Year in and year out, Noblesville and Westfield are deemed as two of the better baseball teams in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. Usually toward the top of the league standings, this particular 3-game series would be a test for both teams.
Both squads have a great mix of experience and youth that have blended together for some good and bad outcomes for both teams so far in this young season. Add senior leadership for both Westfield and Noblesville and you've got a series that will come down to the final out every game.
Game 1: Thursday, April 16 at The Dunk, Noblesville
Passed ball helps Westfield win at Noblesville, 2-1
Shamrocks 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 6 0
Millers 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 7 3
Nick Rhodes helped Westfield waste no time on Thursday night to get on the scoreboard early. Rhodes singled to right center with a full count. He found his way to second base when a passed ball bounced back to the backstop. Two hitters later, Harrison Freed lined a single up the middle to plate Rhodes and the visiting Shamrocks were up 1-0 early.
For the Millers on the mound, unfortunately Justin Buchanan's 2nd start of the season didn't pan out how he hoped it would. It had been 13 days since he had last pitched 5.1 innings against Knoxville West to earn the win.
The senior righty only gave up three hits in two innings, but it seemed like Noblesville was going to use a few pitchers and that's exactly what pitching coach Caleb Small turned to.
Will Plumer came in out of the bullpen again and pitched tremendously during the 3rd through 6th innings to keep the Westfield hitters at bay, allowing just three hits over that span and no more runs crossed home plate.
Connor Christman led off the bottom of the 4th with a single into shallow left center and was driven home to tie the ballgame up 1-1 when Travis Gillian reached base on an infield single.
Nick Rhodes was hit by a pitch to start off the top of the 7th and Chris Ayers reached on an error by McLochlin at 1st. Harrison Freed climbed aboard with a fielder's choice, which forced out Ayers at second for the first out of the inning, moving Rhodes to third.
With one out and runners at the corners, Ryan Pepiot was at the plate. Rhodes was able to dart home and prove to be the game-winning run on a passed ball for a 2-1 score.
Noblesville went down 1-2-3 in the last of the 7th to drop the series opener at home.
Game 2: Friday, April 17 at Shamrock Field, Westfield
Robinson's 3-run walk-off blast lifts Westfield to 9-6 win
Millers 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 - 6 7 4
Shamrocks 2 0 0 0 4 0 3 - 9 7 4
After dropping game one like they did on a passed ball at home, Noblesville was geared up and ready for their lone road game of the series.
The Millers got their offensive work started with a two-out rally in the top of the 1st. Michael Carmosino walked and was driven home on a Connor Christman double to the fence in right center on one hop for 1-0.
Christman would score on an error by the SS Ryan Pepiot. The DH Bryce Masterson, who would also get on base via the walk, advanced to third on the error and headed home on a Travis Gillian RBI-single to give Noblesville a 3-0 cushion after one at-bat.
Westfield got busy at the plate in the home half of the 1st with Nick Rhodes beating out an infield single to start things off. Chris Ayers doubled for two on at second and third. Rhodes scored on a passed ball, moving Ayers up to third. After Harrison Freed struck out, Pepiot hit an RBI ground out to third, scoring Ayers, cutting the Millers' lead to 3-2 after one full inning.
Christman singled with one out in the 3rd and advanced to second on a throwing error by Pepiot. Two hitters later with two down, Gillian singled and drove Connor home for a 4-2 Noblesville lead.
The Shamrocks would find their groove at the plate again in the bottom of the 5th. Ayers led off with a lining single up the middle into center and stole second during Freed's strikeout. Pepiot notched his second run driven in of the night, singling to left and Ayers scoring on the hit. Jackson Garrett smacked his second single of the game into shallow left. Jacob Robinson reached on an error at shortstop by Michael Carmosino, which helped Pepiot to tie it up 4-4.
Garrett and Robinson would score the final two runs of a four-run 4th. Logan Schneider would give the host Shamrocks a 6-4 lead on his single up the middle that scored Robinson.
After reliever Julian Lytle sent the Millers down 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th, they had one last chance to tie or take the lead on the Shamrocks in the 7th.
Jacob Robinson came to the mound from third to pitch the top of the 7th.
Carmosino walked for the second time in the game to lead off the inning. Christman singled to give the Millers two on with no outs and helping Connor put together another 4-for-4 night at the plate.
Gillian came through once again, singling and driving in Carmosino to cut Westfield's lead to 6-5. Alec Parker was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up the double play option for the Shamrocks. That didn't exactly work. Austin Shirley hit a long fly ball to the right center gap for a sac fly, sending Christman home to tie it up 6-6.
Noblesville reliever Clayton Marowski came in with two on in the seventh and a pressured situation. Jackson Garrett hit a grounder to the mound. Marowski smartly threw to third to get the lead runner (Pepiot) out for one away. That gave the Shamrocks two on.
The first pitch Jacob Robinson saw he sent towering over the left field fence for a three-run walk-off home run to give Westfield a 9-6 home field win and take a 2-0 series lead.
Robinson's swing of the bat earned him Player of the Game from Hamilton County TV. The stout 3B/P finished 1-4 at the plate with a 3-run walk-off HR and was the winning pitcher, tossing the top of the seventh when the Millers tied it 6-6.
Game 3: Saturday, April 18 at The Dunk, Noblesville
Conway stays poised, helps Millers avoid Shamrock sweep
Shamrocks 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 6 5
Millers 0 0 0 1 3 2 x - 6 6 1
Westfield was looking for a sweep in the series and they seemed pretty pumped to get that done on the road at Noblesville on Saturday. In this conference, it'll be extremely tough to sweep one team, no matter who they may be.
The Shamrocks wasted no time in getting their point across in the first inning. Nick Rhodes led off with a bloop single over Connor Christman's head at third base. Chris Ayers hit a grounder to Dax McLochlin at first that deflected off of his glove to Neil Brown at second. Brown quickly threw to Dax back at the bag for the first out.
Bailey Partlow and Milo Beam were in their first games back with the Shamrocks after being suspended for the first six games for a violation of team rules. Partlow made up for lost time at the plate, doubling to the left field corner, scoring Rhodes from second for an early 1-0 Westfield lead.
The visitors would grab another couple runs in the third with the help Beam and the top of the order. Beam, the Purdue commit, walked to start off the 3rd and stole second base soon after. Rhodes singled down the left field line to score Beam for a 2-0 Westfield advantage. Ayers singled to move Rhodes to third with no one out.
Here's where it got tricky.
Partlow flied out to left for the first out. Harrison Freed hit a sacrifice fly to deep center, scoring Rhodes. Both Rhodes and Ayers raced home from third and second, respectively. The quirky think about the play was that Rhodes tagged up at 3rd, but Ayers didn't tag up at 2nd. Ayers left early from second base, only allowing Rhodes' run to score.
The Millers tossed the ball to second and Ayers was tagged out to end the inning. Regardless of what happened and how the play unfolded, Westfield had jumped out to a 3-0 edge after three at-bats.
Noblesville was finally able to get something going offensively in the home half of the 4th. Bryce Masterson led off getting hit by a pitch and was relieved by pinch runner Jackson Thurman. Travis Gillian kept up his offensive clip, hitting a double on a 1-2 pitch to get Thurman to third and himself in scoring position at second with no outs.
Two batters later, Austin Shirley hit a long fly ball to center for a sac fly, driving home Thurman to cut the Westfield lead to 3-1.
In the 5th, Noblesville got their point across Westfield that they wouldn't be sweeping them on this particular day.
Ty Lindstrand led off with a walk and moved over to second a couple hitters later on a Carmosino single. Connor Christman singled to score Lindstrand to make it a 3-2 game and the bases were loaded with one out.
Gillian hit a sac fly to right, scoring Carmo for a tie ballgame at 3-3. Alec Parker's single into shallow right was enough to score Connor for a 4-3 lead that the Millers wouldn't give back.
The Miller bats kept going in the bottom of the 6th.
Lindstrand led off again, this time reaching on an error by second baseman Logan Schneider. McLochlin laid down a perfect bunt to the left side of the mound and almost beat out the throw at first, but did get Lindstrand's pinch runner Harris Camp to second. Carmo was hit by a pitch for the seventh time of the season. L.J. Tilley pinch ran for him at first and stole second. On that play, Camp scored on a passed ball for a 5-3 count.
Bryce Masterson ended the scoring for the Millers, doubling to center to send Tilley home for a 6-3 final score.
Cory Conway went the distance on the mound for 7 innings pitched, 7 hits, one walk and 4 strikeouts to his credit for move to 2-1 on the season. For his poise and control on the mound, Conway earned his second Player of the Game award from Hamilton County TV.
Westfield dropped to 4-4 on the season and 3-3 in the HCC.
The victory moved the Millers to 6-5 overall and 2-4 in Hoosier Crossroads Conference action.
Noblesville embarks on a busy week with a mid week series with Zionsville in HCC league play and a Saturday night tilt on the road at Carmel.
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