiefel lined a double to the outfield, driving in a run to make it 8-4. At that point, the Tigers were in control and just a few outs away from closing things out. However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the bottom of the seventh. Carmel capitalized on a mix of hits, walks, and defensive miscues to rally. What had been a comfortable lead quickly disappeared as the Greyhounds pieced together multiple run-scoring plays to tie the game at 8-8 and force extra innings. Fishers had an opportunity in the top of the eighth after working a walk and putting pressure on the defense but missed the opportunity to score leaving runners on base. That set the stage for the bottom half, where Carmel continued to apply pressure. After putting runners in scoring position, a final pop fly to right field dropped in front of the right fielder giving Carmel the win. Despite the loss, Fishers turned in a strong offensive performance, out-hitting Carmel 11-6. Henry Gonso, Gustin, Dowd, and Stiefel each recorded two hits, while Walker and Dowd led the way with two RBIs apiece. On the mound, Frank battled through six-plus innings, striking out eight and keeping the Tigers in position to win. Ryan Storm came on in relief and competed late, but the game slipped away in the final innings. It was a tough one for the Tigers, who did a lot right throughout the game and showed resilience offensively and on the mound.