It's always good to invite different schools to play in your tournament, but yet still be able to win two games to take the championship. In years past, Noblesville and Hamilton Heights have met in the title tilt of the Noblesville Classic, which normally results in the Millers winning by about an average of 8-10 runs or putting the ten-run rule on the Huskies and sending them packing north up State Road 19.
That wasn't the case this year. Noblesville invited annual participant Mississinewa and 3A #3 ranked Lebanon to play in the second game of the day. It was anticipated that the Millers would face off with the 3rd-rated Tigers for the Classic championship. Unfortunately, that's not how the hand was dealt on Saturday for Noblesville.
Bordering communities and school districts, Hamilton Heights and Noblesville are neighbors, friends and family. On the field, all of that goes out the window and it's business.
Since I'm about a week and a half behind, I will just give a brief summary of each game and what made the game turnout the way it did. After that, the all-tournament team for the 2014 Noblesville Classic, chosen by yours truly.
Game 1: Hamilton Heights 8, 4A #7 Noblesville 7 (Saturday, 5/17 at The Dunk)
Huskies 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 - 8 7 2
Millers 1 0 2 2 1 1 0 - 7 6 2
In preparation for the upcoming week that would have the Millers playing 4 conference games in 5 days, head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt decided that they would try to save their starting rotation's arms and look to their bullpen depth to pitch in the Noblesville Classic.
That move worked, to an extent.
Senior Tyler Gamble got the nod for the start. He's another lefty in the Noblesville lineup that could prove to be a vital piece in the Millers' postseason state tournament run. Gamble tossed the first three innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and striking out 3.
Sophomore Clayton Marowski came in to relieve Gamble and it took a few hitters to get acclimated to varsity hitting after being called up from the JV Black squad.
Marowski gave up two runs and two hits in his two innings during the 4th and 5th, but showed he belongs with taking down all three Heights hitters by groundout and two fly outs.
Dax McLochlin, who has been Noblesville #4 starter in the rotation, came on to work the final two frames. Hamilton Heights tacked 3 more runs on the board in the 6th to grab an 8-6 lead to gain more confidence in hopes of knocking off their Hamilton county rival.
All the Millers could muster up offensively in their half of the sixth was Garrett Christman hitting a sacrifice fly to score Andrew Wilson. That would wind up as the final score of 8-7, giving the Huskies the upset they were looking for to open up the Noblesville Classic.
McLochlin was tabbed with the loss for his first blemish on the mound. That landed Noblesville into the Consolation game against Mississinewa and Hamilton Heights into the championship game vs. Lebanon.
Game 2: 3A #3 Lebanon 14, Mississinewa 2 (5 innings)
Indians 0 0 0 2 0 - 2 5 1
Tigers 1 1 4 7 1 - 14 13 0
Jackson Bland pitched a 5 inning, five hitter while giving up just a pair of runs to advance the 3A #3 Lebanon Tigers into the title game of the 2014 Noblesville Classic.
With the help from Nathan Kincaid, Caleb Myers and Jackson Bennett at the plate, Lebanon showed Mississinewa what they were all about and why they've been ranked in Class 3A all season long.
Kincaid led all Lebanon hitters with a 3-3 performance with 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored. He was also a home run shy of hitting for the cycle.
Myers hit well in his clean-up slot, going 3-3 with a pair of runs and RBIs. Bennett chipped in with two hits and a pair of runs scored.
Game 3: 4A #7 Noblesville 17, Mississinewa 1 (5 innings)
Indians 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 4 2
Millers 6 4 4 3 x - 17 16 0
Rightfully so, Noblesville was more than furious with themselves that Hamilton Heights knocked them out in the first game of the day, so why wouldn't they take it out on their next opponent.
Mississinewa had no idea what was in store for them before they matched up with the Millers.
Six runs on 5 hits in the 1st for the hosts and their offense was back on track. They sent 10 batters to the plate, sending Indians' pitcher Austin Kern into a situation that he didn't know how to get out of.
The 2nd didn't get any better for Kern. Four runs on 4 hits gave Keever and his Millers a 10-1 advantage that they planned to extend further.
Four runs again in the 3rd and three more in the 4th kept the Millers on a hitting spree that they were hoping to be on for quite a while now.
The offense wasn't the best thing that happened for Noblesville in the "consolation game" that Saturday afternoon.
Deciding to start sophomore southpaw Cory Conway was a great decision by pitching coach Greg Vogt and head coach Justin Keever.
Conway tossed a tremendous game to help right the ship after a tough loss to Hamilton Heights to open the day.
CC fanned 7 Mississinewa hitters over his 5 innings of work on the hill, while only giving up 4 hits, one walk and only one run. Conway's curveball was doing exactly what it was supposed to, puzzling hitters as they struck out, shaking their head as they walked back to the dugout.
The Millers' offense really didn't need much once it got going. It was highlighted by Vinny Essig's grand slam home run over the left field wall that gave Noblesville a 4-1 lead that they would only add onto for a 17-1 pummeling of Mississinewa in 5 innings.
Also driving in multiple runs were Dax McLochlin, Easton Brock and Connor Christman, all three with 2 RBIs each.
Championship: 3A #3 Lebanon 10, Hamilton Heights 0 (6 innings)
Huskies 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 5
Tigers 3 2 0 0 0 5 - 10 9 3
It almost seemed like Hamilton Heights was completely satisfied by just edging out Noblesville and it was pretty obvious throughout the championship game of the Noblesville Classic.
Jackson Bennett couldn't have had a better outing. The senior hurler did everything in his power to keep the Huskies hitless and off of the base paths.
Bennett was helped at the plate by himself, going 3-4 with a couple RBIs, along with Kincaid and Myers again. Those three combined for half of Lebanon's 10 runs driven in.
He also came close to two different great things that any pitcher would like to accomplish it their career. Bennett was oh so close to first a perfect game and also a no-hitter.
Through five innings of perfect pitching, Bennett mowed down 6 in that span, giving hope that we might witness history at Dunker Field.
With Hamilton Heights being the home team on the scoreboard, Lebanon had to hold the Huskies in the bottom of the 6th to secure the 10-run win on D, after scoring five in the top to grab the double-digit lead.
Forcing Ian Nicholson into a ground out back to the mound, Bennett got a little antsy for personal history.
It became that much more difficult. He lost his perfect game bid by walking Jacob Hammel on four pitches. Then, lost the no-hit effort with Seth Harris' single up the middle into center for two runners on. That set him off a little and Bennett struck out Christian McGill and Sam Reel to end the game for a one-hit shutout, 10-0.
2014 Noblesville Classic All-Tournament Team
P - Jackson Bennett (Lebanon): 6 IP, H, BB, (lost perfect game/no-hit bid in 6th); 5-7, 2 RBI, 3 runs, 5 singles
P - Jackson Bland (Lebanon): 5 IP, 5H, 2R, 4 SO, BB; 0-2, R
P - Cory Conway (Noblesville): 5 IP, 4H, BB, 7 SO (hitters = 0-15 when CC ahead in count)
C - Bret Rundle (Noblesville): 1-4, 3B
1B - Dax McLochlin (Noblesville): 4-6, 4 runs, 2 2B, 2 1B, 3 RBIs, 2 SF, SB
2B - Vinny Essig (Noblesville): 2-5, 2 runs, 4 RBIs (grand slam)
3B - Nathan Kincaid (Lebanon): 5-6, 6 runs, 4 RBIs, 3B, 2 2Bs, 2 1Bs
SS - Garrett Christman (Noblesville): 2-5, 4 runs, 2 RBIs, 2 1Bs, 3 BBs
OF - Andrew Wilson (Noblesville): 3-6, 5 runs, 2B, RBI, 2 1Bs, 2 SBs, 2 BBs
OF - Brian McLean (Noblesville): 3-6, 4 runs, 3 1Bs, RBI, 3 SBs, BB
OF - Easton Brock (Noblesville): 4-4, 2B, 3 1Bs, RBI, 3 SBs, BB
OF - Sam Reel (Hamilton Heights): 2-6, 2 RBIs, 2 1Bs, R, BB
DH - Caleb Myers (Lebanon): 5-6, 4 RBIs, 3 runs, 2 2Bs, 3 1Bs
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