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.
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