Fishers High School

Fishers JV2 Silver Tigers (6-9) battled through an early deficit and leaned on a dominant outing from John Frank to earn a gritty 4-2 win on Saturday. Behind a three-hit day from Landon Sanders and nine strikeouts on the mound from Frank, the Tigers controlled the middle innings and held off a late push to secure the victory. Harrison scratched across the game’s first run in the opening inning after a pair of Fishers defensive miscues helped place runners in scoring position. Frank settled in quickly after the early trouble, striking out a Raider batter to limit the damage and keep the deficit at just 1-0. The Tigers were quiet offensively through the first two innings as the Harrison starter worked efficiently, but Fishers broke through in the third with one of its biggest innings of the day. Zach Dowd reached on an error to start the rally before Sanders lined a single into center field. After Chase Stone successfully moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt, Dawson Gustin delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon, driving a triple into right field to score both Dowd and Sanders and give Fishers a 2-1 lead. Frank took over from there on the mound. The right-hander attacked the strike zone all afternoon and consistently came up with big strikeouts when Harrison threatened. He recorded a scoreless third inning and worked around traffic again in the fourth, recording back-to-back strikeouts with multiple runners aboard to keep the Raiders from tying the game. Fishers added important insurance runs in the fifth inning. Dowd started the frame with a single before Sanders collected another hit to put runners on base. Stone then ripped a hard ground-ball double into left field that scored Sanders and pushed the lead to 4-1. The Tigers continued to pressure the defense with aggressive baserunning throughout the game, creating scoring opportunities and forcing Harrison to stay on alert. Harrison answered with a run in the bottom half of the fifth after a pair of runners advanced on defensive indifference, but Frank once again limited the damage. After an RBI groundout cut the lead to 4-2, he struck out the next batter to strand another runner at third and preserve the two-run advantage. The sixth inning showcased more strong defense from Fishers. Alex Stiefel handled two ground balls cleanly at second base while Frank added another strikeout to finish his outstanding outing. He exited in the seventh after piling up nine strikeouts across 6.2 innings while allowing just one earned run. Ryan Storm entered in relief to close things out and worked through some pressure in the final inning. Nate Birsa made a sharp play at shortstop on a line drive for the second out, and after Harrison put runners aboard, the Tigers recorded the final out on a ground ball to second to seal the win. Sanders led the offensive effort with a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate and scored twice, continuing to spark the lineup from the bottom half of the order. Gustin drove in two runs with his momentum-shifting triple, while Dowd and Stone each added key hits during the Tigers’ scoring innings. Fishers finished with eight hits in the victory and played composed baseball after the shaky first inning, responding with timely hitting, clutch pitching, and enough defense to secure another strong win.