It's honestly hard to tell through 13 games played whether or not a team will be vying for the conference, sectional, regional, semi-state and state titles. But, from the looks of it, the Noblesville Millers keep getting better and finding ways to make things happen and get the job done, no matter what it takes!
Starting with the Lafayette Jeff series opener on the road Tuesday, the Millers reach the midpoint of the regular season (14 games). They'll play 14 more before hosting the 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field.
Here's a slight look at the Hoosier Crossroads Conference and were HCC foes fell in this week.
The HCC in this week's IHSBCA 4A poll...
Top to bottom, the HCC already has the feel that it will be a dogfight to win the conference title in outright fashion, just like it is every year. So far this season, Westfield (7-4) has been #1 and currently sits tied for the #4 ranking with Munster in this week's 4A poll. Also in the 4A poll, according to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA), Fishers (12-2-1) comes in at #7, with their lone loss coming at Noblesville last week, 9-4. Brownsburg (6-4) came in at #9 this week, but will drop out of the Top 10 with its two losses to Noblesville.
Having won four games in a row this week, Noblesville will more than likely find itself back in the Top 10 of both the coaches poll (ihsbca.org) and Prep Baseball Report (prepbaseballreport.com).
But, while it's all fine and dandy to be respected and revered as one of the best teams in the state, from the opinions of the Coaches Poll and the people that put rankings out for Prep Baseball Report, they're really not that important. I'm one of those people, like a lot of coaches out there, that really thinks nothing about rankings. They're nothing but a guideline for giving everyone an idea of how their peers view them and where they stand among the competition.
Noblesville 4, Zionsville 2 (8 innings) - (Thursday, April 24 at The Dunk)
Eagles 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 - 2 6 1
Millers 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 - 4 9 1
Zack St. Pierre started on the bump for the Millers and couldn't have been more dialed in. Striking out his first two batters (Nolan Elsbury and Ben Kocher) he faced and forcing catcher Travis Tokarek to ground out, Zionsville went 1-2-3.
In the second, the senior southpaw hurler only threw 7 pitches and used his defense to go untouched, with two fly outs and a pop out.
He allowed his first hit in the third inning, but Evan Miiller didn't stay on base long. Miiller was doubled up when DH Kyle Schulte lined out to shortstop Garrett Christman for two quick outs.
Noblesville got its bats in going in the bottom of the inning. Easton Brock led off reaching on an error by second baseman Joey Mushalla. Two pitches later from Eagles' lefty Kellan Elsbury, Andrew Wilson doubled over the head of centerfielder Nolan Elsbury and Easton Brock scored with ease for the first run of the game.
Zionsville tied it up in the top of the 4th. Ben Kocher doubled to left and was driven home a couple hitters later by Grant Sloan.
The Eagles took the lead in the 5th inning with a Mushalla RBI-single that scored Evan Miiller for a 2-1 Zionsville lead.
It didn't take long at all for Noblesville to tie it up once again. Andrew Wilson took a one-out, 2-0 fastball that was right down the pipe for a ride over the left field fence for a solo home run.
Zionsville's RJ Wagner and Noblesville's Cory Conway came out of their respective bullpens in the sixth inning and did their best to keep the opponent off the base paths.
Wagner gave up two hits in the 6th and 7th and walked one.
Conway pitched just the 7th, but that's all that he needed to mix things up. After St. Pierre left runners at first and second, Sloan grounded to Connor Christman at third. The sophomore Christman smartly stepped on third and threw to first, but with his throw being a little late, Sloan was credited with a fielder's choice. That still left the Eagles with two on and one out.
But, it didn't phase Conway much with the bases loaded. He struck out Glen Collier (looking) and Miiller on a swinging, dropped third strike to end the 6th and leaving 3 Eagles on base.
Noblesville was able to get a couple hits in the sixth and seventh, but weren't able to get anyone home during those two frames.
Dax McLochlin came in out of the Miller bullpen in the 7th and finished things off in the 8th. The junior made quick work in both innings of the Eagles, getting one groundout, 3 outs in the air and striking out a pair, including Sloan to end the top of the 8th.
It looked like we were going to be playing nine innings, as McLochlin and Vinny Essig both grounded out to give Zionsville's defense a little hope. Trevor Salmon walked and Matt Swearingen came in to pinch run.
Zack St. Pierre stepped to the plate and had the look like he was going to make something happen and that's exactly what he did. St. P had a 1-0 count and belted a high fastball to deep right and over the fence for a walk-off two-run home run, emptying the dugout in celebration!
Wilson and St. Pierre finished the ball game with identical stat lines, both having 2-for-4 nights with two RBI's and a run scored apiece. Brian McLean joined the two also going 2-for-4.
Noblesville 4, Zionsville 3 - (Saturday, April 26 - at Zionsville)
Millers 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 - 4 13 1
Eagles 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 - 3 6 2
There might not be a better thing from the standpoint of pitching and depth with your starters. Dax McLochlin came in late in the first game of the series on Thursday and won the game and worked two innings in relief.
Saturday afternoon was a similar situation. That's the beauty of head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt's pitching staff.
Trevor Salmon worked the first four innings, only allowing two runs (one earned), scattering just four hits, walking three and also K-ing three to up his record to 3-2 on the season.
Garrett Christman came to the mound from his shortstop position to pitch the final three in relief. GC struck out five in his three innings, giving up just two hits, walking one and allowing just one run (earned) to earn the save.
Brian McLean and Garrett each had stellar days that the plate, both went 4-for-4 at the plate and scored a run apiece.
Vinny Essig came through once again with two RBI's, one on a fielder's choice and the other via a sacrifice fly.
Michael Carmosino hit a double and scored during his at-bat. After an 0-3 night at the plate at home vs. Zionsville on Thursday, Connor Christman had a much better day at the plate Saturday at Zionsville. The sophomore third baseman came through in the clutch in the 6th with an RBI-double.
Zionsville threatened in the bottom of the 6th by scoring a run, but Christman held tight and keep the Eagles from scoring in their final attempt, securing a 4-3 road win and sweeping Zionsville.
The loss dropped Zionsville to 8-7 overall and 2-4 in the HCC. Noblesville kept its winning streak going to 4-games and improved their overall mark to 11-4 and lead the HCC with a 5-1 record.
Noblesville hits the road on Tuesday to face Lafayette Jeff at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette at 6 p.m. The two longtime HCC foes meet again on Thursday at The Dunk in Noblesville, also starting at 6 p.m. That will be the final time that the Bronchos and Millers meet as members of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals, as Lafayette Jeff, along with McCutcheon and Harrison (West Lafayette), will all three be moving to the North Central Conference this fall.
As per usual, it is much appreciated that you're reading my blog. If you like what you're reading, feel free to follow me on Twitter at @MillerVoiceNDCB. GO MILLERS!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Noblesville sweeps Brownsburg in HCC series in consecutive nights
In a Hoosier Crossroads Conference series that is known for being split 1-1 each and every year, there are those rare seasons that one team will actually pull off the sweep. I'm guessing that it hasn't happened in a few years, but it did in 2014.
After falling in a heartbreaker in the Battle for The Oar vs. Carmel 5-4 on Saturday night at The Dunk, Noblesville knew they had to get back on track and couldn't lose focus of the task at hand. It was time to concentrate on Brownsburg and forget about Carmel now until Sectionals.
That must have been a big part of head coach Justin Keever's pre-game speech that he gave his squad as they kneeled deep down the left field line prior to the starting lineups.
4A #14 Noblesville 17, 4A #9 Brownsburg 7 (6 inn.) - (Monday, April 21 - at The Dunk)
Brownsburg 2 2 0 0 3 0 - 7 6 4
Noblesville 3 1 5 4 2 2 - 17 17 3
Right out of the gate, Brownsburg wanted to prove why they've kept themselves in the Top 10 of the 4A rankings throughout the first portion of the 2014 campaign. Coming into this series with Noblesville, the Bulldogs were 5-1 (1-1 HCC), but that was about to be changed.
The Bulldogs struck first blood and did it as quick as they could on senior Miller southpaw Trevor Salmon.
Tyler Houston took Salmon's second pitch for a single and then reached second base on an error by SS Garrett Christman. Houston scored on a passed ball, that was a swinging third strike by Cody Gill that allowed Houston home for a 1-0 BBurg lead.
Gill got doubled off of first base when Jacson McGowan lined out to Vinny Essig at second and Essig quickly whipped his throw to Dax McLochlin at first for two quick outs.
Anthony Travelsted walked and scored when catcher Brooks Bireley doubled on the fly into the right field corner to give Brownsburg a 2-0 advantage.
Have no fear. The Millers' bats would should up and let Brownsburg know whose field it was.
Andrew Wilson showed that he's one of the best leadoff hitters in the state of Indiana by dropping a leadoff single into left center. Brian McLean followed suit with a single. Wilson and McLean both moved up a base during McLean's hit. Second baseman Austin Jones threw the ball in the dirt for an E-4 on paper and runners at second and third with no outs for the Millers.
Wilson scampered home on a passed ball and McLean crossed home on a single to center by Garrett Christman for a quick tie at 2-2.
A few hitters later, Salmon reached on an infield single and drove in Christman to put Noblesville up 3-2 after one full frame.
Brownsburg fought back and regained the lead in the top of the 2nd. Tyler Westrich walked with one out and Houston was hit by a Salmon pitch to give the Bulldogs a pair of base runners aboard. Gill singled, but it wasn't long enough to score either runner and now the bases were loaded. McGowan then hit a two-run single to give the guests the lead at 4-3 through just three half innings.
The Millers decided that they wanted to tie the game up again and keep it interesting, for the time being.
After Bret Rundle struck out, Wilson doubled to center on one hop. He scored a minute later when the eldest Christman (Garrett) got on-base on the second Austin Jones error of the game. Just like that, we were once again tied, 4-4.
At this point, Salmon was more comfortable on the mound and he was starting to paint the outside and inside corners of the plate more often than the Bulldogs anticipated.
Trevor struck out Bireley and first baseman Sam Comer for a couple fast outs. Jones walked, but got overzealous on the bases and Rundle gunned him down at 2nd for the third out.
Essig singled to lead off the Miller half of the 3rd and was able to make it to second when Houston committed an error in center on the throw. Salmon walked for runners on first and second. Matt Swearingen became Salmon's pinch runner. Connor Christman joined the hit party and drilled a two-run double up the middle to send Vinny and Swearingen home and it was 6-4 NHS.
Wilson got hit by a pitch to keep his on-base percentage rising. McLean notched an RBI with a single, scoring Connor from second for a 7-4 Miller lead.
Garrett Christman drove in a couple more runs (Wilson and McLean) to cap off a five-run 3rd inning to put Noblesville up 9-4.
Through just 2.2 innings, Bulldog starter Triston Polley got rocked by Noblesville hitters for 9 runs on 10 hits and it probably didn't help that his defense committed 4 errors behind him.
Michael Klayer was forced onto the mound for head coach Eric Mattingly. But, it obviously didn't matter who Brownsburg put on the hill, the Millers were in an absolute zone at the plate.
Here came four more runs from the Miller bats in the 4th.
Vinny Essig got aboard with a leadoff walk. Salmon singled to shallow left for two on. Zack St. Pierre dropped down a perfect bunt single to load the bases. Essig scored when Connor Christman grounded out to first. Bret Rundle cleared Swearingen (Salmon's pinch runner) and St. Pierre for an 12-4 Miller score.
Noblesville continued to increase the gap on the scoreboard pretty easily off of Klayer.
Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Easton Brock (Rundle's pinch runner) from 3rd. Brock advanced to third from a balk by Klayer to get into better scoring position. The Millers were well in control of this one with a 13-4 lead through five innings.
The fifth inning would be Salmon's last and he'd have to fight through it.
Salmon gave up three runs in the fifth, but two got on base by defensive error.
The Miller offense wanted to end this game as soon as it could. The bottom of the 5th saw NHS put another couple up on the left field scoreboard. Dax McLochlin singled to left center with one out to get things going. Brady Lutz came in to pinch run and stole second right away. Essig and Salmon both walked and that filled the bags with Millers. Lutz scored on a passed ball soon after he stood on third. For the third straight inning, Connor Christman drove in a run. The sophomore third baseman punched an RBI-single on the ground up the middle to send Essig home from second for a 15-7 cushion.
On a mission in the last of the 6th, Wilson singled to lead off. He got to 2nd on a passed ball. Then, after McLean walked, he and Wilson put the double-steal on to give Noblesville 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Finally, to put this one to bed, Dax McLochlin hit a walk-off two-run single up the middle into center for a 17-7 Miller victory in 6 innings.
The Christman brothers accounted for driving in 7 of the 14 runs driven in, Connor with 4 and Garrett 3 RBIs. Andrew Wilson and Dax McLochlin each tallied 3 hits, while four other Millers had two hits (Salmon, McLean, Garrett and Connor Christman).
Salmon wound up with 7 strikeouts, while allowing 7 runs and 5 hits in his 6 innings to secure the win.
4A #14 Noblesville 3, 4A #9 Brownsburg 2 - (Tuesday, April 22 at Brownsburg)
Millers 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 3 7 1
Bulldogs 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 5 2
Hitting the road to Brownsburg was assumed to be a challenge as it usually is. It's always a nip/tuck, one-run affair. It becomes a chess match and that's exactly what happened Tuesday night on the Bulldogs' home field. Getting beat on the road by 10 wasn't exactly how Brownsburg thought they would start their week.
Fortunately, it was how Noblesville envisioned it.
Down 2-0 after Brownsburg struck first in the bottom of the 2nd, it had to become a mental thing with Garrett Christman and the Bulldog hitters. After allowing two runs in the second, GC was in control on the mound the rest of the way. He went the distance for a strong 7 innings, striking out 7 and giving up just 5 hits.
Looking at the Noblesville box score, it wasn't real obvious how they got the big road victory, aside from Christman's pitching numbers.
Dax McLochlin and Trevor Salmon each had two of Noblesville's 7 total hits, while Brian McLean, Garrett Christman and Vinny Essig made up for the remaining three Miller hits. Andrew Wilson, Essig and Matt Swearingen (as a pinch runner) score the three NHS runs.
This series sweep for Noblesville moves their overall record to 9-4 and HCC mark to 3-1.
Next, they welcome in Zionsville on Thursday, April 24 to The Dunk and then hit the road to Zionsville for a midday game in Zionsville at 12:30 on Saturday, April 26.
After falling in a heartbreaker in the Battle for The Oar vs. Carmel 5-4 on Saturday night at The Dunk, Noblesville knew they had to get back on track and couldn't lose focus of the task at hand. It was time to concentrate on Brownsburg and forget about Carmel now until Sectionals.
That must have been a big part of head coach Justin Keever's pre-game speech that he gave his squad as they kneeled deep down the left field line prior to the starting lineups.
4A #14 Noblesville 17, 4A #9 Brownsburg 7 (6 inn.) - (Monday, April 21 - at The Dunk)
Brownsburg 2 2 0 0 3 0 - 7 6 4
Noblesville 3 1 5 4 2 2 - 17 17 3
Right out of the gate, Brownsburg wanted to prove why they've kept themselves in the Top 10 of the 4A rankings throughout the first portion of the 2014 campaign. Coming into this series with Noblesville, the Bulldogs were 5-1 (1-1 HCC), but that was about to be changed.
The Bulldogs struck first blood and did it as quick as they could on senior Miller southpaw Trevor Salmon.
Tyler Houston took Salmon's second pitch for a single and then reached second base on an error by SS Garrett Christman. Houston scored on a passed ball, that was a swinging third strike by Cody Gill that allowed Houston home for a 1-0 BBurg lead.
Gill got doubled off of first base when Jacson McGowan lined out to Vinny Essig at second and Essig quickly whipped his throw to Dax McLochlin at first for two quick outs.
Anthony Travelsted walked and scored when catcher Brooks Bireley doubled on the fly into the right field corner to give Brownsburg a 2-0 advantage.
Have no fear. The Millers' bats would should up and let Brownsburg know whose field it was.
Andrew Wilson showed that he's one of the best leadoff hitters in the state of Indiana by dropping a leadoff single into left center. Brian McLean followed suit with a single. Wilson and McLean both moved up a base during McLean's hit. Second baseman Austin Jones threw the ball in the dirt for an E-4 on paper and runners at second and third with no outs for the Millers.
Wilson scampered home on a passed ball and McLean crossed home on a single to center by Garrett Christman for a quick tie at 2-2.
A few hitters later, Salmon reached on an infield single and drove in Christman to put Noblesville up 3-2 after one full frame.
Brownsburg fought back and regained the lead in the top of the 2nd. Tyler Westrich walked with one out and Houston was hit by a Salmon pitch to give the Bulldogs a pair of base runners aboard. Gill singled, but it wasn't long enough to score either runner and now the bases were loaded. McGowan then hit a two-run single to give the guests the lead at 4-3 through just three half innings.
The Millers decided that they wanted to tie the game up again and keep it interesting, for the time being.
After Bret Rundle struck out, Wilson doubled to center on one hop. He scored a minute later when the eldest Christman (Garrett) got on-base on the second Austin Jones error of the game. Just like that, we were once again tied, 4-4.
At this point, Salmon was more comfortable on the mound and he was starting to paint the outside and inside corners of the plate more often than the Bulldogs anticipated.
Trevor struck out Bireley and first baseman Sam Comer for a couple fast outs. Jones walked, but got overzealous on the bases and Rundle gunned him down at 2nd for the third out.
Essig singled to lead off the Miller half of the 3rd and was able to make it to second when Houston committed an error in center on the throw. Salmon walked for runners on first and second. Matt Swearingen became Salmon's pinch runner. Connor Christman joined the hit party and drilled a two-run double up the middle to send Vinny and Swearingen home and it was 6-4 NHS.
Wilson got hit by a pitch to keep his on-base percentage rising. McLean notched an RBI with a single, scoring Connor from second for a 7-4 Miller lead.
Garrett Christman drove in a couple more runs (Wilson and McLean) to cap off a five-run 3rd inning to put Noblesville up 9-4.
Through just 2.2 innings, Bulldog starter Triston Polley got rocked by Noblesville hitters for 9 runs on 10 hits and it probably didn't help that his defense committed 4 errors behind him.
Michael Klayer was forced onto the mound for head coach Eric Mattingly. But, it obviously didn't matter who Brownsburg put on the hill, the Millers were in an absolute zone at the plate.
Here came four more runs from the Miller bats in the 4th.
Vinny Essig got aboard with a leadoff walk. Salmon singled to shallow left for two on. Zack St. Pierre dropped down a perfect bunt single to load the bases. Essig scored when Connor Christman grounded out to first. Bret Rundle cleared Swearingen (Salmon's pinch runner) and St. Pierre for an 12-4 Miller score.
Noblesville continued to increase the gap on the scoreboard pretty easily off of Klayer.
Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Easton Brock (Rundle's pinch runner) from 3rd. Brock advanced to third from a balk by Klayer to get into better scoring position. The Millers were well in control of this one with a 13-4 lead through five innings.
The fifth inning would be Salmon's last and he'd have to fight through it.
Salmon gave up three runs in the fifth, but two got on base by defensive error.
The Miller offense wanted to end this game as soon as it could. The bottom of the 5th saw NHS put another couple up on the left field scoreboard. Dax McLochlin singled to left center with one out to get things going. Brady Lutz came in to pinch run and stole second right away. Essig and Salmon both walked and that filled the bags with Millers. Lutz scored on a passed ball soon after he stood on third. For the third straight inning, Connor Christman drove in a run. The sophomore third baseman punched an RBI-single on the ground up the middle to send Essig home from second for a 15-7 cushion.
On a mission in the last of the 6th, Wilson singled to lead off. He got to 2nd on a passed ball. Then, after McLean walked, he and Wilson put the double-steal on to give Noblesville 2nd and 3rd with no outs. Finally, to put this one to bed, Dax McLochlin hit a walk-off two-run single up the middle into center for a 17-7 Miller victory in 6 innings.
The Christman brothers accounted for driving in 7 of the 14 runs driven in, Connor with 4 and Garrett 3 RBIs. Andrew Wilson and Dax McLochlin each tallied 3 hits, while four other Millers had two hits (Salmon, McLean, Garrett and Connor Christman).
Salmon wound up with 7 strikeouts, while allowing 7 runs and 5 hits in his 6 innings to secure the win.
4A #14 Noblesville 3, 4A #9 Brownsburg 2 - (Tuesday, April 22 at Brownsburg)
Millers 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 3 7 1
Bulldogs 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 5 2
Hitting the road to Brownsburg was assumed to be a challenge as it usually is. It's always a nip/tuck, one-run affair. It becomes a chess match and that's exactly what happened Tuesday night on the Bulldogs' home field. Getting beat on the road by 10 wasn't exactly how Brownsburg thought they would start their week.
Fortunately, it was how Noblesville envisioned it.
Down 2-0 after Brownsburg struck first in the bottom of the 2nd, it had to become a mental thing with Garrett Christman and the Bulldog hitters. After allowing two runs in the second, GC was in control on the mound the rest of the way. He went the distance for a strong 7 innings, striking out 7 and giving up just 5 hits.
Looking at the Noblesville box score, it wasn't real obvious how they got the big road victory, aside from Christman's pitching numbers.
Dax McLochlin and Trevor Salmon each had two of Noblesville's 7 total hits, while Brian McLean, Garrett Christman and Vinny Essig made up for the remaining three Miller hits. Andrew Wilson, Essig and Matt Swearingen (as a pinch runner) score the three NHS runs.
This series sweep for Noblesville moves their overall record to 9-4 and HCC mark to 3-1.
Next, they welcome in Zionsville on Thursday, April 24 to The Dunk and then hit the road to Zionsville for a midday game in Zionsville at 12:30 on Saturday, April 26.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Carmel bests Noblesville, keeps oar in White River Rivalry game
No matter what sport it is, whether it's girls or boys, throw the records out the window and consider it to just about be the most looked at game on the schedule. That's the case when Carmel and Noblesville tangle, especially on the baseball diamond.
It couldn't have been a better night for baseball at Dunker Field for the 2014 meeting between the Greyhounds and Millers in the White River Rivalry game.
Carmel 5, 4A #9 Noblesville 4 - (Saturday, April 19 at The Dunk)
Carmel 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 5 7 1
Noblesville 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 9 2
Carmel wasted no time at all in making its presence known against Hamilton county and long-time rival Noblesville.
Leadoff hitter Thomas Baldwin led off by taking a 1-1 pitch for a double to Brian McLean in center. Baldwin displayed his wheels on the base path and found himself at second in no time at all.
The next pitch by senior southpaw Zack St. Pierre could only be considered pretty to one person and that was the batter David Layman. The senior second baseman took St. Pierre's fourth pitch for a ride over the left field wall and just like that, the Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Noblesville got its chance and needed to see just three pitches from junior Carmel hurler Dylan Schildknecht.
Andrew Wilson stroked a hit to left and Brian McLean moved him to third with a double to left center. At first, 3rd base coach Kevin Fitzgerald thought about sending Wilson home, but he may have gotten gunned down at the plate. Great call on the part of Fitz, because it worked. Not too much later, Vinny Essig drove in Wilson and McLean to tie the game at 2-2 after one.
The Miller offense got back at it in the 2nd. Dax McLochlin did something that he does pretty well...hitting well with runners in scoring position. McLochlin hit a two-run single to right center, scoring Connor Christman and McLean to put Noblesville up 4-2 after two.
Greyhound relief pitcher Connor Cunningham entered in the 4th and settled down the Miller bats for sure. During his three inning stint from the fourth to the sixth, Cunningham shutdown six Miller batters via striking them out and only allowed three base runners.
Defense doomed Noblesville in the sixth inning and would again in the 7th.
Garrett Pferrer walked and Connor McGeehan drove him over to third with a one-out double. Next, Riley Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Andrew Wilson, scoring Pferrer and McGeehan.Carmel had tied the game at 4-4.
Cory Conway started the seventh on the mound for Noblesville. It became a controversial call, but on a 2-2 count, pinch-hitter Tyler Keith swung at the third strike that dropped in the dirty, or so catcher Bret Rundle thought.
Noblesville head coach Justin Keever immediately jumped out of the dugout in disapproval. The home plate umpire saw the play as a passed ball on the swinging third strike, giving Keith the chance at first base, which he did reach.
From my vantage point in the press box, I viewed it as a foul ball that deflected off of Keith's bat, but above the handle. Apparently, that's not how either umpire saw it and Keith was awarded first base by beating out Rundle's chance to throw him out on the passed ball.
The Greyhounds were at the top of the order, which had really produced for head coach Dan Roman's squad on Saturday night.
While Keith was leading off of second, he decided that he'd try to steal third. He took off and it rattled Rundle a little. The senior catcher threw down to Connor Christman at third and the ball was in the dirt, an error charged to Rundle, which gave Keith an easy trip to touch home, giving Carmel a 5-4 lead in the top of the 7th.
Greyhound senior pitcher Ryan Campbell came on in the seventh to try and seal the game. Campbell's submarine-style delivery is similar to the late Dan Quisenberry, who was a Hall of Famer that played for the Royals, Cardinals and Giants.
Campbell did the job he was brought in the game to do. He allowed just one hit to Zack St. Pierre and forced three groundouts to put a stop to Noblesville's final efforts and secure the 5-4 win for Carmel.
Carmel improved to 4-1 and the loss dropped Noblesville to 7-4.
Dax McLochlin and Vinny Essig drove in two runs each, Andrew Wilson had a couple hits and Brian McLean scored two of the four runs to highlight the Miller offense.
David Layman's two-run HR and two RBI's and Riley Smith's pair of RBI's helped Carmel to the win, but it may have been the trio of Dylan Schildknecht, Connor Cunningham and Ryan Campbell that pitched the Greyhounds to victory.
The visiting Greyhounds may have squeaked out a narrow win during the regular season, but it will be a whole new ball game if the Millers and Greyhounds are to meet up in Class 4A Sectional 8, which will also be held at Dunker Field in Noblesville.
It couldn't have been a better night for baseball at Dunker Field for the 2014 meeting between the Greyhounds and Millers in the White River Rivalry game.
Carmel 5, 4A #9 Noblesville 4 - (Saturday, April 19 at The Dunk)
Carmel 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 - 5 7 1
Noblesville 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 9 2
Carmel wasted no time at all in making its presence known against Hamilton county and long-time rival Noblesville.
Leadoff hitter Thomas Baldwin led off by taking a 1-1 pitch for a double to Brian McLean in center. Baldwin displayed his wheels on the base path and found himself at second in no time at all.
The next pitch by senior southpaw Zack St. Pierre could only be considered pretty to one person and that was the batter David Layman. The senior second baseman took St. Pierre's fourth pitch for a ride over the left field wall and just like that, the Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead.
Noblesville got its chance and needed to see just three pitches from junior Carmel hurler Dylan Schildknecht.
Andrew Wilson stroked a hit to left and Brian McLean moved him to third with a double to left center. At first, 3rd base coach Kevin Fitzgerald thought about sending Wilson home, but he may have gotten gunned down at the plate. Great call on the part of Fitz, because it worked. Not too much later, Vinny Essig drove in Wilson and McLean to tie the game at 2-2 after one.
The Miller offense got back at it in the 2nd. Dax McLochlin did something that he does pretty well...hitting well with runners in scoring position. McLochlin hit a two-run single to right center, scoring Connor Christman and McLean to put Noblesville up 4-2 after two.
Greyhound relief pitcher Connor Cunningham entered in the 4th and settled down the Miller bats for sure. During his three inning stint from the fourth to the sixth, Cunningham shutdown six Miller batters via striking them out and only allowed three base runners.
Defense doomed Noblesville in the sixth inning and would again in the 7th.
Garrett Pferrer walked and Connor McGeehan drove him over to third with a one-out double. Next, Riley Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Andrew Wilson, scoring Pferrer and McGeehan.Carmel had tied the game at 4-4.
Cory Conway started the seventh on the mound for Noblesville. It became a controversial call, but on a 2-2 count, pinch-hitter Tyler Keith swung at the third strike that dropped in the dirty, or so catcher Bret Rundle thought.
Noblesville head coach Justin Keever immediately jumped out of the dugout in disapproval. The home plate umpire saw the play as a passed ball on the swinging third strike, giving Keith the chance at first base, which he did reach.
From my vantage point in the press box, I viewed it as a foul ball that deflected off of Keith's bat, but above the handle. Apparently, that's not how either umpire saw it and Keith was awarded first base by beating out Rundle's chance to throw him out on the passed ball.
The Greyhounds were at the top of the order, which had really produced for head coach Dan Roman's squad on Saturday night.
While Keith was leading off of second, he decided that he'd try to steal third. He took off and it rattled Rundle a little. The senior catcher threw down to Connor Christman at third and the ball was in the dirt, an error charged to Rundle, which gave Keith an easy trip to touch home, giving Carmel a 5-4 lead in the top of the 7th.
Greyhound senior pitcher Ryan Campbell came on in the seventh to try and seal the game. Campbell's submarine-style delivery is similar to the late Dan Quisenberry, who was a Hall of Famer that played for the Royals, Cardinals and Giants.
Campbell did the job he was brought in the game to do. He allowed just one hit to Zack St. Pierre and forced three groundouts to put a stop to Noblesville's final efforts and secure the 5-4 win for Carmel.
Carmel improved to 4-1 and the loss dropped Noblesville to 7-4.
Dax McLochlin and Vinny Essig drove in two runs each, Andrew Wilson had a couple hits and Brian McLean scored two of the four runs to highlight the Miller offense.
David Layman's two-run HR and two RBI's and Riley Smith's pair of RBI's helped Carmel to the win, but it may have been the trio of Dylan Schildknecht, Connor Cunningham and Ryan Campbell that pitched the Greyhounds to victory.
The visiting Greyhounds may have squeaked out a narrow win during the regular season, but it will be a whole new ball game if the Millers and Greyhounds are to meet up in Class 4A Sectional 8, which will also be held at Dunker Field in Noblesville.
#9 Millers and #10 Fishers split HCC series; each gets a home win
Coming just days after winning 3 out of 4 on their Spring Break trip to the Diamond Demarini Invitational in Knoxville, Tennessee, Noblesville was primed and ready to get the Hoosier Crossroads Conference slate started.
4A #10 Fishers 5, 4A #9 Noblesville 1 - (Wed. April 16 at Fishers)
Millers 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 6 1
Tigers 0 1 0 0 1 3 X - 5 11 0
Trevor Salmon took to the hill for Noblesville's second true road game of the year. One week prior to heading to Tennessee, the Millers took a day trip to the Louisville, Kentucky area and faced the state of Kentucky's #1 ranked team at St. Xavier. Noblesville dropped that decision in a hard-fought battle, with Zack St. Pierre tossing a no-hitter, but his efforts on the mound were foiled with the Miller D committing 4 errors that resulted in a 4-2 win for St. X.
Salmon worked 5 2/3 innings, but was roughed up. Fishers got on the board first in the 2nd inning with one run.
The bats of both the Tigers and Millers were quiet through the third and fourth and Noblesville's top of the 5th chance.
Fishers did its best job defending their home field. The Tiger offense got to Salmon and Miller reliever Cory Conway in the 5th and 6th, scoring 1 and 3 in those innings, respectively, to find itself on the better end of a 5-1 victory in the HCC opener for both schools.
Hitting 6-for-25 as a team, there weren't many that highlighted the box score for Noblesville. Vinny Essig drove in the lone Miller run and was also the only NHS hitter with multiple hits (2). Garrett Christman, Dax McLochlin, Zack St. Pierre and Trevor Salmon contributed for the other four Noblesville base knocks.
Oddly enough, Noblesville hitters weren't walked at all, but Fishers pitching struck out the Millers 8 times, including twice each for Andrew Wilson and Connor Christman.
Scattering 9 hits over his 5.2 innings, Salmon allowed 4 runs (3 earned), while walking 3 and fanning another 3.
Conway was thrown into the fire a little bit. The sophomore southpaw saw just 1/3 of an inning, but gave up a pair of hits and one run (earned), along with a walk and a strikeout.
4A #9 Noblesville 9, 4A #10 Fishers 4 - (Thursday, April 17 at The Dunk)
Tigers 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 4 6 1
Millers 0 5 0 1 3 0 X - 9 11 2
Fishers and Noblesville were back at it the following night to play the second game of the season series. With Fishers getting the home W on Wednesday, the Millers hosted and were hungry for an HCC win.
Senior right-hander Garrett Christman was on the mound for Noblesville and was looking to continue his pitching prowess that he displayed five days before against the Christian Academy of Knoxville, who is Tennessee's 2A #2 team.
GC was taken by only slight surprise in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter Jacob Totman took the second pitch he saw for a single to left. Two batters later, catcher Griffin Hulecki drove him in with a single to the right center gap for a 1-0 Tiger lead. Following suit, Taylor Canter dropped a single in the same area in right center for two Tigers on. A couple hitters later with two outs, Christian Chapman drilled a two-run double over the head of Brian McLean in center to plate the second and third runs of the inning for a 3-0 Fishers advantage in just the top of the first.
Have no fear with GC on the bump. The Butler University signee got his comfort zone back in the top of the 2nd. Despite hitting Joe Rura with a pitch, Garrett struck out two of the next four to end the second, including the Fishers battery (Brandon Yoho and Hulecki) both watching strike 3 go by.
Christman striking out three Tigers was a sign to the Noblesville offense. It was time to wake up.
Continuing his hot hitting from his two season debuts in the final two games in Tennessee, Vinny Essig led off the 2nd with a 2-0 double to the wall in right center to ignite the home crowd and the Miller bench.
Essig was joined on the bases by Connor Christman, as he walked on five pitches. Bret Rundle singled to shallow right center to score Vinny from second to get the Millers on the scoreboard.
The younger Christman (Connor) at 2nd and Easton Brock in to pinch run for Rundle at first, NHS was in prime position to score (again).
Andrew Wilson hit into a fielder's choice, that forced Brock out at second for out #2.
Brian McLean walked to load the bags full of Millers and he was followed by the elder Christman (Garrett) getting the free pass to first and loading the bases once again.
The next pitch was smacked to the fence in center on one hop by Dax McLochlin for a three-run double, scoring Wilson, B-Mc and Garrett Christman for a 5-3 Noblesville lead, one that they wouldn't give back to the visitors for the rest of the night.
Christman kept Fishers in-check for the remainder of the game, keeping the game out of reach for the Tigers. Over the final five frames, Garrett K'd the remaining four of his 7 total and also only allowed two more hits.
Noblesville added another run in the 4th. Mike Chakiry was now in his second full inning of relieving starter Brandon Yoho (3-0) and had no idea what he had in store.
Andrew Wilson was hungry for a hit and that's exactly what he got. Chakiry is a fastball pitcher and he served one up right down the middle for the senior left fielder. AW took his swing and the ball looked like it had been let go from a sling shot. Instead, it was Wilson's sweet stroke that lit into the ball and just like that, it was over the left field fence to slightly extend the Miller lead to 6-3.
The Millers weren't done scoring.
Zack St. Pierre doubled to deep center on the first pitch of the 5th. Vinny Essig laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that got ZSP to third and Essig safe at first. Runners at the corners. After Salmon struck out, Connor Christman slapped a single over the head of 3B Joe Michel, driving in St. Pierre for a 7-3 score.
Five pitches later, Bret Rundle shot a single into shallow left to send Essig home. Connor crossed home when his older brother Garrett was walked to put the Millers up 9-3.
The sixth was pretty much the last-ditch effort that Fishers really put forth. Chapman led off with a walk and he eventually scored when Rura reached on an error by Connor Christman at third.
That became the final score of 9-4 for a Noblesville victory, splitting the HCC series at 1-1.
The W moved Noblesville's record to 7-3 (1-1 HCC), but more importantly it dropped Fishers to 9-1-1 (1-1 HCC) for their first loss of the 2014 season.
4A #10 Fishers 5, 4A #9 Noblesville 1 - (Wed. April 16 at Fishers)
Millers 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 6 1
Tigers 0 1 0 0 1 3 X - 5 11 0
Trevor Salmon took to the hill for Noblesville's second true road game of the year. One week prior to heading to Tennessee, the Millers took a day trip to the Louisville, Kentucky area and faced the state of Kentucky's #1 ranked team at St. Xavier. Noblesville dropped that decision in a hard-fought battle, with Zack St. Pierre tossing a no-hitter, but his efforts on the mound were foiled with the Miller D committing 4 errors that resulted in a 4-2 win for St. X.
Salmon worked 5 2/3 innings, but was roughed up. Fishers got on the board first in the 2nd inning with one run.
The bats of both the Tigers and Millers were quiet through the third and fourth and Noblesville's top of the 5th chance.
Fishers did its best job defending their home field. The Tiger offense got to Salmon and Miller reliever Cory Conway in the 5th and 6th, scoring 1 and 3 in those innings, respectively, to find itself on the better end of a 5-1 victory in the HCC opener for both schools.
Hitting 6-for-25 as a team, there weren't many that highlighted the box score for Noblesville. Vinny Essig drove in the lone Miller run and was also the only NHS hitter with multiple hits (2). Garrett Christman, Dax McLochlin, Zack St. Pierre and Trevor Salmon contributed for the other four Noblesville base knocks.
Oddly enough, Noblesville hitters weren't walked at all, but Fishers pitching struck out the Millers 8 times, including twice each for Andrew Wilson and Connor Christman.
Scattering 9 hits over his 5.2 innings, Salmon allowed 4 runs (3 earned), while walking 3 and fanning another 3.
Conway was thrown into the fire a little bit. The sophomore southpaw saw just 1/3 of an inning, but gave up a pair of hits and one run (earned), along with a walk and a strikeout.
4A #9 Noblesville 9, 4A #10 Fishers 4 - (Thursday, April 17 at The Dunk)
Tigers 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 4 6 1
Millers 0 5 0 1 3 0 X - 9 11 2
Fishers and Noblesville were back at it the following night to play the second game of the season series. With Fishers getting the home W on Wednesday, the Millers hosted and were hungry for an HCC win.
Senior right-hander Garrett Christman was on the mound for Noblesville and was looking to continue his pitching prowess that he displayed five days before against the Christian Academy of Knoxville, who is Tennessee's 2A #2 team.
GC was taken by only slight surprise in the top of the first. Leadoff hitter Jacob Totman took the second pitch he saw for a single to left. Two batters later, catcher Griffin Hulecki drove him in with a single to the right center gap for a 1-0 Tiger lead. Following suit, Taylor Canter dropped a single in the same area in right center for two Tigers on. A couple hitters later with two outs, Christian Chapman drilled a two-run double over the head of Brian McLean in center to plate the second and third runs of the inning for a 3-0 Fishers advantage in just the top of the first.
Have no fear with GC on the bump. The Butler University signee got his comfort zone back in the top of the 2nd. Despite hitting Joe Rura with a pitch, Garrett struck out two of the next four to end the second, including the Fishers battery (Brandon Yoho and Hulecki) both watching strike 3 go by.
Christman striking out three Tigers was a sign to the Noblesville offense. It was time to wake up.
Continuing his hot hitting from his two season debuts in the final two games in Tennessee, Vinny Essig led off the 2nd with a 2-0 double to the wall in right center to ignite the home crowd and the Miller bench.
Essig was joined on the bases by Connor Christman, as he walked on five pitches. Bret Rundle singled to shallow right center to score Vinny from second to get the Millers on the scoreboard.
The younger Christman (Connor) at 2nd and Easton Brock in to pinch run for Rundle at first, NHS was in prime position to score (again).
Andrew Wilson hit into a fielder's choice, that forced Brock out at second for out #2.
Brian McLean walked to load the bags full of Millers and he was followed by the elder Christman (Garrett) getting the free pass to first and loading the bases once again.
The next pitch was smacked to the fence in center on one hop by Dax McLochlin for a three-run double, scoring Wilson, B-Mc and Garrett Christman for a 5-3 Noblesville lead, one that they wouldn't give back to the visitors for the rest of the night.
Christman kept Fishers in-check for the remainder of the game, keeping the game out of reach for the Tigers. Over the final five frames, Garrett K'd the remaining four of his 7 total and also only allowed two more hits.
Noblesville added another run in the 4th. Mike Chakiry was now in his second full inning of relieving starter Brandon Yoho (3-0) and had no idea what he had in store.
Andrew Wilson was hungry for a hit and that's exactly what he got. Chakiry is a fastball pitcher and he served one up right down the middle for the senior left fielder. AW took his swing and the ball looked like it had been let go from a sling shot. Instead, it was Wilson's sweet stroke that lit into the ball and just like that, it was over the left field fence to slightly extend the Miller lead to 6-3.
The Millers weren't done scoring.
Zack St. Pierre doubled to deep center on the first pitch of the 5th. Vinny Essig laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that got ZSP to third and Essig safe at first. Runners at the corners. After Salmon struck out, Connor Christman slapped a single over the head of 3B Joe Michel, driving in St. Pierre for a 7-3 score.
Five pitches later, Bret Rundle shot a single into shallow left to send Essig home. Connor crossed home when his older brother Garrett was walked to put the Millers up 9-3.
The sixth was pretty much the last-ditch effort that Fishers really put forth. Chapman led off with a walk and he eventually scored when Rura reached on an error by Connor Christman at third.
That became the final score of 9-4 for a Noblesville victory, splitting the HCC series at 1-1.
The W moved Noblesville's record to 7-3 (1-1 HCC), but more importantly it dropped Fishers to 9-1-1 (1-1 HCC) for their first loss of the 2014 season.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Noblesville goes 3-1 on Tennessee trip; ready for HCC play
The Noblesville Millers always look forward to their Spring Break trip to Tennessee. Whether it's the Farragut Invitational or the Diamond Demarini Invitational that Justin Keever's squad played in this year, the Millers make a good showing of themselves and let our neighbors a couple states south of us that the state of Indiana can play baseball too!
From my stance as the public address voice of Noblesville Miller baseball, I have the privilege of having a birds eye view where I'm perched directly behind home plate in the press box at Dunker Field. Each and every spring break trip that the Millers take to show off Millerball to the rest of the Midwest, it helps them prepare for the grind that is the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
It can honestly be considered a growing up set of games for every part of Justin Keever's team. The 2014 Millers consist of 10 seniors, 6 juniors and 4 sophomores. With 14 of 20 players having previous varsity experience, there is plenty of leadership that will get this group as far as they want to go this season.
4A #7 Noblesville 12, Hardin Valley Academy (TN) 7 - (Thurs. April 10)
Noblesville 1 0 1 3 0 0 7 - 12 14 2
Hardin VA 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 - 7 11 1
Noblesville knew right away that they would be tested in their first game on the four-game trip to Tennessee. Playing at Hardin Valley Academy, instead of a neutral site, would be an obstacle that the Millers would just have to figure out a way to overcome. Hardin Valley was ranked as the 3A #7 team according to the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #9 in the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll.
Plating one run in the top of the first, the Millers got the nervousness out of the way, but it wasn't long until Hardin Valley knew it had to defend its home turf.
Hardin Valley put three runs on the board in the home half of the first and tacked on another in the bottom of the second for a 4-1 lead through two innings.
The Millers put together four runs to Hardin Valley Academy's two during the 3rd and 4th innings. Hardin Valley added another to go up 7-5 after five.
Something happened as the Millers went to bat in the top of the 7th. Faced on the wrong side of a 7-5 score, there was something that occurred in the Noblesville dugout that sparked the offense to arise to the occasion.
Crazy as it was when the Millers tallied a 10-run fourth against New Castle in the season/home opener, a similar situation occurred in Noblesville's opener of the Tennessee trip.
Noblesville was able to put together a comeback that Hardin Valley Academy hadn't been on the receiving end of in quite some time. The Millers offense exploded for 7 runs in the top of the 7th and shut down the hosts in their final at-bat, winning with a come-from-behind 12-7 victory.
Andrew Wilson and Zach St. Pierre, drove in five of the 12 Miller runs, but weren't the only highlights in the NHS stats. Garrett Christman and Dax McLochlin each tagged the HVA pitching staff for three hits.
Zach St. Pierre started and pitched a good game, but was slightly roughed up during his four innings. The senior southpaw struck out 4, scattered seven hits, walked three and allowed 6 runs (4 earned).
It may have fully been a coming out party for sophomore reliever Cory Conway, won go the win. Also a lefty, Conway tossed three great innings. He gave up just four hits and walked one. Cory got in a zone though, fanning 7 and allowing just one HVA base runner to score.
Dobyns-Bennett 13, 4A #7 Noblesville 1 - (Friday, April 11)
Noblesville 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 1
Dobyns-Bennett 4 4 0 4 1 X - 13 7 0
The Millers faced their toughest test yet in 2014 in Dobyns-Bennett.
Starter Trevor Salmon got roughed up through 1.1 innings, giving up 7 runs (6 earned), but only one hits off of him. The senior southpaw allowed five walks and only struck out a pair of Dobyns-Bennett hitters.
Taking over in the a hole in the second, junior Connor Adams felt the same pain that Salmon did. Adams worked just 1.2 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs (all earned), while walking one.
Tyler Gamble also made his season debut, throwing the final two, walking four, but also struck out four.
Noblesville's offense could only muster up 5 hits.
This reality check dropped the Millers to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 on the trip after two games.
4A #7 Noblesville 7, Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) 3 - (Saturday, April 12)
Noblesville Millers 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 - 7 9 0
Christian Academy 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 7 0
The one thing to do after being blown out the night before? You guessed it right. Jump right on the next opponent early and keep them at a distance while you hold on for victory. That's exactly what Noblesville did in their bounce back win against the Christian Academy of Knoxville, who came in ranked as the 2A #2 team, according to the Tennessee Baseball Report.
Garrett Christman threw an absolute gem on the mound and hit teammates did everything to back him up and make sure things came out victorious for the Millers. A complete game of 7 innings, 3 runs (all earned), 7 hits (1 HR), all while striking out 7 and not yielding a single walk.
Andrew Wilson kept up his extremely consistent hitting, going 3-for-4, all of them being extra-base hits. Two RBI-doubles and a solo home run were just the tip of the iceberg for Noblesville.
Dax McLochlin also chipped in with an RBI-double of his own, but those two were shaded by an addition to the Miller O.
Vincent Essig was back in the Millers' lineup after sitting out the first six games of the season. It was obvious that he was itching to get back into the lineup. The junior middle infielder smacked a two-run home run that would be a deciding factor in leading the Millers to victory over the Christian Academy of Knoxville on a very big stage, 7-3.
Both of Noblesville's games on Saturday, April 12 were played at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, the home of the Tennessee Volunteers' baseball team.
4A #7 Noblesville 3, Knoxville West 1 - Saturday, April 12
Noblesville 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 3 7 1
Knoxville West 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 1
Just like he sealed the Miller Invitational with his work on the mound, Dax McLochlin did it again in Noblesville's final game on their 2014 trip to the Diamond Demarini Invitational. Dax commanded the local squad in Knoxville West, as they collided at Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
Dax stayed on the mound for 6 solid innings of work, giving up just 5 hits and one run (earned), striking out a pair and one walk. Cory Conway got another inning and got out of it unblemished.
The Millers didn't require the most offensive output against Knoxville West. Once again, Wilson was back at it, as he was throughout the weekend. The Noblesville senior outfielder went 2-of-3 and stole a couple bases vs. West in his leadoff spot.
It didn't go unnoticed at all that Vincent Essig was able to make his presence known in the 7-slot of the lineup for Noblesville. Missing the first six games of the season, Essig is definitely making up for lost time and having to watch his teammates.
Essig slugged his 2nd home run of the day in consecutive games to help the Millers hold off Knoxville West, 3-1.
Noblesville's stat leaders for the Diamond Demarini Invitational...
Andrew Wilson: 7-14, 6 RBIs, 2 2Bs, solo HR, 5 runs, 2 SBs
Dax McLochlin: 5-14, 2 RBIs, 2 SBs, run; 6 IP, 2 Ks, Win vs. Knoxville West
Zach St. Pierre: 3-11, 3B, 3 RBIs; 4 IP 4 Ks
Garrett Christman: 5-12, RBI, 3 runs, 2 SBs; (7 IP, 7 Ks, 0 BB in Win vs. CAK)
Vincent Essig: 2-4 3 RBIs, 2 HRs, 2 runs (2 games)
Cory Conway: 4 IP, 4 H, 7 Ks, walk, run (7Ks in Win vs. Hardin Valley)
Upcoming this week for Noblesville...
This week is an extremely tough week to come into out of spring break and entering Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
The Millers (6-2) come in this week sticking steady as the 4A #7 ranked team. It gets no easier, simply because the HCC is one of the toughest conferences, if not the toughest, from top to bottom. On Wednesday, April 16, Noblesville heads to Fishers for a 6 p.m. first pitch. Thursday, April 17, the Tigers (8-0-1) take a return trip to Noblesville and the two will tangle for the second straight day at 6 p.m. Fishers comes in at #13 in this week's 4A poll.
Saturday night brings two great communities together to put forth the effort to see who can raise the most money in a joint effort for cancer. Carmel (2-0) and Noblesville (6-2) will be fighting for a victory while their fans are emptying their pockets in contributing what they can toward cancer. This is the battle for the oar and the White River Rivalry that continues for a 7 p.m. game time at Dunker Field, The Dunk, proud home of Noblesville Miller baseball!
Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip to Tennessee for these four Spring Break games. I'd like to thank Noblesville varsity assistant coach Jason Giordano for providing me with the stats needed to put this blog post together.
As said before, if you like what you're reading, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter. My handle is @MillerVoiceNDCB.
GO MILLERS!
From my stance as the public address voice of Noblesville Miller baseball, I have the privilege of having a birds eye view where I'm perched directly behind home plate in the press box at Dunker Field. Each and every spring break trip that the Millers take to show off Millerball to the rest of the Midwest, it helps them prepare for the grind that is the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
It can honestly be considered a growing up set of games for every part of Justin Keever's team. The 2014 Millers consist of 10 seniors, 6 juniors and 4 sophomores. With 14 of 20 players having previous varsity experience, there is plenty of leadership that will get this group as far as they want to go this season.
4A #7 Noblesville 12, Hardin Valley Academy (TN) 7 - (Thurs. April 10)
Noblesville 1 0 1 3 0 0 7 - 12 14 2
Hardin VA 3 1 0 2 1 0 0 - 7 11 1
Noblesville knew right away that they would be tested in their first game on the four-game trip to Tennessee. Playing at Hardin Valley Academy, instead of a neutral site, would be an obstacle that the Millers would just have to figure out a way to overcome. Hardin Valley was ranked as the 3A #7 team according to the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #9 in the Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll.
Plating one run in the top of the first, the Millers got the nervousness out of the way, but it wasn't long until Hardin Valley knew it had to defend its home turf.
Hardin Valley put three runs on the board in the home half of the first and tacked on another in the bottom of the second for a 4-1 lead through two innings.
The Millers put together four runs to Hardin Valley Academy's two during the 3rd and 4th innings. Hardin Valley added another to go up 7-5 after five.
Something happened as the Millers went to bat in the top of the 7th. Faced on the wrong side of a 7-5 score, there was something that occurred in the Noblesville dugout that sparked the offense to arise to the occasion.
Crazy as it was when the Millers tallied a 10-run fourth against New Castle in the season/home opener, a similar situation occurred in Noblesville's opener of the Tennessee trip.
Noblesville was able to put together a comeback that Hardin Valley Academy hadn't been on the receiving end of in quite some time. The Millers offense exploded for 7 runs in the top of the 7th and shut down the hosts in their final at-bat, winning with a come-from-behind 12-7 victory.
Andrew Wilson and Zach St. Pierre, drove in five of the 12 Miller runs, but weren't the only highlights in the NHS stats. Garrett Christman and Dax McLochlin each tagged the HVA pitching staff for three hits.
Zach St. Pierre started and pitched a good game, but was slightly roughed up during his four innings. The senior southpaw struck out 4, scattered seven hits, walked three and allowed 6 runs (4 earned).
It may have fully been a coming out party for sophomore reliever Cory Conway, won go the win. Also a lefty, Conway tossed three great innings. He gave up just four hits and walked one. Cory got in a zone though, fanning 7 and allowing just one HVA base runner to score.
Dobyns-Bennett 13, 4A #7 Noblesville 1 - (Friday, April 11)
Noblesville 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 1
Dobyns-Bennett 4 4 0 4 1 X - 13 7 0
The Millers faced their toughest test yet in 2014 in Dobyns-Bennett.
Starter Trevor Salmon got roughed up through 1.1 innings, giving up 7 runs (6 earned), but only one hits off of him. The senior southpaw allowed five walks and only struck out a pair of Dobyns-Bennett hitters.
Taking over in the a hole in the second, junior Connor Adams felt the same pain that Salmon did. Adams worked just 1.2 innings, giving up 6 hits and 5 runs (all earned), while walking one.
Tyler Gamble also made his season debut, throwing the final two, walking four, but also struck out four.
Noblesville's offense could only muster up 5 hits.
This reality check dropped the Millers to 4-2 on the season and 1-1 on the trip after two games.
4A #7 Noblesville 7, Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) 3 - (Saturday, April 12)
Noblesville Millers 2 3 0 0 0 0 2 - 7 9 0
Christian Academy 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 7 0
The one thing to do after being blown out the night before? You guessed it right. Jump right on the next opponent early and keep them at a distance while you hold on for victory. That's exactly what Noblesville did in their bounce back win against the Christian Academy of Knoxville, who came in ranked as the 2A #2 team, according to the Tennessee Baseball Report.
Garrett Christman threw an absolute gem on the mound and hit teammates did everything to back him up and make sure things came out victorious for the Millers. A complete game of 7 innings, 3 runs (all earned), 7 hits (1 HR), all while striking out 7 and not yielding a single walk.
Andrew Wilson kept up his extremely consistent hitting, going 3-for-4, all of them being extra-base hits. Two RBI-doubles and a solo home run were just the tip of the iceberg for Noblesville.
Dax McLochlin also chipped in with an RBI-double of his own, but those two were shaded by an addition to the Miller O.
Vincent Essig was back in the Millers' lineup after sitting out the first six games of the season. It was obvious that he was itching to get back into the lineup. The junior middle infielder smacked a two-run home run that would be a deciding factor in leading the Millers to victory over the Christian Academy of Knoxville on a very big stage, 7-3.
Both of Noblesville's games on Saturday, April 12 were played at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, the home of the Tennessee Volunteers' baseball team.
4A #7 Noblesville 3, Knoxville West 1 - Saturday, April 12
Noblesville 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 3 7 1
Knoxville West 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 1
Just like he sealed the Miller Invitational with his work on the mound, Dax McLochlin did it again in Noblesville's final game on their 2014 trip to the Diamond Demarini Invitational. Dax commanded the local squad in Knoxville West, as they collided at Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
Dax stayed on the mound for 6 solid innings of work, giving up just 5 hits and one run (earned), striking out a pair and one walk. Cory Conway got another inning and got out of it unblemished.
The Millers didn't require the most offensive output against Knoxville West. Once again, Wilson was back at it, as he was throughout the weekend. The Noblesville senior outfielder went 2-of-3 and stole a couple bases vs. West in his leadoff spot.
It didn't go unnoticed at all that Vincent Essig was able to make his presence known in the 7-slot of the lineup for Noblesville. Missing the first six games of the season, Essig is definitely making up for lost time and having to watch his teammates.
Essig slugged his 2nd home run of the day in consecutive games to help the Millers hold off Knoxville West, 3-1.
Noblesville's stat leaders for the Diamond Demarini Invitational...
Andrew Wilson: 7-14, 6 RBIs, 2 2Bs, solo HR, 5 runs, 2 SBs
Dax McLochlin: 5-14, 2 RBIs, 2 SBs, run; 6 IP, 2 Ks, Win vs. Knoxville West
Zach St. Pierre: 3-11, 3B, 3 RBIs; 4 IP 4 Ks
Garrett Christman: 5-12, RBI, 3 runs, 2 SBs; (7 IP, 7 Ks, 0 BB in Win vs. CAK)
Vincent Essig: 2-4 3 RBIs, 2 HRs, 2 runs (2 games)
Cory Conway: 4 IP, 4 H, 7 Ks, walk, run (7Ks in Win vs. Hardin Valley)
Upcoming this week for Noblesville...
This week is an extremely tough week to come into out of spring break and entering Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
The Millers (6-2) come in this week sticking steady as the 4A #7 ranked team. It gets no easier, simply because the HCC is one of the toughest conferences, if not the toughest, from top to bottom. On Wednesday, April 16, Noblesville heads to Fishers for a 6 p.m. first pitch. Thursday, April 17, the Tigers (8-0-1) take a return trip to Noblesville and the two will tangle for the second straight day at 6 p.m. Fishers comes in at #13 in this week's 4A poll.
Saturday night brings two great communities together to put forth the effort to see who can raise the most money in a joint effort for cancer. Carmel (2-0) and Noblesville (6-2) will be fighting for a victory while their fans are emptying their pockets in contributing what they can toward cancer. This is the battle for the oar and the White River Rivalry that continues for a 7 p.m. game time at Dunker Field, The Dunk, proud home of Noblesville Miller baseball!
Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip to Tennessee for these four Spring Break games. I'd like to thank Noblesville varsity assistant coach Jason Giordano for providing me with the stats needed to put this blog post together.
As said before, if you like what you're reading, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter. My handle is @MillerVoiceNDCB.
GO MILLERS!
Friday, April 11, 2014
Noblesville takes Miller Invitational in dominant fashion
Getting to The Dunk around 10am on Saturday for the 4th Annual Miller Invitational, I knew we would be settling in for great and possibly long day of high school baseball. I was right. Game 1 between Brebeuf Jesuit and Noblesville didn't get started until 11:11 a.m. Before we knew it, the Miller coaching staff, myself and athletic director Mike Hasch were trying to predict when we would actually get the Championship game started later on that night. First pitch for the Miller Invitational Championship was originally slated for approximately 6:30. Dax McLochlin tossed the first pitch in the top of the 1st at 9:59 p.m.
Two hours and one minute later at 12 midnight, the Noblesville Millers captured their own one-day affair, 12-2 over the Homestead Spartans.
Game 1: 4A #7 Noblesville 12, 3A #10 Brebeuf Jesuit 2 (6 innings)
Brebeuf Jesuit 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 2 4 2
Noblesville 4 1 3 1 1 2 - 12 16 0
Similar to Trevor Salmon's start on the mound against New Castle on Monday, it took him the first few hitters to get himself back into a mental groove. Allowing two Braves aboard in the first three hitters, sandwiched between those was Clay Farren grounding out to Salmon at the mound. To end the first and ignite the Miller bench is approval, Trevor struck out Eric Petruzzi (swinging) and Marshall Farren (looking).
Noblesville's offense couldn't wait to dig into the batter's box and get their bats going. Andrew Wilson led off with a double. Brian McLean singled and advanced to second soon after, scoring Wilson. McLean advanced to third on Garrett Christman's single to shallow right center. Dax McLochlin reached on a fielder's choice to third, which forced out GC at 2nd for the first out. Zach St. Pierre got on base with a single to get Dax into scoring position.
Two pitches later, sophomore Connor Christman singled on the ground to left to plate McLochlin. The Millers finished their first inning scoring when Trevor Salmon helped his own cause and drove in St. Pierre with a single over the head of SS Nick Chambers.
And just like that, Noblesville was up 4-0 on six hits.
The Millers tacked on another to make it 5-0 when Andrew Wilson singled and crossed home plate on Dax McLochlin's base-reaching hit to short, but was ruled an error by Chambers.
Brebeuf got on the board in the third when Nick Chambers walked and Clay Farren followed by getting hit by a Salmon pitch. The two moved up the base paths with a double steal while Ben Powell was up. Petruzzi grounded out to third and Chambers trotted home to cut Noblesville's lead to 5-1.
The home standing Millers kept the scoring going in the bottom of the third. Trevor Salmon notched his second of three hits, taking a pitch into center to leadoff. Matt Swearingen would pinch run for him once again, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Bret Rundle.
Wilson walked and McLean doubled to right center to score Andrew from first. The elder Christman (Garrett) reached on an error by second baseman Jake Scott and that allowed B-Mc to score from second to give Noblesville a commanding 8-1 advantage.
Salmon kept his hitting going in his next at-bat in the 4th with one out. Trevor doubled down the right field line. "Speedy" Swearingen was his pinch runner once again. Little #7 stole second, managed his way to third on a passed ball and eventually found his way home on Bret Rundle's RBI-double for a 9-1 Miller cushion.
Run #10 was plated in the 5th when Zach St. Pierre belted a solo home run over the right field wall. The game was almost won on that at-bat, but there was something that happened with Dax on the base path. Dax had initially doubled to the wall in deep left center with one out.
The junior first baseman got a little bit overzealous and tried to steal third, but was gunned down by Braves' catcher Michael Hogan for the second out. Though he had no idea, if Dax would have stayed put at second, St. Pierre's HR would have been a two-run shot and tabbed as the game winner. No worries for Mr. McLochlin though.
Sophomore reliever Cory Conway took to the hill in the 6th. Brebeuf RF Ben Powell welcomed Conway to the 2014 season with a towering leadoff solo home run over the left field wall. That could only cut it to 10-2 as NHS came up in the bottom of the 6th.
Noblesville's offense knew what it had to do to win this game in six. DH Austin Shirley (walked) and catcher Bret Rundle (hit by a pitch) both scored in the bottom of the sixth on a Wilson single and McLochlin's fielder's choice. Millers 12, Brebeuf 2.
Game 2: Homestead 9, Crown Point 8 (9 innings)
Crown Point 0 1 0 3 2 0 1 0 1 - 8 13 1
Homestead 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 2 - 9 12 1
Rather than losing you all with how this game unfolded, inning by inning. There are some key points that are more important than the actual play-by-play happenings.
Thayne Bukowski did highlight the top of the 4th with a two-run single to left, scoring Austin Thomas and Logan Grapenthien. Bukowski was soon after driven home by Tyler Downing to put the Bulldogs up 4-0.
Crown Point starting pitcher Jake Kocher threw four innings of shutout baseball and was pulled by head coach Steve Strayer. I'm not sure why this happened. Kocher was cruising right along through four with 6 strikeouts, while allowing just three walks and three hits. At that point, the Bulldogs had a 4-0 lead on Homestead and figured to be on their way to the championship to face host Noblesville.
Think again. Real hard.
The visitors from northwest Indiana tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 6-0.
Something must have been said in the Homestead huddle in the middle of the 5th inning. The Spartans offense exploded for 7 runs in the 5th! With the way head coach Steve Sotir's squad put 12 in the batter's box that inning, they only needed three hits to do it. Five were walked and one was hit by a pitch. After five full innings, Homestead had climbed into the lead, 7-6.
Fast-forwarding to the 7th. Crown Point was able to tie the score at 7-7 and send it to extra innings. Glenn Hecht leadoff by reaching via an error by SS Drew Lunsford. Three hitters later, relief pitcher Alex Ruiz blooped a single into shallow left.
It was a stalemate in the 8th, so we headed to the 9th.
CP managed to get on the board again with a pinch hitter. Freddy Newman doubles and the just about immediately scored on a single from Bukowski to give the Bulldogs a slight 8-7 edge.
It honestly didn't take much for Homestead to win it in the bottom of the 9th. Luke Landrigan walked and was driven in by Tyler Zimske's double to tie it 8-8. Zimske was the winning run when Ryan Stephens singled to left and Homestead came back again, but this time it was to win 9-8.
Game 3: Consolation - 3A #10 Brebeuf Jesuit 10, Crown Point 7
Crown Point 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 - 7 12 0
Brebeuf Jesuit 0 0 0 0 4 6 X - 10 13 2
Once again, Crown Point jumped out early and tried to sustain a lead and it just couldn't hold it down the stretch.
Two runs each in the 1st, 3rd and 4th innings gave the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. It was like a carbon copy from Game 2 against Homestead.
Brebeuf needed just two innings of scoring to put away Crown Point and secure the W in the Consolation game. Four runs in the 5th and another six in the 6th gave the Braves a 10-7 victory. Over the final two innings of scoring, Brebeuf Jesuit had 10 hits for those 10 runs and completely stymied the Crown Point pitching staff en route to heading back to West 86th St. splitting their two games in the 2014 Miller Invitational.
Game 4: Championship - 4A #7 Noblesville 12, Homestead 2 (5 innings)
Homestead 2 0 0 0 0 - 2 3 2
Noblesville 3 1 6 1 1 - 12 11 2
Dax McLochlin was on the bump for the Millers in hopes of winning their own Miller Invitational. The junior was a bit shaky in his first varsity start, but once he got his groove, he was on!
Drew Lunsford walked on Dax's first five pitches, but the righty quickly settled himself for a couple of hitters, striking out Luke Landrigan and forcing Brady Sheehan into popping up. Tyler Zimske roped a double to center to score Lunsford. Then, Ryan Stephens poked a single to left and Zimske touched home for an early 2-0 Homestead lead, pumping up the visitors. But, that's honestly all the Millers would allow of the opposition.
Andrew Wilson led off the bottom of one with an infield single just beyond the SS Lunsford, followed by another infield single from Brian McLean. A fly out from Garrett Christman to center and line out to third by Dax, the Millers had two on with two outs. Zach St. Pierre reached on a grounder that was ruled an error by 2B Ben Schwartz, sending Wilson home. Connor Christman fouled a pitch off of his ankle, but fought back and stroked a ball to left. Normally it would have been a routine catch, but Adam Newport had trouble with it and it was ruled an error, but McLean made his way home to tie it at 2-2, nonetheless.
Keep the scoring going? Why not?!
Bret Rundle was hit by a pitch with one out to start the 2nd frame for the Millers. Two batters later, Noblesville would take the lead and never give it back. McLean lined a two-out single up the middle, driving in pinch runner Austin Shirley for a 3-2 Millerball lead.
On the defensive side, Dax was really feeling it on the mound. Through three innings of work, the junior had recorded 3 of his 7 strikeouts, but more importantly, he hadn't allowed any more hits and runs since that two-run first.
In the last of the 3rd, it was obvious that the Millers wanted to get this long day of baseball at The Dunk over and done with.
St. Pierre singled to the left of the second base bag, just out of the shortstop's reach. Connor Christman repeated in the next at-bat. But, while CC was up, St. Pierre showed off his wheels on the base paths by stealing both second and third bases! Christman's single drove home St. P for a 4-2 edge. DH Trevor Salmon doubled, but with Connor favoring his ankle, he was held up at 3rd by third base coach Kevin Fitzgerald.
Runners at the corners with one out. Easton Brock got the start in LF and made his hitting presence known. EB drove in Connor with an infield single to go up 5-2. Rundle walked to load the bases heading to the top of the order.
Then, just like that, Homestead hurler Chris Miller left a pitch right over the middle of the plate and Andrew Wilson took full advantage, crushing it over the left field fence for a grand slam home run!
Busted wide open now, Noblesville extended their margin to 10-2 through three innings. That would all she wrote for Spartan starter Chris Miller. He was relieved by Jack Parisi for the final two innings.
Noblesville scored two more runs to close this game out, but Homestead wasn't going out that easy.
St. Pierre was hit by a pitch to lead off the 4th, but that only motivated him to steal his fourth base of the game! St. P soon made it 11-2 on a fielder's choice by Trevor Salmon.
Dax McLochlin drew a one out walk in the 5th and was subbed for pinch runner extraordinaire Matt Swearingen. Swearingen advanced with a St. Pierre single and was in perfect scoring position to seal it. With a 1-1 count on Connor Christman, Parisi threw an off-speed pitch that landed in the dirty for a passed ball, allowing Swearingen to bolt home and give the Millers a 12-2 win in 5 innings!
The win moved the Noblesville record to 3-1 and dropped Homestead to 1-3.
Co-MVPs for the Miller Invitational...
Andrew Wilson (Noblesville) - 4-for-5, Grand Slam, 4 RBIs, 2B, 3 1Bs, 5 Runs, 4 BBs
Zach St. Pierre (Noblesville) - 4-for-6, solo HR, 5 runs, 4 SBs 2 RBIs, 3 1Bs
Noblesville takes its 3-1 record and 4A #7 ranking to the state of Tennessee for four games on their Spring Break trip, playing in the Diamond Demarini Invitational. Here's how the Miller schedule looks while they're in Tennessee:
Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. - at Hardin Valley Academy (9-1) (3A #7 by the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #9 in the latest Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll.
Friday, April 11, 2:30 p.m. - vs. Dobyns-Bennett (11-0) (3A #4 by the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #2 in the latest Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll) at Bearden High School.
Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m. - at Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) (10-2) (2A #2 by the Tennessee Baseball Report)
Saturday, April 12, 3 p.m. - vs. Knoxville West (1-7) at Lindsey Neslon Stadium (University of Tennessee), Knoxville, Tennessee.
Keep up to date with the Millers in their travels this week in Tennessee, as well as next week when the Millers return back to Indiana.
Just a reminder of next week's schedule...
Wednesday, April 16, 6 p.m. - at Fishers
Thursday, April 17, 6 p.m. - vs. Fishers (at The Dunk)
Saturday, April 19, 7 p.m. - vs. Carmel (at The Dunk for the White River Rivalry)
As per usual, if you like what you're reading, don't hesitate to follow me on Twitter (@MillerVoiceNDCB)
Thank you for reading and GO MILLERS!
Two hours and one minute later at 12 midnight, the Noblesville Millers captured their own one-day affair, 12-2 over the Homestead Spartans.
Game 1: 4A #7 Noblesville 12, 3A #10 Brebeuf Jesuit 2 (6 innings)
Brebeuf Jesuit 0 0 1 0 0 1 - 2 4 2
Noblesville 4 1 3 1 1 2 - 12 16 0
Similar to Trevor Salmon's start on the mound against New Castle on Monday, it took him the first few hitters to get himself back into a mental groove. Allowing two Braves aboard in the first three hitters, sandwiched between those was Clay Farren grounding out to Salmon at the mound. To end the first and ignite the Miller bench is approval, Trevor struck out Eric Petruzzi (swinging) and Marshall Farren (looking).
Noblesville's offense couldn't wait to dig into the batter's box and get their bats going. Andrew Wilson led off with a double. Brian McLean singled and advanced to second soon after, scoring Wilson. McLean advanced to third on Garrett Christman's single to shallow right center. Dax McLochlin reached on a fielder's choice to third, which forced out GC at 2nd for the first out. Zach St. Pierre got on base with a single to get Dax into scoring position.
Two pitches later, sophomore Connor Christman singled on the ground to left to plate McLochlin. The Millers finished their first inning scoring when Trevor Salmon helped his own cause and drove in St. Pierre with a single over the head of SS Nick Chambers.
And just like that, Noblesville was up 4-0 on six hits.
The Millers tacked on another to make it 5-0 when Andrew Wilson singled and crossed home plate on Dax McLochlin's base-reaching hit to short, but was ruled an error by Chambers.
Brebeuf got on the board in the third when Nick Chambers walked and Clay Farren followed by getting hit by a Salmon pitch. The two moved up the base paths with a double steal while Ben Powell was up. Petruzzi grounded out to third and Chambers trotted home to cut Noblesville's lead to 5-1.
The home standing Millers kept the scoring going in the bottom of the third. Trevor Salmon notched his second of three hits, taking a pitch into center to leadoff. Matt Swearingen would pinch run for him once again, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Bret Rundle.
Wilson walked and McLean doubled to right center to score Andrew from first. The elder Christman (Garrett) reached on an error by second baseman Jake Scott and that allowed B-Mc to score from second to give Noblesville a commanding 8-1 advantage.
Salmon kept his hitting going in his next at-bat in the 4th with one out. Trevor doubled down the right field line. "Speedy" Swearingen was his pinch runner once again. Little #7 stole second, managed his way to third on a passed ball and eventually found his way home on Bret Rundle's RBI-double for a 9-1 Miller cushion.
Run #10 was plated in the 5th when Zach St. Pierre belted a solo home run over the right field wall. The game was almost won on that at-bat, but there was something that happened with Dax on the base path. Dax had initially doubled to the wall in deep left center with one out.
The junior first baseman got a little bit overzealous and tried to steal third, but was gunned down by Braves' catcher Michael Hogan for the second out. Though he had no idea, if Dax would have stayed put at second, St. Pierre's HR would have been a two-run shot and tabbed as the game winner. No worries for Mr. McLochlin though.
Sophomore reliever Cory Conway took to the hill in the 6th. Brebeuf RF Ben Powell welcomed Conway to the 2014 season with a towering leadoff solo home run over the left field wall. That could only cut it to 10-2 as NHS came up in the bottom of the 6th.
Noblesville's offense knew what it had to do to win this game in six. DH Austin Shirley (walked) and catcher Bret Rundle (hit by a pitch) both scored in the bottom of the sixth on a Wilson single and McLochlin's fielder's choice. Millers 12, Brebeuf 2.
Game 2: Homestead 9, Crown Point 8 (9 innings)
Crown Point 0 1 0 3 2 0 1 0 1 - 8 13 1
Homestead 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 2 - 9 12 1
Rather than losing you all with how this game unfolded, inning by inning. There are some key points that are more important than the actual play-by-play happenings.
Thayne Bukowski did highlight the top of the 4th with a two-run single to left, scoring Austin Thomas and Logan Grapenthien. Bukowski was soon after driven home by Tyler Downing to put the Bulldogs up 4-0.
Crown Point starting pitcher Jake Kocher threw four innings of shutout baseball and was pulled by head coach Steve Strayer. I'm not sure why this happened. Kocher was cruising right along through four with 6 strikeouts, while allowing just three walks and three hits. At that point, the Bulldogs had a 4-0 lead on Homestead and figured to be on their way to the championship to face host Noblesville.
Think again. Real hard.
The visitors from northwest Indiana tallied two more runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 6-0.
Something must have been said in the Homestead huddle in the middle of the 5th inning. The Spartans offense exploded for 7 runs in the 5th! With the way head coach Steve Sotir's squad put 12 in the batter's box that inning, they only needed three hits to do it. Five were walked and one was hit by a pitch. After five full innings, Homestead had climbed into the lead, 7-6.
Fast-forwarding to the 7th. Crown Point was able to tie the score at 7-7 and send it to extra innings. Glenn Hecht leadoff by reaching via an error by SS Drew Lunsford. Three hitters later, relief pitcher Alex Ruiz blooped a single into shallow left.
It was a stalemate in the 8th, so we headed to the 9th.
CP managed to get on the board again with a pinch hitter. Freddy Newman doubles and the just about immediately scored on a single from Bukowski to give the Bulldogs a slight 8-7 edge.
It honestly didn't take much for Homestead to win it in the bottom of the 9th. Luke Landrigan walked and was driven in by Tyler Zimske's double to tie it 8-8. Zimske was the winning run when Ryan Stephens singled to left and Homestead came back again, but this time it was to win 9-8.
Game 3: Consolation - 3A #10 Brebeuf Jesuit 10, Crown Point 7
Crown Point 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 - 7 12 0
Brebeuf Jesuit 0 0 0 0 4 6 X - 10 13 2
Once again, Crown Point jumped out early and tried to sustain a lead and it just couldn't hold it down the stretch.
Two runs each in the 1st, 3rd and 4th innings gave the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. It was like a carbon copy from Game 2 against Homestead.
Brebeuf needed just two innings of scoring to put away Crown Point and secure the W in the Consolation game. Four runs in the 5th and another six in the 6th gave the Braves a 10-7 victory. Over the final two innings of scoring, Brebeuf Jesuit had 10 hits for those 10 runs and completely stymied the Crown Point pitching staff en route to heading back to West 86th St. splitting their two games in the 2014 Miller Invitational.
Game 4: Championship - 4A #7 Noblesville 12, Homestead 2 (5 innings)
Homestead 2 0 0 0 0 - 2 3 2
Noblesville 3 1 6 1 1 - 12 11 2
Dax McLochlin was on the bump for the Millers in hopes of winning their own Miller Invitational. The junior was a bit shaky in his first varsity start, but once he got his groove, he was on!
Drew Lunsford walked on Dax's first five pitches, but the righty quickly settled himself for a couple of hitters, striking out Luke Landrigan and forcing Brady Sheehan into popping up. Tyler Zimske roped a double to center to score Lunsford. Then, Ryan Stephens poked a single to left and Zimske touched home for an early 2-0 Homestead lead, pumping up the visitors. But, that's honestly all the Millers would allow of the opposition.
Andrew Wilson led off the bottom of one with an infield single just beyond the SS Lunsford, followed by another infield single from Brian McLean. A fly out from Garrett Christman to center and line out to third by Dax, the Millers had two on with two outs. Zach St. Pierre reached on a grounder that was ruled an error by 2B Ben Schwartz, sending Wilson home. Connor Christman fouled a pitch off of his ankle, but fought back and stroked a ball to left. Normally it would have been a routine catch, but Adam Newport had trouble with it and it was ruled an error, but McLean made his way home to tie it at 2-2, nonetheless.
Keep the scoring going? Why not?!
Bret Rundle was hit by a pitch with one out to start the 2nd frame for the Millers. Two batters later, Noblesville would take the lead and never give it back. McLean lined a two-out single up the middle, driving in pinch runner Austin Shirley for a 3-2 Millerball lead.
On the defensive side, Dax was really feeling it on the mound. Through three innings of work, the junior had recorded 3 of his 7 strikeouts, but more importantly, he hadn't allowed any more hits and runs since that two-run first.
In the last of the 3rd, it was obvious that the Millers wanted to get this long day of baseball at The Dunk over and done with.
St. Pierre singled to the left of the second base bag, just out of the shortstop's reach. Connor Christman repeated in the next at-bat. But, while CC was up, St. Pierre showed off his wheels on the base paths by stealing both second and third bases! Christman's single drove home St. P for a 4-2 edge. DH Trevor Salmon doubled, but with Connor favoring his ankle, he was held up at 3rd by third base coach Kevin Fitzgerald.
Runners at the corners with one out. Easton Brock got the start in LF and made his hitting presence known. EB drove in Connor with an infield single to go up 5-2. Rundle walked to load the bases heading to the top of the order.
Then, just like that, Homestead hurler Chris Miller left a pitch right over the middle of the plate and Andrew Wilson took full advantage, crushing it over the left field fence for a grand slam home run!
Busted wide open now, Noblesville extended their margin to 10-2 through three innings. That would all she wrote for Spartan starter Chris Miller. He was relieved by Jack Parisi for the final two innings.
Noblesville scored two more runs to close this game out, but Homestead wasn't going out that easy.
St. Pierre was hit by a pitch to lead off the 4th, but that only motivated him to steal his fourth base of the game! St. P soon made it 11-2 on a fielder's choice by Trevor Salmon.
Dax McLochlin drew a one out walk in the 5th and was subbed for pinch runner extraordinaire Matt Swearingen. Swearingen advanced with a St. Pierre single and was in perfect scoring position to seal it. With a 1-1 count on Connor Christman, Parisi threw an off-speed pitch that landed in the dirty for a passed ball, allowing Swearingen to bolt home and give the Millers a 12-2 win in 5 innings!
The win moved the Noblesville record to 3-1 and dropped Homestead to 1-3.
Co-MVPs for the Miller Invitational...
Andrew Wilson (Noblesville) - 4-for-5, Grand Slam, 4 RBIs, 2B, 3 1Bs, 5 Runs, 4 BBs
Zach St. Pierre (Noblesville) - 4-for-6, solo HR, 5 runs, 4 SBs 2 RBIs, 3 1Bs
Noblesville takes its 3-1 record and 4A #7 ranking to the state of Tennessee for four games on their Spring Break trip, playing in the Diamond Demarini Invitational. Here's how the Miller schedule looks while they're in Tennessee:
Thursday, April 10, 7:30 p.m. - at Hardin Valley Academy (9-1) (3A #7 by the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #9 in the latest Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll.
Friday, April 11, 2:30 p.m. - vs. Dobyns-Bennett (11-0) (3A #4 by the Tennessee Baseball Report and 3A #2 in the latest Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association poll) at Bearden High School.
Saturday, April 12, 10 a.m. - at Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) (10-2) (2A #2 by the Tennessee Baseball Report)
Saturday, April 12, 3 p.m. - vs. Knoxville West (1-7) at Lindsey Neslon Stadium (University of Tennessee), Knoxville, Tennessee.
Keep up to date with the Millers in their travels this week in Tennessee, as well as next week when the Millers return back to Indiana.
Just a reminder of next week's schedule...
Wednesday, April 16, 6 p.m. - at Fishers
Thursday, April 17, 6 p.m. - vs. Fishers (at The Dunk)
Saturday, April 19, 7 p.m. - vs. Carmel (at The Dunk for the White River Rivalry)
As per usual, if you like what you're reading, don't hesitate to follow me on Twitter (@MillerVoiceNDCB)
Thank you for reading and GO MILLERS!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
4A #7 Millers open '14 with rout of New Castle
The weather for Opening Day at The Dunk couldn't have been better, especially with it being March 31st and remembering the dreadful winter that we've just endured. 67 degrees and sunny, with a little bit of wind was a great fit from Mother Nature to help the 4A #7 Noblesville Millers and the visiting New Castle Trojans get the 2014 baseball season started. Perfect weather for the home/season opener for Noblesville and it couldn't have been more fitting that the Millers wound up with a lopsided 13-3 victory in 5 innings over New Castle.
4A #7 Noblesville 13, New Castle 3 (5 innings) - (March 31, Dunker Field, Noblesville)
1 2 3 4 5 R H E
New Castle 1 0 0 0 2 - 3 4 2
Noblesville 0 3 0 10 X - 13 9 2
It was a rough go for senior Miller southpaw Trevor Salmon as he was forced to work in and out of jams on the mound that he probably didn't think he'd have to face in his season debut. Salmon threw 37 pitches (20 strikes) in the first frame and was somewhat surprised by New Castle's first trip through the batting order.
Trojan catcher Zak Kellogg got New Castle going right away with a leadoff single on the ground into left. He advanced to second on a passed ball by Salmon. Kenny Martin was hit by a Trevor Salmon pitch for runners at the corners. The bases were then loaded when pitcher Grant Malott was walked on five pitches. Two strikeouts in a row by Trevor and he became a little more at ease. Trouble struck a little next when the DH, Cory Isenbarger, walked on seven pitches to allow Kellogg to trot in from third for a 1-0 New Castle lead.
Malott went to the mound for New Castle in the bottom of the first with complete comfort and a 1-0 edge. The senior hurler showed full well that he was ready to face the Miller lineup. He tallied two K's and a groundout in the only three hitters he faced.
Let's start off with a 3-run 3rd...
Noblesville got its offense going in the last of the second. Sophomore 3B Connor Christman led the inning off with a double up the middle. Salmon walked and was subbed for pinch runner Matt Swearingen.
In his varsity debut, sophomore DH Austin Shirley hit an RBI single up the middle into center field, scoring Connor Christman, tying the game at 1-1.
Next, catcher Bret Rundle took 1-0 pitch and chopped a three-hopper to Nick Jones at short, but Rundle beat out the play to first. That wasn't the significant thing about Rundle's infield single. Swearingen and Shirley were both waived home by 3rd base coach Kevin Fitzgerald and Noblesville 3-1 lead off of two straight hits, awaking the home standing Miller faithful.
When's the last time you saw a 10-run inning?
The Millers weren't done scoring for sure.
Tyler Smith was now pitching for New Castle. After Easton Brock pinch-hit, flying out to right to lead off the 4th, Austin Shirley hit himself aboard for the second straight at-bat of his varsity debut. Shirley quickly stole second with Rundle up. Rundle did it again, legging out an infield single, advancing Shirley to third with one out.
Leadoff hitter Andrew Wilson climbed aboard with a six-pitch walk to load the bags. Then, it was Brian McLean that was walked, plating Shirley to go up 4-1. Garrett Christman walked to score pinch runner Brady Lutz (for Rundle) and the score was now 5-1.
Junior first baseman Dax McLochlin busted the seams out of the 4th inning with a three-run double the wall in right center, which scored Wilson, McLean and Garrett Christman to extend the score to 8-1.
Zach St. Pierre flied out to center for his third straight plate appearance of the game. Then, Connor Christman notched his second hit into left, this time driving in Dax for a 9-1 Miller lead.
Easton Brock's second at-bat of the inning as a pinch-hitter for Salmon was an RBI-single into center to send Connor home pushing the Millers further away from the Trojans, 10-1.
With Brock aboard, Shirley was hit by a pitch and Rundle was walked to load the bases again. Lutz again subbed in as a pinch-runner for the catcher. Andrew Wilson then took a 2-1 pitch for a double to the outfield, driving in Brock and Shirley for a 12-1 cushion. Lutz score the 10th run of the fourth to all but seal this 10-run season-opening victory.
New Castle's last-ditch effort...
Pinch-hitter Brady Renner singled on the first pitch he saw off Garrett Christman, who came in to relieve Salmon in the top of the 5th. Zak Kellogg reached on an error by Miller sub second baseman Michael Carmosino to put two Trojans on. Coby Isenbarger reached on an error. Two hitters later, Bryce Stevenson hit a two-run single into center to score Renner and Kellogg, but that would be it. Cayden Smekens grounded out to GC at the mound to end the ball game.
A solid offensive effort from Noblesville will have to be on its "A game" on Friday afternoon. The 4A #7 ranked Millers head to south to face Kentucky's #1 ranked St. Xavier squad. The game was supposed to be played today (Thursday) at 3 p.m., but the monsoon that stretched across the state of Indiana and northern Kentucky forced the two schools to postpone until Friday. It will be a 2 p.m. first pitch in Louisville.
This Saturday, Noblesville comes back home to host the Miller Classic. This year's field features Noblesville and Brebeuf Jesuit facing off in the first game at 11 a.m. Homestead and Crown Point duke it out in the second game around 1:30 p.m. The consolation game will be played around 4 p.m. and the Miller Classic championship at approximately 6:30 p.m.
If you like what you've read, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter: @MillerVoiceNDCB
GO MILLERS!
4A #7 Noblesville 13, New Castle 3 (5 innings) - (March 31, Dunker Field, Noblesville)
1 2 3 4 5 R H E
New Castle 1 0 0 0 2 - 3 4 2
Noblesville 0 3 0 10 X - 13 9 2
It was a rough go for senior Miller southpaw Trevor Salmon as he was forced to work in and out of jams on the mound that he probably didn't think he'd have to face in his season debut. Salmon threw 37 pitches (20 strikes) in the first frame and was somewhat surprised by New Castle's first trip through the batting order.
Trojan catcher Zak Kellogg got New Castle going right away with a leadoff single on the ground into left. He advanced to second on a passed ball by Salmon. Kenny Martin was hit by a Trevor Salmon pitch for runners at the corners. The bases were then loaded when pitcher Grant Malott was walked on five pitches. Two strikeouts in a row by Trevor and he became a little more at ease. Trouble struck a little next when the DH, Cory Isenbarger, walked on seven pitches to allow Kellogg to trot in from third for a 1-0 New Castle lead.
Malott went to the mound for New Castle in the bottom of the first with complete comfort and a 1-0 edge. The senior hurler showed full well that he was ready to face the Miller lineup. He tallied two K's and a groundout in the only three hitters he faced.
Let's start off with a 3-run 3rd...
Noblesville got its offense going in the last of the second. Sophomore 3B Connor Christman led the inning off with a double up the middle. Salmon walked and was subbed for pinch runner Matt Swearingen.
In his varsity debut, sophomore DH Austin Shirley hit an RBI single up the middle into center field, scoring Connor Christman, tying the game at 1-1.
Next, catcher Bret Rundle took 1-0 pitch and chopped a three-hopper to Nick Jones at short, but Rundle beat out the play to first. That wasn't the significant thing about Rundle's infield single. Swearingen and Shirley were both waived home by 3rd base coach Kevin Fitzgerald and Noblesville 3-1 lead off of two straight hits, awaking the home standing Miller faithful.
When's the last time you saw a 10-run inning?
The Millers weren't done scoring for sure.
Tyler Smith was now pitching for New Castle. After Easton Brock pinch-hit, flying out to right to lead off the 4th, Austin Shirley hit himself aboard for the second straight at-bat of his varsity debut. Shirley quickly stole second with Rundle up. Rundle did it again, legging out an infield single, advancing Shirley to third with one out.
Leadoff hitter Andrew Wilson climbed aboard with a six-pitch walk to load the bags. Then, it was Brian McLean that was walked, plating Shirley to go up 4-1. Garrett Christman walked to score pinch runner Brady Lutz (for Rundle) and the score was now 5-1.
Junior first baseman Dax McLochlin busted the seams out of the 4th inning with a three-run double the wall in right center, which scored Wilson, McLean and Garrett Christman to extend the score to 8-1.
Zach St. Pierre flied out to center for his third straight plate appearance of the game. Then, Connor Christman notched his second hit into left, this time driving in Dax for a 9-1 Miller lead.
Easton Brock's second at-bat of the inning as a pinch-hitter for Salmon was an RBI-single into center to send Connor home pushing the Millers further away from the Trojans, 10-1.
With Brock aboard, Shirley was hit by a pitch and Rundle was walked to load the bases again. Lutz again subbed in as a pinch-runner for the catcher. Andrew Wilson then took a 2-1 pitch for a double to the outfield, driving in Brock and Shirley for a 12-1 cushion. Lutz score the 10th run of the fourth to all but seal this 10-run season-opening victory.
New Castle's last-ditch effort...
Pinch-hitter Brady Renner singled on the first pitch he saw off Garrett Christman, who came in to relieve Salmon in the top of the 5th. Zak Kellogg reached on an error by Miller sub second baseman Michael Carmosino to put two Trojans on. Coby Isenbarger reached on an error. Two hitters later, Bryce Stevenson hit a two-run single into center to score Renner and Kellogg, but that would be it. Cayden Smekens grounded out to GC at the mound to end the ball game.
A solid offensive effort from Noblesville will have to be on its "A game" on Friday afternoon. The 4A #7 ranked Millers head to south to face Kentucky's #1 ranked St. Xavier squad. The game was supposed to be played today (Thursday) at 3 p.m., but the monsoon that stretched across the state of Indiana and northern Kentucky forced the two schools to postpone until Friday. It will be a 2 p.m. first pitch in Louisville.
This Saturday, Noblesville comes back home to host the Miller Classic. This year's field features Noblesville and Brebeuf Jesuit facing off in the first game at 11 a.m. Homestead and Crown Point duke it out in the second game around 1:30 p.m. The consolation game will be played around 4 p.m. and the Miller Classic championship at approximately 6:30 p.m.
If you like what you've read, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter: @MillerVoiceNDCB
GO MILLERS!
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