It's simply uncanny how this group of Noblesville Millers have become who and what they are on this journey thought the Class 4A baseball state tournament.
Tight-knit as can be with each other, head coach Justin Keever and his staff have brought the Noblesville High School baseball program to a level that it has never been. The Millers have now taken the program one step further than its ever been. In 2007, Keever and company, led on the field by current JV assistant coach and then-sophomore Jake Wood, made a state tournament run all the way to the Final Four before being bested by Cathedral.
From a personal standpoint, I was new to the area, but had honestly only seen a few of the Millers' games in that 2007 season while being a freelance writer for a local high school sports web site.
This 2014 team is just different. There's something about this group that just keeps the magic happening week after week and game after game.
Selfless could be the best word to describe this group. It didn't matter who was in the lineup each game or who came in during different situations to contribute, as long as it was for the good of the team.
This team really didn't have that one player that the opposition focused on. Head coach Justin Keever has a lineup full of players that constantly keep the opponent on its heels and wondering what will happen next.
Sure, there were numerous Millers that stand out on stat sheets, but nothing that glares off the page that becomes the focal point of the scouting report.
It was a season of winning streaks, tough losses that were scattered and moments that these players will cherish forever.
The Millers had winning streaks of 3, 7, 4 and put an exclamation point on their 4A state tournament run with a 9-game win streak that culminated with Friday night's 2-1 win over Terre Haute North, crowning them the 2014 Class 4A State Champions!
This state championship season will go down as one that Noblesville Millers players, coaches, fans, parents and the whole Noblesville community and city will never forget.
Even two days later, this still hasn't fully sunk in and seems surreal that we are the 4A State Champions for the 2014 season in the state of Indiana. It brings a smile to my face that I really haven't been able to remove since the final out was recorded on Friday night.
This being my 6th season as the PA voice of Noblesville Miller baseball, I keep etching myself deeper and deeper as a part of this Miller baseball family and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it and having the role that I've taken on.
Class 4A State Championship - Victory Field, Indianapolis
4A #8 Noblesville 2, 4A #15 Terre Haute North 1
Noblesville 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 - 2 6 0
Terre Haute North 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 1
Anytime that you appear in a game at this level and on this grand stage in prime time on a Friday night, there are bound to be jitters .
This was Noblesville's first ever appearance in the baseball championship game and Terre Haute North's first since 1983, when the Patriots lost 4-2 to Fort Wayne Northrop at Bush Stadium in Indianapolis. Until 1997, all sports, excluding football, were still in the single-class format.
Being the visitors on the scoreboard, the Millers would bat first and try to shake loose the nervousness as quick as they could.
Two quick outs via a strikeout and groundout by Andrew Wilson and Brian McLean, respectively, gave North starting pitcher Austin Hicks a confidence boost. Hicks allowed his first hit as Garrett Christman slinged a 1-0 pitch to left, but pinch runner Matt Swearingen was stranded at first on Vinny Essig's strikeout to end the top of the first.
The Patriot bats weren't jittery from the start. Zach Milam mirrored Christman's hit and took a 3-2 pitch to left. Highly-touted sophomore catcher TJ Collett was hit by a pitch for two runners on with one out. Collett was relieved by pinch runner Lucas Davis.
Nathan Will duplicated Milam's single to left and drove home Milam for Terre Haute North's lone run of the night and an early 1-0 lead.
Christman got out of the jam 5 pitches later, forcing Cody Maloon into a routine 5-4-3 double play.
Noblesville's second trip to the plate was quick, but Zack St. Pierre led off with a single to right, but was doubled off first base when Easton Brock lined out to Will at first.
Garrett got more comfortable on the mound over the next few innings, striking out three and scattering just three hits before Cory Conway took over.
Bret Rundle put a spark in the Miller offense by getting aboard by an error from second baseman Jonathan Eilbracht, as Rundle's hard hit grounder took a hop and Eilbracht couldn't corral it.
Sophomore Austin Shirley was on to pinch run for Rundle. Andrew Wilson stroked a hit to right center to get the "blacked out" Miller faithful on their feet. The Noblesville crowd would jump to their feet again moments later. Brian McLean got under an 0-1 pitch and flied out to right, but that allowed Austin Shirley to trot home and Noblesville was now tied with Terre Haute North, 1-1.
Cory Conway was on with one out and Eilbracht on 2nd. CC might have been a hair nervous and he showed it a little by walking Milam and Collett (intentionally) to give the Patriots bases loaded with one out.
Not a problem at all for the sophomore crafty lefty.
Conway got a chance to show off his best, striking out Nathan Will and Cody Maloon (looking) to end the Terre Haute North threat, leaving the bags full.
Patient as he could be, Zack St. Pierre was walked by Hicks to lead off the 6th. Next, something happened that got the Miller crowd as loud as it had been all night.
Dax McLochlin got ahold of a Hicks curveball and lofted it up and over the head of center fielder Lane Dransfield. The junior first baseman was waived to come on to third by 3rd base coach Kevin Fitzgerald and did so sliding in head first. On the hit, Zach St. Pierre scored from first to give Noblesville the lead 2-1.
Noblesville's fans had completely erupted at this point and I'm glad that I was in the front row, just in front of the field tarp and just off the dugout to witness this.
Conway seemed a little tense as he could feel the pressure, but that really didn't phase the him much. Sandwiched by three walks to lead the bases for the second inning in a row, Cory was able to get two outs before senior Trevor Salmon came on in the bottom of the 6th.
Salmon hadn't pitched since Fort Wayne Carroll jumped on him for 3 runs in the first in Noblesvilles comeback Regional Championship game 13 days prior.
There couldn't be a better time for Trevor to come into the game and get his personal confidence back where it should be.
Trevor was completely focused on his task at hand and struck out Zach Milam (looking) for the third out
After the Millers left a pair of runners on base to end the top of the 7th, Salmon was back to work looking to earn the save.
TJ Collett led things off with a single to left to get the Patriots' crowd back into the game. At that point, all 4,961 in attendance at Victory Field were on their feet.
Collett was subbed once again for a pinch runner (Lucas Davis). It's much easier for a left-handed pitcher to keep tabs on a runner on base. Salmon caught Davis off of first just a little far and flicked the ball over to Dax McLochlin and picked Davis off for the first out. That made the next two outs somewhat easier for Salmon.
Nathan Will grounded out to Dax at first for the second out. Cody Maloom grounded to Vinny Essig at 2nd and Essig tossed easily to McLochlin at first and the game was over!
The Millers had outlasted the Patriots 2-1 and the dog pile ensued beside the pitcher's mound in celebration.
North left 10 runners on base, but more importantly the Patriots left the bases loaded in both the 5th and 6th innings. Noblesville left 8 on base, but was able to keep control of things with solid pitching.
Garrett Christman worked hard and left the game in the fifth with 3 strikeouts, allowing 5 hits and one run (earned).
Cory Conway fanned 3 in 1.1 innings, walked 5, but still managed to earn the win to improve his record to 5-1.
Enter Trevor Salmon to save the game. Salmon came in with two outs in the bottom of the 6th and pitched like an absolute boss. Striking out Milam with the bases juiced, the Miller crowd rose to its feet. Trevor came back out in beast mode in the bottom of the 7th to finish off the Patriots and had to face Collett first. Three up and three down and the Millers achieved their ultimate goal.
Noblesville had become something they had only dreamed about...STATE CHAMPIONS!
It came down to completely selfless play by the Millers and another solid team win. It was in the cards for the Noblesville Millers to complete this state tournament run with hoisting the state championship trophy.
This is Noblesville's first baseball state championship and the first overall for the athletic program since 1999 when the boys' golf team brought home the hardware for the second of back-to-back state titles in 1998 and 1999.
Terre Haute North's season came to an end with a record of 25-8. With 8 seniors on their roster, the Patriots should be primed for another state tournament run in 2015, especially with the help of University of Kentucky recruit and sophomore TJ Collett, along with DH Cody Maloon and RF Bretty Herndon.
Center fielder Brian McLean and manager Megan Lutz will never forget this particular birthday that they share. The two turned a year older and probably won't be able to top a birthday gift of winning the state championship.
Noblesville put the icing on the cake of the 2014 season with the state championship and finished with a 28-8 final record and a 9-game winning streak.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Noblesville down early, overcomes to win 4A North Semi-State over Lake Central
There's been that vibe that something special is going to happen for the Noblesville Miller baseball team for quite some time. Bits and pieces have been happening all season long and it's all starting to culminate into a 4A state tournament run all the way to the state championship game this coming Friday at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis.
Prior to Saturday's 4A North Semi-State Championship game vs. Lake Central, the Millers appeared loose, but it could very well have been a front, knowing what kind of stake this game had.
Focusing on the task at hand of taking down the Lake Central Indians wouldn't be an easy thing by any means. Every facet of the Millers' game had to be clicking for a win and a spot in the state championship game next Friday night.
It might have helped from a mental standpoint that the PA announcer at Plymouth's Bill Nixon Field was updating the crowd on the 4A South Semi-State that had gotten an earlier start. Terre Haute North trailed Castle early on 4-0, but found a way to come back for an 8-4 win, finding their slot in the state championship opposite of the Noblesville Millers.
4A #8 Noblesville 4, Lake Central 3 - 4A North Semi-State at Bill Nixon Field, Plymouth)
Lake Central 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 5 3
Noblesville 0 0 0 4 0 0 x - 4 7 3
Garrett Christman (7-1) got the call once again to start on the bump for the Millers, who has a team-tying 7 wins this season, tied along with senior mound mate Trevor Salmon (7-3).
Things couldn't start any tougher in the top of the 1st with the leadoff hitter being highly touted Purdue University recruit Alec Olund. Christman had to try and work his wit early on Olund and the Lake Central leadoff man felt no pressure, singling to left to get the Indians' fans in it early.
G tried throwing over to first to keep Olund honest, but on his throw over to Dax McLochlin at first, it sailed on past the junior first baseman and Olund sprinted all the way to third.
Garrett is a cerebral pitcher and that didn't bother him in the lease bit. The next three Lake Central batters were retired via G's first strikeout, along with two consecutive pop outs to strand Olund at third.
The Miller bats were possibly nervous in their first two innings at the dish, only hitting Indian pitcher Brenden Seren twice, but with reaching on an error and two walks, Noblesville had already left 4 runners on base through two.
Lake Central was able to get runners on base and make a little noise on G in the 2nd. Ben Nisle led off getting on from a hard hit ball to short, resulting in an error by Vinny Essig. Johnny Gbur dropped down a sacrifice bunt to get Nisle over to 2nd, but the ball rolled right to McLochlin on the first baseline and he was tagged out by Dax for the first out.
Two straight walks to Jorey Dimopoulos and Alex Mantel loaded the bases for LC. Alex Nisle grounded out to Dax and he easily tossed to Christman at first for the second out, but that drove home freshman brother Ben for a 1-0 Lake Central lead.
The Indians got back at it again in the top of the 3rd. With one out, Brenden Seren was hit in the back by a 1-0 pitch. Three batters later, Johnny Gbur drove a single to left to score Seren's pinch runner John Milaszewski and it was 2-0 Lake Central after the Millers went 1-2-3 in the bottom.
Christman decided that it was time to lockdown on the Indians hitters starting in the 4th and that's exactly what he did. He got them to groundout, strikeout and pop out, getting the Miller faithful in attendance on their feet and ready for a rally with the bats.
Noblesville's offense had also figured it was time to get in the head of Seren on the mound.
It seems to be a common theme lately that the Millers put up a crooked number in the line score on the scoreboard. This is now the 5th consecutive game where Noblesville has scored 4+ runs in either the 3rd, 4th or 5th innings.
Zack St. Pierre made Seren work on the mound and then finally, the senior right fielder drove a high fly ball towering over the right field wall for a leadoff solo home run, his 6th of the season, cutting Lake Central's lead in half at 2-1.
Two batters later, Easton Brock singled to center and soon after stole second to get himself into scoring position.
Another couple batters later and now with two down. Bret Rundle singled to left through the hole on the left side of the infield, driving home Brock and the game was tied 2-2.
Andrew Wilson got aboard on an error at third, scoring Rundle's pinch runner Austin Shirley for a 3-2 Miller edge. Brian McLean stroked a single to right on the ground, scoring Wilson to now put Noblesville up 4-2, capping off a 4-run 4th.
After Christman walked Dimopoulos to start the 6th, southpaw sophomore reliever Cory Conway came on to finish off the Lake Central Indians, but he knew it wouldn't be easy at all.
Getting two quick outs, Conway gave up an RBI single to Olund, which closed Noblesville's lead down to one run at 4-3.
Miller fans were on their feet in the top of the 7th with a 4-3 lead, on the verge of a state championship berth.
Pinch hitter Jake Rivera flied out to center for the first out. Brenden Seren was hit by a pitch to give the Indians a runner on. A strikeout of Chuck Alexa had the Millers one out away from closing the game out. Then, Ben Nisle hit a single up the middle to give Lake Central runners at first and second with two outs. Things were then in hitter Johnny Gbur's favor with a 3-1 count, but Conway outsmarted him with a fastball high. That forced Gbur to swing and belt it high down the left field line and the ball was caught by Andrew Wilson for the third out, shutting the door on Lake Central's tournament run.
Noblesville held on for a 4-3 Class 4A North Semi-State victory on Saturday at Plymouth's Bill Nixon Field at Centennial Park, propelling them into next Friday's State Championship game against the Terre Haute North Patriots.
Garrett Christman (8-1) got the win, striking out 5 Indians in 5 innings. Cory Conway earned the save in his two innings, striking out a pair and allowing two hits.
Zack St. Pierre sparked the Miller offense to start the bottom of the 4th with his solo home run, while Connor Christman led the Millers with two hits. Brian McLean, St. Pierre and Bret Rundle tallied an RBI each in that 4-run 4th.
Lake Central finished its tournament run with a 23-11 record.
Noblesville (27-8) keeps the run alive with the victory and plays for a state championship next Friday, June 20th at Victory Field in Indianapolis at 7:30.
The Millers meet up with 4A South Semi-State winner Terre Haute North (25-7), who downed Castle on Saturday 8-4 to set up the Friday night tilt with Noblesville.
*Come back prior to Friday's 4A State Championship game, as I'll have a preview of the Millers and Patriots.
Is it Friday yet????
GO MILLERS!
Prior to Saturday's 4A North Semi-State Championship game vs. Lake Central, the Millers appeared loose, but it could very well have been a front, knowing what kind of stake this game had.
Focusing on the task at hand of taking down the Lake Central Indians wouldn't be an easy thing by any means. Every facet of the Millers' game had to be clicking for a win and a spot in the state championship game next Friday night.
It might have helped from a mental standpoint that the PA announcer at Plymouth's Bill Nixon Field was updating the crowd on the 4A South Semi-State that had gotten an earlier start. Terre Haute North trailed Castle early on 4-0, but found a way to come back for an 8-4 win, finding their slot in the state championship opposite of the Noblesville Millers.
4A #8 Noblesville 4, Lake Central 3 - 4A North Semi-State at Bill Nixon Field, Plymouth)
Lake Central 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 - 3 5 3
Noblesville 0 0 0 4 0 0 x - 4 7 3
Garrett Christman (7-1) got the call once again to start on the bump for the Millers, who has a team-tying 7 wins this season, tied along with senior mound mate Trevor Salmon (7-3).
Things couldn't start any tougher in the top of the 1st with the leadoff hitter being highly touted Purdue University recruit Alec Olund. Christman had to try and work his wit early on Olund and the Lake Central leadoff man felt no pressure, singling to left to get the Indians' fans in it early.
G tried throwing over to first to keep Olund honest, but on his throw over to Dax McLochlin at first, it sailed on past the junior first baseman and Olund sprinted all the way to third.
Garrett is a cerebral pitcher and that didn't bother him in the lease bit. The next three Lake Central batters were retired via G's first strikeout, along with two consecutive pop outs to strand Olund at third.
The Miller bats were possibly nervous in their first two innings at the dish, only hitting Indian pitcher Brenden Seren twice, but with reaching on an error and two walks, Noblesville had already left 4 runners on base through two.
Lake Central was able to get runners on base and make a little noise on G in the 2nd. Ben Nisle led off getting on from a hard hit ball to short, resulting in an error by Vinny Essig. Johnny Gbur dropped down a sacrifice bunt to get Nisle over to 2nd, but the ball rolled right to McLochlin on the first baseline and he was tagged out by Dax for the first out.
Two straight walks to Jorey Dimopoulos and Alex Mantel loaded the bases for LC. Alex Nisle grounded out to Dax and he easily tossed to Christman at first for the second out, but that drove home freshman brother Ben for a 1-0 Lake Central lead.
The Indians got back at it again in the top of the 3rd. With one out, Brenden Seren was hit in the back by a 1-0 pitch. Three batters later, Johnny Gbur drove a single to left to score Seren's pinch runner John Milaszewski and it was 2-0 Lake Central after the Millers went 1-2-3 in the bottom.
Christman decided that it was time to lockdown on the Indians hitters starting in the 4th and that's exactly what he did. He got them to groundout, strikeout and pop out, getting the Miller faithful in attendance on their feet and ready for a rally with the bats.
Noblesville's offense had also figured it was time to get in the head of Seren on the mound.
It seems to be a common theme lately that the Millers put up a crooked number in the line score on the scoreboard. This is now the 5th consecutive game where Noblesville has scored 4+ runs in either the 3rd, 4th or 5th innings.
Zack St. Pierre made Seren work on the mound and then finally, the senior right fielder drove a high fly ball towering over the right field wall for a leadoff solo home run, his 6th of the season, cutting Lake Central's lead in half at 2-1.
Two batters later, Easton Brock singled to center and soon after stole second to get himself into scoring position.
Another couple batters later and now with two down. Bret Rundle singled to left through the hole on the left side of the infield, driving home Brock and the game was tied 2-2.
Andrew Wilson got aboard on an error at third, scoring Rundle's pinch runner Austin Shirley for a 3-2 Miller edge. Brian McLean stroked a single to right on the ground, scoring Wilson to now put Noblesville up 4-2, capping off a 4-run 4th.
After Christman walked Dimopoulos to start the 6th, southpaw sophomore reliever Cory Conway came on to finish off the Lake Central Indians, but he knew it wouldn't be easy at all.
Getting two quick outs, Conway gave up an RBI single to Olund, which closed Noblesville's lead down to one run at 4-3.
Miller fans were on their feet in the top of the 7th with a 4-3 lead, on the verge of a state championship berth.
Pinch hitter Jake Rivera flied out to center for the first out. Brenden Seren was hit by a pitch to give the Indians a runner on. A strikeout of Chuck Alexa had the Millers one out away from closing the game out. Then, Ben Nisle hit a single up the middle to give Lake Central runners at first and second with two outs. Things were then in hitter Johnny Gbur's favor with a 3-1 count, but Conway outsmarted him with a fastball high. That forced Gbur to swing and belt it high down the left field line and the ball was caught by Andrew Wilson for the third out, shutting the door on Lake Central's tournament run.
Noblesville held on for a 4-3 Class 4A North Semi-State victory on Saturday at Plymouth's Bill Nixon Field at Centennial Park, propelling them into next Friday's State Championship game against the Terre Haute North Patriots.
Garrett Christman (8-1) got the win, striking out 5 Indians in 5 innings. Cory Conway earned the save in his two innings, striking out a pair and allowing two hits.
Zack St. Pierre sparked the Miller offense to start the bottom of the 4th with his solo home run, while Connor Christman led the Millers with two hits. Brian McLean, St. Pierre and Bret Rundle tallied an RBI each in that 4-run 4th.
Lake Central finished its tournament run with a 23-11 record.
Noblesville (27-8) keeps the run alive with the victory and plays for a state championship next Friday, June 20th at Victory Field in Indianapolis at 7:30.
The Millers meet up with 4A South Semi-State winner Terre Haute North (25-7), who downed Castle on Saturday 8-4 to set up the Friday night tilt with Noblesville.
*Come back prior to Friday's 4A State Championship game, as I'll have a preview of the Millers and Patriots.
Is it Friday yet????
GO MILLERS!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
4A #8 Millers rallies and defeats Carroll (Allen) to win Lafayette Jeff Regional, moves on to Final 4
Noblesville brought a pretty faithful crowd for their semifinal win over Homestead in the afternoon and there were many more than made the trip to Lafayette's Loeb Stadium for the Regional Championship game vs. the Carroll Chargers from Allen county.
Carroll pitched their ace Taylor Goshen in their semifinal win over McCutcheon, 5-1, in the first semifinal of the day. That meant that the Chargers' #2 pitcher Grant Inman would be called upon to face Noblesville for the Regional title.
The Millers sent senior lefty Trevor Salmon (8-3) to the mound, just like they did on Tuesday night for the Sectional 8 championship game vs. Hamilton Southeastern.
4A #8 Noblesville 7, Carroll (Allen) 4 - (Regional Championship: Loeb Stadium, Lafayette)
Chargers 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 8 1
Millers 1 0 4 2 0 0 x - 7 7 0
The top of the order got right to work on Trevor Salmon in the first and it wasn't pretty. Unfortunately for Trevor, the Chargers chased him after 1/3 of an inning.
Cory Conway came on for his second appearance of the day in the first, tossing just four pitches and forcing Taylor Goshen into a 6-3 double play to end the first. The sophomore crafty lefty took down the 8-9-1 hitters in the Carroll order in the 2nd, striking out the side for his 10th strikeout of the day.
Cameron Kohli walked to lead off and Cole McCray singled to get two on right away. Grant Inman would bring those two around with a double to the wall in deep right center and it was already 2-0 Carroll. Travis Snyder showed why he bats cleanup, as he doubled to left to bring Inman in to give the Chargers a 3-0 lead before Noblesville had even come to bat.
Andrew Wilson was antsy coming to the plate in the Millers' half of the first and it showed. Noblesville's leadoff man belted a 2-1 pitch over the plate to the right center wall on the fly for a triple to fire up the black and gold clad Miller fans in attendance. Wilson scored two hitters later when Garrett Christman grounded out to second for the second out of the inning and cutting the Carroll lead to 3-1 after one.
Coach Ginder's Chargers literally got one more good inning at the dish. Conway was back on the bump for another inning and that's when the Chargers found a small kind in Cory's armor. CC gave up a one out walk to Inman. Snyder again delivered a double, but this time it was to right center, scoring Inman to put Carroll up 4-1 through 2 1/2.
The top of the third was the point when the Millers got in the head of Inman and he had no idea that it was coming.
Wilson would lead off for the second time in three innings and he showed Inman some patience, walking in a very smart plate appearance. After McLean grounded out, GC singled to the gap in right center, pushing Wilson to third and giving Essig runners at the corners with just one out. Vinny hit a nice ball to left, but it wasn't deep enough for him to go yard, scoring Wilson on the play for a sacrifice fly.
St. Pierre and Dax McLochlin kept it rolling in the 3rd by each walking to load the bases. Easton Brock was then hit by a 3-1 pitch to bring Christman home to make it a one run game at 4-3.
Connor Christman singled to short on a slow dribbler and beat out the throw that went over the head of first baseman Matt Meihls, getting Connor to second with ease. St. Pierre and McLochlin were the third and fourth runs of the 3rd to get Noblesville on top 5-4 after three.
With two down in the top of the 3rd, Zack St. Pierre came out of right field and got the ball from Coach Keever at the mound. It's been a couple weeks since St. P pitched, but that was the furthest thing from Zack's mind.
St. Pierre would stay focused on the hill for the 4th through 6th innings, plus the first two hitters in the 7th.
Noblesville's bats added some insurance in the last of the 4th.
Once again, Wilson led off and got hit by the third pitch he saw, but this one came from the hand of Taylor Goshen, who Ginder knew still had a little left in his tank to relieve Inman.
McLean smoked a double down the right field line to score Wilson from first for a 6-4 Miller edge. Garrett and Vinny both K'd for two quick outs. St. Pierre came up again and drove in his second run of the day, getting McLean home for what would turn out to be the final score of 7-4.
Over 3 2/3 innings of relief, St. Pierre had tunnel vision on what the task at hand was. Shutting down the Carroll bats. That's exactly what Zack did and Keever couldn't have been more pleased with his effort. He left the mound with one out and one on in the top of the 7th and the crowd giving him a nice standing ovation for his pitching effort.
Garrett Christman relieved St. Pierre, getting the final two outs to clinch the Regional. Striking out Travis Snyder and jamming Matt Meihls into a pop out to Essig at short, put an end to any threat that Carroll had and Noblesville had become Lafayette Regional champions, holding off Carroll in comeback fashion 7-4.
St. Pierre (4-0) got the win on the mound and Garrett Christman (3) had the save for the Miller pitching staff.
Top Regional performers for Noblesville...
Easton Brock 3-6, 2 RBIs, 3 singles
Vinny Essig 3-7, 2 runs, 2B, 2 singles
Andrew Wilson 1-7, 3B, BB, HBP, FC, 4 runs
Zack St. Pierre 2-4, 3 runs, 3 BBs, 2 RBIs
Cory Conway 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 run (earned), 10 K's, 3 BBs (22 batters faced)
Zack St. Pierre 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 3 K's, 2 BBs
Carroll ends a tremendous season at 22-10, adding a Northeast Hoosier Conference title to their credit, along with a sectional championship and an Elite 8 appearance.
*Noblesville (26-8) advances to the Final 4 to play Lake Central (23-10) in the 4A North Semi-State at Plymouth High School this Saturday at approximately 3:30 or 4 p.m.
*This is Noblesville's first Regional Championship since taking the 2007 Regional crown over Anderson Highland at home at The Dunk. Prior to this season, the Millers won the 2010 sectional at The Dunk and also advanced to the Elite 8, but lost to Cathedral in the Regional title game, 5-2.
*The 4A South Semi-State features Terre Haute North (24-7) and Castle (24-8). This game will be played at Ruxer Field at Jasper High School.
*The winners play on either June 20th or 21st at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis, home of the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As always, if you like what you're reading feel free and don't hesitate to follow me on Twitter at @MillerVoiceNDCB.
GO MILLERS!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
Carroll pitched their ace Taylor Goshen in their semifinal win over McCutcheon, 5-1, in the first semifinal of the day. That meant that the Chargers' #2 pitcher Grant Inman would be called upon to face Noblesville for the Regional title.
The Millers sent senior lefty Trevor Salmon (8-3) to the mound, just like they did on Tuesday night for the Sectional 8 championship game vs. Hamilton Southeastern.
4A #8 Noblesville 7, Carroll (Allen) 4 - (Regional Championship: Loeb Stadium, Lafayette)
Chargers 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 8 1
Millers 1 0 4 2 0 0 x - 7 7 0
The top of the order got right to work on Trevor Salmon in the first and it wasn't pretty. Unfortunately for Trevor, the Chargers chased him after 1/3 of an inning.
Cory Conway came on for his second appearance of the day in the first, tossing just four pitches and forcing Taylor Goshen into a 6-3 double play to end the first. The sophomore crafty lefty took down the 8-9-1 hitters in the Carroll order in the 2nd, striking out the side for his 10th strikeout of the day.
Cameron Kohli walked to lead off and Cole McCray singled to get two on right away. Grant Inman would bring those two around with a double to the wall in deep right center and it was already 2-0 Carroll. Travis Snyder showed why he bats cleanup, as he doubled to left to bring Inman in to give the Chargers a 3-0 lead before Noblesville had even come to bat.
Andrew Wilson was antsy coming to the plate in the Millers' half of the first and it showed. Noblesville's leadoff man belted a 2-1 pitch over the plate to the right center wall on the fly for a triple to fire up the black and gold clad Miller fans in attendance. Wilson scored two hitters later when Garrett Christman grounded out to second for the second out of the inning and cutting the Carroll lead to 3-1 after one.
Coach Ginder's Chargers literally got one more good inning at the dish. Conway was back on the bump for another inning and that's when the Chargers found a small kind in Cory's armor. CC gave up a one out walk to Inman. Snyder again delivered a double, but this time it was to right center, scoring Inman to put Carroll up 4-1 through 2 1/2.
The top of the third was the point when the Millers got in the head of Inman and he had no idea that it was coming.
Wilson would lead off for the second time in three innings and he showed Inman some patience, walking in a very smart plate appearance. After McLean grounded out, GC singled to the gap in right center, pushing Wilson to third and giving Essig runners at the corners with just one out. Vinny hit a nice ball to left, but it wasn't deep enough for him to go yard, scoring Wilson on the play for a sacrifice fly.
St. Pierre and Dax McLochlin kept it rolling in the 3rd by each walking to load the bases. Easton Brock was then hit by a 3-1 pitch to bring Christman home to make it a one run game at 4-3.
Connor Christman singled to short on a slow dribbler and beat out the throw that went over the head of first baseman Matt Meihls, getting Connor to second with ease. St. Pierre and McLochlin were the third and fourth runs of the 3rd to get Noblesville on top 5-4 after three.
With two down in the top of the 3rd, Zack St. Pierre came out of right field and got the ball from Coach Keever at the mound. It's been a couple weeks since St. P pitched, but that was the furthest thing from Zack's mind.
St. Pierre would stay focused on the hill for the 4th through 6th innings, plus the first two hitters in the 7th.
Noblesville's bats added some insurance in the last of the 4th.
Once again, Wilson led off and got hit by the third pitch he saw, but this one came from the hand of Taylor Goshen, who Ginder knew still had a little left in his tank to relieve Inman.
McLean smoked a double down the right field line to score Wilson from first for a 6-4 Miller edge. Garrett and Vinny both K'd for two quick outs. St. Pierre came up again and drove in his second run of the day, getting McLean home for what would turn out to be the final score of 7-4.
Over 3 2/3 innings of relief, St. Pierre had tunnel vision on what the task at hand was. Shutting down the Carroll bats. That's exactly what Zack did and Keever couldn't have been more pleased with his effort. He left the mound with one out and one on in the top of the 7th and the crowd giving him a nice standing ovation for his pitching effort.
Garrett Christman relieved St. Pierre, getting the final two outs to clinch the Regional. Striking out Travis Snyder and jamming Matt Meihls into a pop out to Essig at short, put an end to any threat that Carroll had and Noblesville had become Lafayette Regional champions, holding off Carroll in comeback fashion 7-4.
St. Pierre (4-0) got the win on the mound and Garrett Christman (3) had the save for the Miller pitching staff.
Top Regional performers for Noblesville...
Easton Brock 3-6, 2 RBIs, 3 singles
Vinny Essig 3-7, 2 runs, 2B, 2 singles
Andrew Wilson 1-7, 3B, BB, HBP, FC, 4 runs
Zack St. Pierre 2-4, 3 runs, 3 BBs, 2 RBIs
Cory Conway 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 1 run (earned), 10 K's, 3 BBs (22 batters faced)
Zack St. Pierre 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 3 K's, 2 BBs
Carroll ends a tremendous season at 22-10, adding a Northeast Hoosier Conference title to their credit, along with a sectional championship and an Elite 8 appearance.
*Noblesville (26-8) advances to the Final 4 to play Lake Central (23-10) in the 4A North Semi-State at Plymouth High School this Saturday at approximately 3:30 or 4 p.m.
*This is Noblesville's first Regional Championship since taking the 2007 Regional crown over Anderson Highland at home at The Dunk. Prior to this season, the Millers won the 2010 sectional at The Dunk and also advanced to the Elite 8, but lost to Cathedral in the Regional title game, 5-2.
*The 4A South Semi-State features Terre Haute North (24-7) and Castle (24-8). This game will be played at Ruxer Field at Jasper High School.
*The winners play on either June 20th or 21st at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis, home of the Indianapolis Indians, the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As always, if you like what you're reading feel free and don't hesitate to follow me on Twitter at @MillerVoiceNDCB.
GO MILLERS!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
Noblesville takes down Homestead in Regional Semifinal, advances to Elite 8
It was pretty obvious how hyped up the Millers were to get to the Lafayette Jeff Regional and win two games for the Regional Championship, that the team's 10 seniors said they would rather not participate in commencement exercises on Friday night because their excitement for Saturday's Regional had become the only thing they wanted to do.
The 2014 baseball senior class did in fact walk across the stage and get their high school graduation diplomas in hand on Friday evening and got their weekend started off in grand fashion.
Riding high on a 5-game winning streak heading into Saturday's Regional play in Lafayette, there were many factors that played into the whole day that could make or break this possibility of heading back to the Final 4 for the first time since 2007.
Their Regional semifinal opponent in Homestead, was out for revenge on the Millers. Noblesville out slugged the Spartans two months ago in the championship game of the Miller Invitational, 12-2 in 5 innings.
At this level, there's no way that Homestead would roll over and let Noblesville chalk up another 10-run victory, especially with a Regional championship at stake.
4A #8 Noblesville 7, Homestead 3 - (Regional Semifinal: Loeb Stadium, Lafayette)
Noblesville 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 - 7 7 1
Homestead 0 1 0 2 0 9 0 - 3 7 4
McLean Trieglaff got the start for Homestead and had confidence out of the gate. Forcing Andrew Wilson to fly out to right and striking out Brian McLean and Garrett Christman, the senior right-hander was doing his best to keep the Spartans' postseason run going for head coach Steve Sotir.
Garrett Christman got the call for the Millers to start the semifinal game. G allowed just one hit in the first, but got slightly rattled in the second. Christman walked Luke Landrigan to lead off the 2nd. Two batters later, DJ Moore reached on a fielder's choice, but the Millers got the lead runner Landrigan at second on a force out for the second out. Freshman Matt Anderson got on-base via an error by Connor Christman at third. Homestead tallied their first run on a Drew Lunsford RBI single to left to score Moore for a 1-0 Homestead lead.
In the top of the 4th, it was time for Millerball to get itself on the scoreboard. The jitters were gone and all nervousness had worn off.
Vinny Essig poked a one-out single to shallow left center to get the 4th started. The junior clean-up hitter was able to easily make his way to third on just one play. Trieglaff tried to pick off Essig at 1st, but instead overthrew first baseman Ryan Stephens. The ball went clear over to the fence. By the time Stephens tried to get Vinny at second, his throw went over shortstop Tyler Zimske's head and into left, getting Vinny safely to third with one down.
Zack St. Pierre walked on five pitches for Millers at the corners. A six-pitch at bat by Dax McLochlin produced an RBI-double that scored Essig and moved St. Pierre to third. Tie ball game at 1-1.
St. Pierre got a good jump at third and as soon as Easton Brock hit a choppy grounder to short, Zack was already crossing home to give Noblesville its first lead of the game at 2-1.
Homestead got its last shot at Christman in the bottom of the fourth inning and did their best impression of chasing a starting pitcher right out of the game.
Trieglaff doubled an 0-2 pitch down toward Noblesville's bullpen along the left field line to get the Spartan faithful exciting along the first base side. DJ Moore singled to left to give Homestead runners at the corners with no outs. Matt Anderson was walked to load the bases. And, for the second time in as many at-bats, Drew Lunsford produced once again. The sophomore singled up the middle to send pinch runner Justin Jones home to tie the game 2-2. Moore made his way to third on Lunsford's single and scored on a passed ball to put Homestead up 3-2 through four.
Bret Rundle led off the top of 5 and was hit by a pitch on his left shoulder blade. Pinch runner Matt Swearingen came in to test his speed against Trieglaff.
Andrew Wilson climbed aboard with a fielder's choice. Then, he and Swearingen both advanced bases from a balk by Trieglaff. The Millers had him completely rattled.
McLean walked to load the bags and Keever's crew was in business. Garrett also got on with a fielder's choice, that forced McLean out at 2nd, to score Swearingen to knot the game 3-3.
Essig doubled to get Wilson home for a 4-3 Millers lead that they would keep for good.
The flurry of 5th inning runs for Noblesville continued with a St. Pierre double that scored Christman. Essig and St. P finished off the scoring of the Millers' five-run 5th for a 7-3 lead to put a stranglehold on this semifinal game.
Scoring five runs in the 5th and two runs before that in the 4th was what put the Millers in front, but that isn't what kept Homestead from anything offensively beyond the 4th.
Noblesville sophomore relief pitcher Cory Conway has been a shutdown southpaw when being called upon by head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt.
Conway took over for G on the mound in the 4th with no outs and wasn't phased in the least bit. Aside from walking two Spartans and a single to Landrigan, Cory couldn't have been any better.
Cool, calm, collected and completely dialed in, Conway mowed down Homestead hitters. The super soph struck out 7, walked two and allowed just one hit over 4 innings of work to get the win and improve his record to 4-1 and Noblesville was now heading to the Regional Championship to face Carroll for the right to head to the Semi-State and the Final 4 next Saturday.
Easton Brock led the Millers with a 2-for-2 game at the plate with an RBI. Andrew Wilson scored 3 runs while going 1-3. McLean, Garrett Christman, Connor Christman, St. Pierre and Wilson made up the rest of the 7 hits.
Homestead finished their 2014 season at 22-10.
Noblesville improved its record to 25-8 and meets up with Carroll (Allen) (22-9) in the Regional Championship at 8 p.m.
The 2014 baseball senior class did in fact walk across the stage and get their high school graduation diplomas in hand on Friday evening and got their weekend started off in grand fashion.
Riding high on a 5-game winning streak heading into Saturday's Regional play in Lafayette, there were many factors that played into the whole day that could make or break this possibility of heading back to the Final 4 for the first time since 2007.
Their Regional semifinal opponent in Homestead, was out for revenge on the Millers. Noblesville out slugged the Spartans two months ago in the championship game of the Miller Invitational, 12-2 in 5 innings.
At this level, there's no way that Homestead would roll over and let Noblesville chalk up another 10-run victory, especially with a Regional championship at stake.
4A #8 Noblesville 7, Homestead 3 - (Regional Semifinal: Loeb Stadium, Lafayette)
Noblesville 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 - 7 7 1
Homestead 0 1 0 2 0 9 0 - 3 7 4
McLean Trieglaff got the start for Homestead and had confidence out of the gate. Forcing Andrew Wilson to fly out to right and striking out Brian McLean and Garrett Christman, the senior right-hander was doing his best to keep the Spartans' postseason run going for head coach Steve Sotir.
Garrett Christman got the call for the Millers to start the semifinal game. G allowed just one hit in the first, but got slightly rattled in the second. Christman walked Luke Landrigan to lead off the 2nd. Two batters later, DJ Moore reached on a fielder's choice, but the Millers got the lead runner Landrigan at second on a force out for the second out. Freshman Matt Anderson got on-base via an error by Connor Christman at third. Homestead tallied their first run on a Drew Lunsford RBI single to left to score Moore for a 1-0 Homestead lead.
In the top of the 4th, it was time for Millerball to get itself on the scoreboard. The jitters were gone and all nervousness had worn off.
Vinny Essig poked a one-out single to shallow left center to get the 4th started. The junior clean-up hitter was able to easily make his way to third on just one play. Trieglaff tried to pick off Essig at 1st, but instead overthrew first baseman Ryan Stephens. The ball went clear over to the fence. By the time Stephens tried to get Vinny at second, his throw went over shortstop Tyler Zimske's head and into left, getting Vinny safely to third with one down.
Zack St. Pierre walked on five pitches for Millers at the corners. A six-pitch at bat by Dax McLochlin produced an RBI-double that scored Essig and moved St. Pierre to third. Tie ball game at 1-1.
St. Pierre got a good jump at third and as soon as Easton Brock hit a choppy grounder to short, Zack was already crossing home to give Noblesville its first lead of the game at 2-1.
Homestead got its last shot at Christman in the bottom of the fourth inning and did their best impression of chasing a starting pitcher right out of the game.
Trieglaff doubled an 0-2 pitch down toward Noblesville's bullpen along the left field line to get the Spartan faithful exciting along the first base side. DJ Moore singled to left to give Homestead runners at the corners with no outs. Matt Anderson was walked to load the bases. And, for the second time in as many at-bats, Drew Lunsford produced once again. The sophomore singled up the middle to send pinch runner Justin Jones home to tie the game 2-2. Moore made his way to third on Lunsford's single and scored on a passed ball to put Homestead up 3-2 through four.
Bret Rundle led off the top of 5 and was hit by a pitch on his left shoulder blade. Pinch runner Matt Swearingen came in to test his speed against Trieglaff.
Andrew Wilson climbed aboard with a fielder's choice. Then, he and Swearingen both advanced bases from a balk by Trieglaff. The Millers had him completely rattled.
McLean walked to load the bags and Keever's crew was in business. Garrett also got on with a fielder's choice, that forced McLean out at 2nd, to score Swearingen to knot the game 3-3.
Essig doubled to get Wilson home for a 4-3 Millers lead that they would keep for good.
The flurry of 5th inning runs for Noblesville continued with a St. Pierre double that scored Christman. Essig and St. P finished off the scoring of the Millers' five-run 5th for a 7-3 lead to put a stranglehold on this semifinal game.
Scoring five runs in the 5th and two runs before that in the 4th was what put the Millers in front, but that isn't what kept Homestead from anything offensively beyond the 4th.
Noblesville sophomore relief pitcher Cory Conway has been a shutdown southpaw when being called upon by head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt.
Conway took over for G on the mound in the 4th with no outs and wasn't phased in the least bit. Aside from walking two Spartans and a single to Landrigan, Cory couldn't have been any better.
Cool, calm, collected and completely dialed in, Conway mowed down Homestead hitters. The super soph struck out 7, walked two and allowed just one hit over 4 innings of work to get the win and improve his record to 4-1 and Noblesville was now heading to the Regional Championship to face Carroll for the right to head to the Semi-State and the Final 4 next Saturday.
Easton Brock led the Millers with a 2-for-2 game at the plate with an RBI. Andrew Wilson scored 3 runs while going 1-3. McLean, Garrett Christman, Connor Christman, St. Pierre and Wilson made up the rest of the 7 hits.
Homestead finished their 2014 season at 22-10.
Noblesville improved its record to 25-8 and meets up with Carroll (Allen) (22-9) in the Regional Championship at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Noblesville captures 4A Sectional 8 crown in dominant fashion
When the sectional pairings were announced a couple weeks ago, it wasn't likely that according to most, that Hamilton Southeastern would be in the position they were in and playing for a sectional championship.
Westfield (18-12) posed a threat to the Royals on Monday, but Hamilton Southeastern held on for a 4-3 win over the favored Shamrocks and earned a spot in the championship to play host Noblesville.
The table was set and it was Noblesville and Hamilton Southeastern duking it out for a sectional crown and the right to advance onto the Lafayette Jeff Regional at Loeb Stadium on Saturday in the 2nd game against Homestead.
Noblesville hasn't hoisted the sectional championship trophy since 2010, winning it at home on their familiar grounds of The Dunk, Donald J. Dunker Field. It was well past time for that to change and it was honestly up to this year's 10 member 2014 senior class and many underclassmen to get the job done and move onto regionals at Lafayette Jeff, where they posted an 11-1 win over the Bronchos in 5 innings back on April 29.
4A Sectional 8 Championship: 4A #8 Noblesville 6, Hamilton Southeastern 0
Noblesville 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 - 6 13 0
Hamilton SE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 2
It's not something they really cared about on their home field, but Noblesville was the guest on the scoreboard for the second straight game. That's just how it goes when you draw the bye. You're the visitor for the duration because you had the luxury of playing one less game.
Andrew Wilson got the Miller bats going right away with a leadoff single to left, but was left on with McLean grounding out and consecutive strikeouts by Hamilton SE starting pitcher Bryan Roberts of Garrett Christman and Vinny Essig.
Trevor Salmon got the nod on the hill and was ready to pitch the Millers to a sectional crown.
Three starting Royals didn't play in the HCC series a couple weeks ago, because of some nagging injuries. One of those was leadoff hitter Tre' Gantt.
Gantt wasted no time in the matchup of southpaw vs. left-handed hitter. The senior center fielder belted the first pitch Salmon threw right down the line and into the right field corner for a leadoff double.
Two pitches later, Matt Gorski hit a quick line drive back to the mound. Trevor made the swiftest move he could, diving for the catch. Then, whipping the ball to shortstop Garrett Christman at second to double off Gantt. Just like that, there were two outs.
Aaron McGee doubled as the next hitter, but was left on with David Herrmann lining out to Essig at second.
It was a pitcher's dual for the next two innings. After that, you could tell that there was a burning desire from the Millers.
Dax McLochlin led off the top of the 4th, taking a 3-1 pitch down the right field line for a double. Two strikeouts in a row to Easton Brock and Connor Christman looked like Noblesville's hands might be tied.
Not so much.
Bret Rundle came up next and took an 0-2 breaking ball up the middle and into center to score Dax for a 1-0 lead and the Miller faithful erupting.
Matt Swearingen came in to pinch run for Rundle. Five pitches later, Swearingen was driven home on an Andrew Wilson two-run home run over the left field wall to make it 3-0. That HR is Wilson's 5th dinger of the season.
Just before Wilson's at-bat, I was telling Craig Lutz and Bob Tremain in the press box that Wilson was due for a home run. It had been quite a while since he had put a ball over the fence.
Brian McLean hit a sharp ground ball to Gorski at 2nd, but he couldn't handle it, allowing B first base via an error. Garrett Christman singled next to get two aboard for the Millers. Vinny Essig made good of the base runners that were on, hitting a two-run single to score McLean and GC for a 5-0 Noblesville advantage after 3 1/2.
Rewind for a minute back to the bottom of the 2nd with the Royals up. Erik DeWael singled, but was left on when catcher Matt Nash struck out swinging.
Starting with Nash, Trevor Salmon retired 12 consecutive Hamilton SE hitters from the bottom of the second until an Aaron McGee single in the bottom of the 6th.
The senior University of Southern Indiana signee was completely dialed in on the Royals' lineup and it appeared there was nothing that would stop him from pitching his team to a victory.
Noblesville couldn't help but put an insurance run up on the scoreboard out in left in the top of the 7th. Zack St. Pierre hit a one out single into center. St. P stole second and Carter Poiry was called for a balk on the mound, getting Zack to 3rd. McLochlin grounded out to short for the second out, but that made it easy for St. Pierre to score and it was 6-0.
Salmon started off the bottom of the 7th and to Keever and Vogt he might have seemed a little rattled, especially with the Hamilton SE crowd rowdy. With one out, Jack Casey hit a single up the middle and Poiry walked, ending Salmon's night on the bump with a six run lead.
Sophomore Cory Conway came on with one out in the 7th and was nothing short of lights out. The crafty left-hander struck out Erik DeWael with a full count for the second out. Noblesville's crowd was now on its feet to cheer on Conway as he faced Matt Nash with two outs. With a 2-2 count, Conway worked the corners and used the corner again to whiff Nash looking to seal the game.
Noblesville emptied their 3rd base line dugout and tackled each other in a celebration dog pile just to the 3rd base side of the mound.
It was Noblesville's first sectional championship since they won it in 2010 at The Dunk.
Trevor Salmon upped his record on the mound to 7-3 on the season. It was probably Trevor's best outing of the season as a starter, only allowing 5 hits, while striking out 4 and walking two.
Wilson had a stellar night at the dish by going 3-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Vinny Essig had a pair of RBIs and St. Pierre and McLochlin each had a two-hit night.
Hamilton Southeastern finished their up and down 2014 season with a 13-17 record.
Noblesville advances to play in the Lafayette Jeff Regional this Saturday, June 7 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette.
The first game of the Lafayette Jeff Regional will be at 11 a.m. and will feature Carroll (Allen) (21-9) meeting up with HCC foe McCutcheon (24-8).
The Millers (24-8) gets another shot at the Homestead Spartans (22-9) around 1:30 or approximately 45 minutes after the Carroll-McCutcheon matchup.
Noblesville hosted Homestead in this April's Miller Invitational. The Millers 10-runned the Spartans in the championship game of the Miller Invitational, 12-2 in 5 innings. Since those were Homestead's first two games of the season in early April, the Spartans have gone 21-8 since then for their 22-9 mark.
The Lafayette Jeff Regional championship game will be at 8 p.m. at Loeb Stadium.
*As always, if you like what you're reading, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter, @MillerVoiceNDCB!
I'll see you all at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette on Saturday!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!
Westfield (18-12) posed a threat to the Royals on Monday, but Hamilton Southeastern held on for a 4-3 win over the favored Shamrocks and earned a spot in the championship to play host Noblesville.
The table was set and it was Noblesville and Hamilton Southeastern duking it out for a sectional crown and the right to advance onto the Lafayette Jeff Regional at Loeb Stadium on Saturday in the 2nd game against Homestead.
Noblesville hasn't hoisted the sectional championship trophy since 2010, winning it at home on their familiar grounds of The Dunk, Donald J. Dunker Field. It was well past time for that to change and it was honestly up to this year's 10 member 2014 senior class and many underclassmen to get the job done and move onto regionals at Lafayette Jeff, where they posted an 11-1 win over the Bronchos in 5 innings back on April 29.
4A Sectional 8 Championship: 4A #8 Noblesville 6, Hamilton Southeastern 0
Noblesville 0 0 0 5 0 0 1 - 6 13 0
Hamilton SE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 2
It's not something they really cared about on their home field, but Noblesville was the guest on the scoreboard for the second straight game. That's just how it goes when you draw the bye. You're the visitor for the duration because you had the luxury of playing one less game.
Andrew Wilson got the Miller bats going right away with a leadoff single to left, but was left on with McLean grounding out and consecutive strikeouts by Hamilton SE starting pitcher Bryan Roberts of Garrett Christman and Vinny Essig.
Trevor Salmon got the nod on the hill and was ready to pitch the Millers to a sectional crown.
Three starting Royals didn't play in the HCC series a couple weeks ago, because of some nagging injuries. One of those was leadoff hitter Tre' Gantt.
Gantt wasted no time in the matchup of southpaw vs. left-handed hitter. The senior center fielder belted the first pitch Salmon threw right down the line and into the right field corner for a leadoff double.
Two pitches later, Matt Gorski hit a quick line drive back to the mound. Trevor made the swiftest move he could, diving for the catch. Then, whipping the ball to shortstop Garrett Christman at second to double off Gantt. Just like that, there were two outs.
Aaron McGee doubled as the next hitter, but was left on with David Herrmann lining out to Essig at second.
It was a pitcher's dual for the next two innings. After that, you could tell that there was a burning desire from the Millers.
Dax McLochlin led off the top of the 4th, taking a 3-1 pitch down the right field line for a double. Two strikeouts in a row to Easton Brock and Connor Christman looked like Noblesville's hands might be tied.
Not so much.
Bret Rundle came up next and took an 0-2 breaking ball up the middle and into center to score Dax for a 1-0 lead and the Miller faithful erupting.
Matt Swearingen came in to pinch run for Rundle. Five pitches later, Swearingen was driven home on an Andrew Wilson two-run home run over the left field wall to make it 3-0. That HR is Wilson's 5th dinger of the season.
Just before Wilson's at-bat, I was telling Craig Lutz and Bob Tremain in the press box that Wilson was due for a home run. It had been quite a while since he had put a ball over the fence.
Brian McLean hit a sharp ground ball to Gorski at 2nd, but he couldn't handle it, allowing B first base via an error. Garrett Christman singled next to get two aboard for the Millers. Vinny Essig made good of the base runners that were on, hitting a two-run single to score McLean and GC for a 5-0 Noblesville advantage after 3 1/2.
Rewind for a minute back to the bottom of the 2nd with the Royals up. Erik DeWael singled, but was left on when catcher Matt Nash struck out swinging.
Starting with Nash, Trevor Salmon retired 12 consecutive Hamilton SE hitters from the bottom of the second until an Aaron McGee single in the bottom of the 6th.
The senior University of Southern Indiana signee was completely dialed in on the Royals' lineup and it appeared there was nothing that would stop him from pitching his team to a victory.
Noblesville couldn't help but put an insurance run up on the scoreboard out in left in the top of the 7th. Zack St. Pierre hit a one out single into center. St. P stole second and Carter Poiry was called for a balk on the mound, getting Zack to 3rd. McLochlin grounded out to short for the second out, but that made it easy for St. Pierre to score and it was 6-0.
Salmon started off the bottom of the 7th and to Keever and Vogt he might have seemed a little rattled, especially with the Hamilton SE crowd rowdy. With one out, Jack Casey hit a single up the middle and Poiry walked, ending Salmon's night on the bump with a six run lead.
Sophomore Cory Conway came on with one out in the 7th and was nothing short of lights out. The crafty left-hander struck out Erik DeWael with a full count for the second out. Noblesville's crowd was now on its feet to cheer on Conway as he faced Matt Nash with two outs. With a 2-2 count, Conway worked the corners and used the corner again to whiff Nash looking to seal the game.
Noblesville emptied their 3rd base line dugout and tackled each other in a celebration dog pile just to the 3rd base side of the mound.
It was Noblesville's first sectional championship since they won it in 2010 at The Dunk.
Trevor Salmon upped his record on the mound to 7-3 on the season. It was probably Trevor's best outing of the season as a starter, only allowing 5 hits, while striking out 4 and walking two.
Wilson had a stellar night at the dish by going 3-4 with a run scored and two RBIs. Vinny Essig had a pair of RBIs and St. Pierre and McLochlin each had a two-hit night.
Hamilton Southeastern finished their up and down 2014 season with a 13-17 record.
Noblesville advances to play in the Lafayette Jeff Regional this Saturday, June 7 at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette.
The first game of the Lafayette Jeff Regional will be at 11 a.m. and will feature Carroll (Allen) (21-9) meeting up with HCC foe McCutcheon (24-8).
The Millers (24-8) gets another shot at the Homestead Spartans (22-9) around 1:30 or approximately 45 minutes after the Carroll-McCutcheon matchup.
Noblesville hosted Homestead in this April's Miller Invitational. The Millers 10-runned the Spartans in the championship game of the Miller Invitational, 12-2 in 5 innings. Since those were Homestead's first two games of the season in early April, the Spartans have gone 21-8 since then for their 22-9 mark.
The Lafayette Jeff Regional championship game will be at 8 p.m. at Loeb Stadium.
*As always, if you like what you're reading, feel free to give me a follow on Twitter, @MillerVoiceNDCB!
I'll see you all at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette on Saturday!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!
4-run 5th lifts Noblesville to semifinal win over Fishers
Hosting the sectional on your home field, you get that much more comfort in your surroundings. Having probably the best high school baseball field in the state of Indiana, there's no reason in the world that Noblesville shouldn't host baseball sectionals each and every year.
Noblesville just won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright, which is touted as the state's toughest conference. 4A Sectional 8 is the toughest sectional in the state. Battle-tested, if the Millers can get out of this sectional, there might be no stopping them.
They got the luck of the draw and drew the bye game and wound up playing #13 Fishers in the first semifinal on Monday, who defeated #9 Carmel in the sectional opener, 7-3. The only odd thing for the Millers is that they would be the visiting team on the scoreboard, which I'm sure they could care less about that.
Sectional 8, Semifinal: 4A #8 Noblesville 6, 4A #13 Fishers 1
Millers 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 - 6 7 0
Tigers 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 1
Fishers was on a mission to upset the home standing Millers. In the bottom of the first, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out. A liner to McLean in center was caught on a diving catch by the junior. But, that was just the second out and it became a sacrifice fly and Fishers took a 1-0 lead.
It was a chess match on the mound between Noblesville's Garrett Christman and Fishers' Nathaniel Rhodes during the 2nd and 3rd innings. In Fishers' half of the 3rd, GC allowed two singles, but struck out a pair, stranding those runners on the bags to hold the Tigers in check.
Taking charge on the mound, Garrett led things off in the 4th by reaching 1st base via an error by the Fishers first baseman. After Vinny Essig popped out to short, the game's momentum was about to shift fully.
Zack St. Pierre drilled a hard liner off the glove of the Tigers' left fielder, giving him an RBI-single and sending GC home to tie the game 1-1.
After Connor Christman and Bret Rundle were quick outs to start the 5th, Andrew Wilson, Brian McLean and Garrett Christman were all three walked consecutively to load the bases.
Vinny Essig laid into a single, scoring Wilson and McLean for a 3-1 Noblesville lead with two runners still aboard.
St. Pierre was back at it again. Zack's left-handed bat stroked a two-run single, plating Garrett Christman and Essig for a 5-1 Miller advantage.
Putting an exclamation point on things offensively, Noblesville figured they would put an insurance run on the board before Fishers had one last at-bat in the bottom of the 7th.
Andrew Wilson doubled to lead the inning off and McLean put down a beautiful bunt single, getting Wilson over to third to have runners at the corners with no outs. Garrett Christman hit a sacrifice fly to help Wilson jog home for a 6-1 count, which wound up as the final score.
It's pretty clutch when your 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup play a huge role in your offense. Garrett Christman, Vinny Essig and Zack St. Pierre combined for 3-10 together and produced all 6 Miller RBIs.
GC was pretty much the definition of comfortable on the mound and I don't think head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt could have been more pleased with the senior right-hander.
Christman (7-1) tossed a complete game, giving up just 6 hits through his 7 innings, one run (earned), walking just one Tiger and fanning 6.
Fishers bowed out of the sectional and the 2014 season with a much improved 21-10 final record.
With the semifinal win, Noblesville (23-8) set themselves up for a Sectional 8 championship matchup with HCC rival Hamilton Southeastern (13-16), who upset another HCC foe Westfield 4-3 in the second semifinal of the day.
The sectional championship was postponed from Monday night because of torrential down pouring rain that hit central Indiana. It was now slated for Tuesday, June 3 at 7:30.
Noblesville just won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship outright, which is touted as the state's toughest conference. 4A Sectional 8 is the toughest sectional in the state. Battle-tested, if the Millers can get out of this sectional, there might be no stopping them.
They got the luck of the draw and drew the bye game and wound up playing #13 Fishers in the first semifinal on Monday, who defeated #9 Carmel in the sectional opener, 7-3. The only odd thing for the Millers is that they would be the visiting team on the scoreboard, which I'm sure they could care less about that.
Sectional 8, Semifinal: 4A #8 Noblesville 6, 4A #13 Fishers 1
Millers 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 - 6 7 0
Tigers 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 1
Fishers was on a mission to upset the home standing Millers. In the bottom of the first, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out. A liner to McLean in center was caught on a diving catch by the junior. But, that was just the second out and it became a sacrifice fly and Fishers took a 1-0 lead.
It was a chess match on the mound between Noblesville's Garrett Christman and Fishers' Nathaniel Rhodes during the 2nd and 3rd innings. In Fishers' half of the 3rd, GC allowed two singles, but struck out a pair, stranding those runners on the bags to hold the Tigers in check.
Taking charge on the mound, Garrett led things off in the 4th by reaching 1st base via an error by the Fishers first baseman. After Vinny Essig popped out to short, the game's momentum was about to shift fully.
Zack St. Pierre drilled a hard liner off the glove of the Tigers' left fielder, giving him an RBI-single and sending GC home to tie the game 1-1.
After Connor Christman and Bret Rundle were quick outs to start the 5th, Andrew Wilson, Brian McLean and Garrett Christman were all three walked consecutively to load the bases.
Vinny Essig laid into a single, scoring Wilson and McLean for a 3-1 Noblesville lead with two runners still aboard.
St. Pierre was back at it again. Zack's left-handed bat stroked a two-run single, plating Garrett Christman and Essig for a 5-1 Miller advantage.
Putting an exclamation point on things offensively, Noblesville figured they would put an insurance run on the board before Fishers had one last at-bat in the bottom of the 7th.
Andrew Wilson doubled to lead the inning off and McLean put down a beautiful bunt single, getting Wilson over to third to have runners at the corners with no outs. Garrett Christman hit a sacrifice fly to help Wilson jog home for a 6-1 count, which wound up as the final score.
It's pretty clutch when your 3-4-5 hitters in the lineup play a huge role in your offense. Garrett Christman, Vinny Essig and Zack St. Pierre combined for 3-10 together and produced all 6 Miller RBIs.
GC was pretty much the definition of comfortable on the mound and I don't think head coach Justin Keever and pitching coach Greg Vogt could have been more pleased with the senior right-hander.
Christman (7-1) tossed a complete game, giving up just 6 hits through his 7 innings, one run (earned), walking just one Tiger and fanning 6.
Fishers bowed out of the sectional and the 2014 season with a much improved 21-10 final record.
With the semifinal win, Noblesville (23-8) set themselves up for a Sectional 8 championship matchup with HCC rival Hamilton Southeastern (13-16), who upset another HCC foe Westfield 4-3 in the second semifinal of the day.
The sectional championship was postponed from Monday night because of torrential down pouring rain that hit central Indiana. It was now slated for Tuesday, June 3 at 7:30.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
4A #7 Millers split with Westfield; sweep Harrison to win HCC title outright
Coming off of a 17-run outburst against Mississinewa in the Consolation game of the Noblesville Classic just two days prior, head coach Justin Keever and staff was hoping that trend would continue as they entered their final week of Hoosier Crossroads Conference play before hosting the Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field.
It would be a busy week for the Millers, as they would play four games in five days to put a nice cap on the regular season.
Splitting a series with Westfield and sweeping the final two games that Noblesville would play as an HCC foe to the Harrison Raiders was a great way to close out an outstanding regular season.
Following last Friday's road game at Harrison, Noblesville found itself sitting atop the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings as the 2014 outright conference champions. That's a pretty good way to take a 3-game winning streak and winners of 4 out of their last 5 into sectional play.
Westfield 9, 4A #7 Noblesville 2 (Monday, May 19 at The Dunk)
Westfield 2 0 4 1 2 0 0 - 9 11 3
Noblesville 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 2 7 2
Shamrock starting pitcher Jake Dietz struck out 8 through five innings, including ending his night on the mound by fanning the final six Millers that he faced. Dietz had complete control of Noblesville's bats, to say the least, giving up just four total hits and stranding six.
Westfield couldn't get enough of Garrett Christman's pitching in his 2.1 innings. GC got roughed up for 6 runs on 7 hits.
It just wasn't Noblesville's night and they wouldn't fall to the visiting Shamrocks, 9-2.
Cole McCrary showed hit clout at the plate, going 3-5, driving in four of the nine Westfield runs and scoring a pair.
Dietz helped out his win on the hill with a 2-3 performance and 2 RBIs.
Despite pelting 7 hits as a team, Noblesville could only just manage two runs in defeat. Vinny Essig and Zack St. Pierre accounted for four of the seven Millers knocks.
4A #7 Noblesville 3, Westfield 2 (Tuesday, May 20 - at Westfield)
Noblesville 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 3 9 0
Westfield 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 - 2 5 2
After losing to Hamilton Heights 8-7 and whipping Mississinewa in the Noblesville Classic on May 17, the Millers had now lost two of three for only the second time all season.
In Game 2 of the series, it was all about which team could outsmart the other. Fortunately, it was the Millers that looked brilliant in grabbing this conference road battle.
Westfield grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, but couldn't hang onto it for long at all.
Noblesville jumped ahead with a three-run top of the 4th for a 3-1 lead that they wouldn't give back to the Shamrocks.
The hosts crossed the plate one more time in their turn at bat in the last of the 4th, but were stymied by Miller pitching the rest of the way.
With zeros on the board in the 5th through 7th innings for both teams, Noblesville escaped with a 3-2 win.
Trevor Salmon tossed a topsy-turvy 4.1 innings for his sixth win of the season to give him a season total of 6-2. The University of Southern Indiana signee scattered 4 hits, allowed two earned runs, walked 5 and K'd another 5.
Future Marian University Knight Zack St. Pierre finished the final 2.2 on the hill, giving up just one hit, walked 2 and striking out 4.
Garrett Christman led the Millers' hitting attack with a 3-for-4 stat line. Brian McLean (2) and St. Pierre (2) also joined GC with multiple hits to combine for 7 of the 9 Noblesville hits.
4A #7 Noblesville 4, Harrison 3 (Senior Night) - (Thursday, May 22 at The Dunk)
Harrison 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 - 3 5 0
Noblesville 2 0 1 0 0 1 x - 4 6 2
Harrison head coach Pat Lowrey has brough his Raiders a long way since taking over the reigns. They were in the middle of the pack for the majority of the HCC season and they wanted to do everything possible to keep Noblesville from winning the conference championship in outright fashion.
It was Senior Night for an outstanding group of 10 seniors and 2 managers that have put in a lot of time and energy into the Miller baseball program.
Noblesville got its bats going early in the bottom of the 1st. Brian McLean stroked a long single to right center and stole second. McLean was immediately driven home on a Garrett Christman double on one hop to the right center wall for a 1-0 lead. Vinny Essig plated GC with an RBI-single to shallow right center and it was 2-0 Millers.
Harrison joined in on the scoring in the 2nd with pitcher Rhett Baxter leading things off with a single into right center. Baxter's pinch runner Jacob Chase made it around to score when the DH Evan Sturgeon singled to cut Noblesville's lead to 2-1.
The Millers tacked on another in the 3rd and it happened with two outs. Garrett Christman smacked another double to right center. Essig manufactured another run with a triple to the right center wall (on the fly), scoring Christman with ease from second and Noblesville widened the gap a little at 3-1 through three.
Things got a little tricky in the Harrison half of the 4th. Baxter reached on an error to lead the inning off. Sturgeon again notched an RBI, this time via a sacrifice fly to right scoring Baxter to narrow the score to 3-2. Jeep Morehouse singled to shallow right and made his way over to third on a single by Nick Morris. The Raiders now had runners at the corners with two down.
Dax McLochlin was extremely focused while he pitched and didn't fully see Morehouse at third. Morehouse took it upon himself to steal home with a 2-1 count on Matthew Roop. That tied the game up 3-3.
Cory Conway came on to relieve Dax and was dialed in from the moment he stepped onto the rubber. The sophomore lefty only gave up one hit and another reached by an error, but otherwise pitched a stellar 3 innings out of the Miller bullpen.
Heading into the bottom of the 6th, there was a vibe and up in the press box, we knew something was going to happen as the Millers came to bat.
Sure enough, Vinny Essig proved to be that vibe we were getting. With a 3-2 count, Essig smoked his 6th home run of the season right over the left field fence and Noblesville regained the lead at 4-3, which would turn out to be the final score.
This win gave Noblesville at least a share of the HCC championship.
Essig and Garrett Christman accounted for 5 of Noblesville's 6 hits and all four RBIs.
Essig was a double shy of hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and solo home run that proved to be the game-winner.
McLochlin (5) and Conway (4) were a great pitching combo, striking out 9 Raiders and allowing just 5 hits.
4A #7 Noblesville 5, Harrison 3 - (Friday, May 23 at Harrison)
Millers 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 - 5 7 3
Raiders 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 - 3 6 3
There was only one thing on the mind of the Millers and that was sweeping Harrison to win the HCC championship outright and nothing beyond that. Drawing the bye in the Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field was more than likely a close second.
Garrett Christman got the start on the hill and pitched a superb game for 6.2 innings to secure the win. Trevor Salmon came in to get the save, throwing just 1/3 of an inning.
Salmon was also big at the plate as the DH to start, going 2-for-3 and driving in a pair of runs. Connor Christman was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Andrew Wilson, Essig and St. Pierre added a hit each for the total of 7.
It would be the final time that Noblesville and Harrison get together on the diamond as Hoosier Crossroads Conference opponents, as Harrison (along with McCutcheon and Lafayette Jeff) will be changing conferences and become a member of the North Central Conference.
The Millers became outright champions of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference with the 5-3 win at Harrison. Going into the final regular season game, Noblesville and McCutcheon were neck-and-neck at the top.
Thursday night just as the Millers were tied at home with Harrison, it came across the Twitter feed that Hamilton Southeastern had upset McCutcheon 4-1, which gave NHS at least a share of the title.
Becoming outright champions of the toughest conference in the state of Indiana became a reality. Sweeping Harrison gave the Millers the title they have longed for. Noblesville finished the regular season with a 22-8 overall record and a 14-4 HCC mark.
Noblesville (22-8) now faces HCC rival Fishers (21-9) in the first semifinal of the 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field in Noblesville on Monday, June 2 at 11 a.m.
Hamilton Southeastern (12-16) and Westfield (18-11) meet up in the second semifinal, following approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the Noblesville-Fishers matchup.
The Class 4A Sectional 8 championship game will be Monday night at 7:30.
It would be a busy week for the Millers, as they would play four games in five days to put a nice cap on the regular season.
Splitting a series with Westfield and sweeping the final two games that Noblesville would play as an HCC foe to the Harrison Raiders was a great way to close out an outstanding regular season.
Following last Friday's road game at Harrison, Noblesville found itself sitting atop the Hoosier Crossroads Conference standings as the 2014 outright conference champions. That's a pretty good way to take a 3-game winning streak and winners of 4 out of their last 5 into sectional play.
Westfield 9, 4A #7 Noblesville 2 (Monday, May 19 at The Dunk)
Westfield 2 0 4 1 2 0 0 - 9 11 3
Noblesville 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 2 7 2
Shamrock starting pitcher Jake Dietz struck out 8 through five innings, including ending his night on the mound by fanning the final six Millers that he faced. Dietz had complete control of Noblesville's bats, to say the least, giving up just four total hits and stranding six.
Westfield couldn't get enough of Garrett Christman's pitching in his 2.1 innings. GC got roughed up for 6 runs on 7 hits.
It just wasn't Noblesville's night and they wouldn't fall to the visiting Shamrocks, 9-2.
Cole McCrary showed hit clout at the plate, going 3-5, driving in four of the nine Westfield runs and scoring a pair.
Dietz helped out his win on the hill with a 2-3 performance and 2 RBIs.
Despite pelting 7 hits as a team, Noblesville could only just manage two runs in defeat. Vinny Essig and Zack St. Pierre accounted for four of the seven Millers knocks.
4A #7 Noblesville 3, Westfield 2 (Tuesday, May 20 - at Westfield)
Noblesville 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 3 9 0
Westfield 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 - 2 5 2
After losing to Hamilton Heights 8-7 and whipping Mississinewa in the Noblesville Classic on May 17, the Millers had now lost two of three for only the second time all season.
In Game 2 of the series, it was all about which team could outsmart the other. Fortunately, it was the Millers that looked brilliant in grabbing this conference road battle.
Westfield grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, but couldn't hang onto it for long at all.
Noblesville jumped ahead with a three-run top of the 4th for a 3-1 lead that they wouldn't give back to the Shamrocks.
The hosts crossed the plate one more time in their turn at bat in the last of the 4th, but were stymied by Miller pitching the rest of the way.
With zeros on the board in the 5th through 7th innings for both teams, Noblesville escaped with a 3-2 win.
Trevor Salmon tossed a topsy-turvy 4.1 innings for his sixth win of the season to give him a season total of 6-2. The University of Southern Indiana signee scattered 4 hits, allowed two earned runs, walked 5 and K'd another 5.
Future Marian University Knight Zack St. Pierre finished the final 2.2 on the hill, giving up just one hit, walked 2 and striking out 4.
Garrett Christman led the Millers' hitting attack with a 3-for-4 stat line. Brian McLean (2) and St. Pierre (2) also joined GC with multiple hits to combine for 7 of the 9 Noblesville hits.
4A #7 Noblesville 4, Harrison 3 (Senior Night) - (Thursday, May 22 at The Dunk)
Harrison 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 - 3 5 0
Noblesville 2 0 1 0 0 1 x - 4 6 2
Harrison head coach Pat Lowrey has brough his Raiders a long way since taking over the reigns. They were in the middle of the pack for the majority of the HCC season and they wanted to do everything possible to keep Noblesville from winning the conference championship in outright fashion.
It was Senior Night for an outstanding group of 10 seniors and 2 managers that have put in a lot of time and energy into the Miller baseball program.
Noblesville got its bats going early in the bottom of the 1st. Brian McLean stroked a long single to right center and stole second. McLean was immediately driven home on a Garrett Christman double on one hop to the right center wall for a 1-0 lead. Vinny Essig plated GC with an RBI-single to shallow right center and it was 2-0 Millers.
Harrison joined in on the scoring in the 2nd with pitcher Rhett Baxter leading things off with a single into right center. Baxter's pinch runner Jacob Chase made it around to score when the DH Evan Sturgeon singled to cut Noblesville's lead to 2-1.
The Millers tacked on another in the 3rd and it happened with two outs. Garrett Christman smacked another double to right center. Essig manufactured another run with a triple to the right center wall (on the fly), scoring Christman with ease from second and Noblesville widened the gap a little at 3-1 through three.
Things got a little tricky in the Harrison half of the 4th. Baxter reached on an error to lead the inning off. Sturgeon again notched an RBI, this time via a sacrifice fly to right scoring Baxter to narrow the score to 3-2. Jeep Morehouse singled to shallow right and made his way over to third on a single by Nick Morris. The Raiders now had runners at the corners with two down.
Dax McLochlin was extremely focused while he pitched and didn't fully see Morehouse at third. Morehouse took it upon himself to steal home with a 2-1 count on Matthew Roop. That tied the game up 3-3.
Cory Conway came on to relieve Dax and was dialed in from the moment he stepped onto the rubber. The sophomore lefty only gave up one hit and another reached by an error, but otherwise pitched a stellar 3 innings out of the Miller bullpen.
Heading into the bottom of the 6th, there was a vibe and up in the press box, we knew something was going to happen as the Millers came to bat.
Sure enough, Vinny Essig proved to be that vibe we were getting. With a 3-2 count, Essig smoked his 6th home run of the season right over the left field fence and Noblesville regained the lead at 4-3, which would turn out to be the final score.
This win gave Noblesville at least a share of the HCC championship.
Essig and Garrett Christman accounted for 5 of Noblesville's 6 hits and all four RBIs.
Essig was a double shy of hitting for the cycle with a single, triple and solo home run that proved to be the game-winner.
McLochlin (5) and Conway (4) were a great pitching combo, striking out 9 Raiders and allowing just 5 hits.
4A #7 Noblesville 5, Harrison 3 - (Friday, May 23 at Harrison)
Millers 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 - 5 7 3
Raiders 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 - 3 6 3
There was only one thing on the mind of the Millers and that was sweeping Harrison to win the HCC championship outright and nothing beyond that. Drawing the bye in the Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field was more than likely a close second.
Garrett Christman got the start on the hill and pitched a superb game for 6.2 innings to secure the win. Trevor Salmon came in to get the save, throwing just 1/3 of an inning.
Salmon was also big at the plate as the DH to start, going 2-for-3 and driving in a pair of runs. Connor Christman was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Andrew Wilson, Essig and St. Pierre added a hit each for the total of 7.
It would be the final time that Noblesville and Harrison get together on the diamond as Hoosier Crossroads Conference opponents, as Harrison (along with McCutcheon and Lafayette Jeff) will be changing conferences and become a member of the North Central Conference.
The Millers became outright champions of the Hoosier Crossroads Conference with the 5-3 win at Harrison. Going into the final regular season game, Noblesville and McCutcheon were neck-and-neck at the top.
Thursday night just as the Millers were tied at home with Harrison, it came across the Twitter feed that Hamilton Southeastern had upset McCutcheon 4-1, which gave NHS at least a share of the title.
Becoming outright champions of the toughest conference in the state of Indiana became a reality. Sweeping Harrison gave the Millers the title they have longed for. Noblesville finished the regular season with a 22-8 overall record and a 14-4 HCC mark.
Noblesville (22-8) now faces HCC rival Fishers (21-9) in the first semifinal of the 4A Sectional 8 tournament at Dunker Field in Noblesville on Monday, June 2 at 11 a.m.
Hamilton Southeastern (12-16) and Westfield (18-11) meet up in the second semifinal, following approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the Noblesville-Fishers matchup.
The Class 4A Sectional 8 championship game will be Monday night at 7:30.
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