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!
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