Game 1: Tuesday, April 21 at Zionsville
Wind aids Zionsville bats in 10-0 series opener
Millers 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 1
Eagles 4 0 4 0 2 - 10 12 0
On a cool, extremely windy Tuesday night in Boone County, the wind played a factor for both the Noblesville Millers and the Zionsville Eagles, but only one was able to take advantage of it at the plate.
The host Eagles jumped on starting pitching of Will Plumer right away in the bottom of the 1st and took advantage of a wind that was blowing straight out to left field from west to east.
Nolan Elsbury was hit by a pitch with one out to get the first base runner. The next pitch, his older brother Kellan got a hold of a Plumer fastball and belted it up into the wind out to left and it was carried over the left field fence and out of the reach of Travis Gillian. That gave the Eagles an early 2-0 lead.
Drew Bertram singled right to the bag at third and reached on an infield single. A double by Jack Pilcher over Connor Christman's head at third gave Zionsville runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out. The pitcher Grant Sloan helped his own cause, grounding out to second and driving in Bertram for a 3-0 score. Chad Garicek singled up the middle to plate the fourth Eagle run of the inning, sending Pilcher home for a 4-0 count through one.
Sloan forced three ground outs in the first. In the second and third, the Virginia-commit showed that he meant business, striking out those six hitters for six of his eight strikeouts in five innings of work.
Will Plumer didn't pitch a bad game at all. It was the simple fact that Zionsville was able to play with the hand the wind was dealing them at the plate and the Millers weren't able to place the ball as well as the Eagles.
Zionsville got back to it offensively in the bottom of the third. The elder Bertram, Drew, took a 3-2, one out pitch and lined it over the left field fence for a solid solo home run and a 5-0 tally on the board.
Pilcher then took a 1-1 pitch and singled into shallow left.
Two batters later with two down now and head coach Justin Keever decided to go with senior Justin Buchanan out of the bullpen in relief of Plumer,
Garicek singled for two on. Next, with the wind howling out to left again, Nick Prather smacked a high fly ball to deep left. In normal conditions, this would have been a routine catch to end the inning for Gillian. Instead, he and Austin Shirley were forced to watch the wind carry the ball over the left field fence for a 3-run home run off the bat of Prather and just like that, it was 8-0.
Ty Lindstrand led off the top of the 4th by breaking up Grant Sloan's no-hit bid, doubling to the fence in deep left center. Unfortunately, Ty was stranded at second with three consecutive outs recorded.
The Millers were only about to get Gillian aboard via a walk in the top of the fifth, stranding the sophomore at second also.
Jack Pilcher would continue his great night at the plate with a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the 5th. Sloan, then took a 2-0 pitch to the fence in center for an RBI-triple to score Pilcher and put the Eagles up 9-0. Garicek would K for the first out. Prather poked an easy single just over Neil Brown's head and shallow left, allowing Sloan to trot home for the 10-0 final score, giving Zionsville a victory in 5 innings to start the series.
Noblesville dropped to 6-6 and 2-5 in HCC play, while Zionsville improved to 9-2 and 5-2 in the league.
Game 2: Wednesday, April 22 at The Dunk, Noblesville
McLochlin twirls six-hit shutout for 6-0 victory
Eagles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 6 1
Millers 0 0 0 2 4 0 x - 6 6 1
The wind was doing its number once again on Wednesday night at The Dunk in Noblesville. This time, they worked it into their favor.
Dax McLochlin took to the mound in search of his 3rd win of the season and more importantly, to even up the series at one game apiece.
The senior right-hander was dealing his good stuff right away to the Zionsville hitters. Getting two quick outs in the 1st, Kellan Elsbury walked, but was left on base when Dax struck out Drew Bertram looking to end the inning.
He struck out four more over the next two innings to give him five fanned Eagles through three.
Through the first three, the Miller bats were held in check Kellan Elsbury on the mound. Elsbury sent four Noblesville hitters down on strikes during the first 3 innings.
McLochlin forced three ground outs to sit down the Eagles 1-2-3 in the top of the 4th and it just had that feeling that Noblesville would be breaking out their bats.
Michael Carmosino walked on six pitches to get the dugout and the fans into it. Before Connor Christman even saw one pitch, Elsbury balked on the mound, granting Carmo second base. Christman grounded out to second for the first out, but that helped move Carmo over to third and into scoring position.
Carmo scored on Bryce Masterson reaching on an error by catcher Drew Bertram, which also helped Bryce head to second and into scoring position right away. Dax then hit a tailing fly ball to the gap in right center, one-hopping it to the fence to score Masterson and the Millers had gained a 2-0 lead on Zionsville through four.
Jacob Hurtibise and Riley Bertram both singled with one out for the Eagles, but Bertram was caught stealing by catcher Alec Parker and Nolan Elsbury popped out by the third base bag to Christman to strand Hurtibise.
Nick Etter started the 5th in relief for Zionsville and the Millers couldn't help but take advantage of the arm just out of the bullpen.
Alec Parker sat patient at the plate and walked to lead off the home half of the 5th. L.J. Tilley came in to courtesy run for the senior catcher and immediately stole second base. Travis Gillian lined a single center to get Tilley to third and L.J. was able to score on the play.
Ty Lindstrand grounded out to the pitcher Etter, getting Gillian to second and then the swift sophomore stole third when the catcher Bertram was slow getting the ball out of his glove. Three pitches later on an 0-2 count, Carmosino hit an RBI single over SS Joey Mushalla's head and into shallow left to score Gillian for a 4-0 score.
Connor Christman singled to left to score Carmo to make it 5-0. Masterson collected his second hit of the night with an RBI single through the hole between the first and second basemen to plate Christman and put the Millers up 6-0 through five.
McLochlin's final two innings on the mound gave Zionsville a slight thought that they had a chance, but they weren't able to advance runners like they were able to on Tuesday night. The Eagles were trying for a 7th inning rally, but it would be too late.
Grant Sloan led off with an infield single and was forced out at second on a force out at second on a fielder's choice by Chad Garicek. Jake Hurd pinch hit for Nick Prather and singled into shallow right for runners at first and second. Hurtibise flied out to right for the second out. What ended the game was Garicek leaving early and not tagging up at second, trying to advance to third. Harris Camp threw to Carmo at first and then to Neil Brown standing on the bag at second for a 9-3-6 putout for the double play to end the game and preserve the shutout.
Dax McLochlin improved his record to 3-1 with a complete game, six-hit shutout. The 6'4 hard throwing righty struck out five and walked just two. Masterson led the Millers at the plate with a 2-3 night with 2 RBIs. Carmosino had an RBI, scoring twice and Christman also scored and had an RBI. Gillian was a key contributor with an RBI single.
Zionsville drops to 9-3 overall and 3-2 in the HCC and Noblesville improves to 7-6 with a 3-5 mark in the HCC.
Game 3: Thursday, April 23 at Zionsville
Conway fans career-high 15 as Millers come back for series win
Millers 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 - 3 10 2
Eagles 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 6 1
The Millers hit the road to Zionsville for the second time in three nights, this time against a hard-throwing right-handed junior in RJ Wagner. The host Eagles had a tougher task to face and that was Noblesville ace junior southpaw Cory Conway.
Wagner was a little shaky to start off in the first, Travis Gillian walked and stole second with Ty Lindstrand up, but was caught stealing third base by the catcher Drew Bertram for the first out.
Michael Carmosino walked to put another runner aboard, but with Lindstrand striking out, Connor Christman grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning, although it looked like Kellan Elsbury pulled his foot off of the first base bag before Connor got there.
Zionsville was ready to get back to how they hit against the Millers at home on Tuesday, but that would be extremely tough.
Conway took it right to the freshman lead-off hitter Riley Bertram and struck him out looking. Nolan Elsbury walked for the first Eagle on. Drew Bertram's strikeout put two outs on the board. Jack Pilcher, who's had a decent series at the plate so far, drilled a triple to the fence in right center, scoring Elsbury for a 1-0 Zionsville lead.
The next pitch, DH Nick Prather hit an RBI double down the right field line to send Pilcher home to give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage after one.
Conway was all business from that point on.
He struck out the side in the 2nd and struck out the lead-off hitter in the 3rd for his fifth K in a row, whiffing two of the three he faced in the inning. Nolan Elsbury reached on an error by Neil Brown at short, but was picked off by Conway on a 1-3-6 before fanning Drew Bertram for the 2nd consecutive time.
The Millers had somewhat rattled Wagner and were done getting runners aboard with no results.
Dax McLochlin took a 2-1 fastball for a double that hit that fence in left center on a short hop to lead off the inning. Austin Shirley drove Dax home with a long single in just about the same spot to cut the Eagles' lead to 2-1. Nick Prather came in to relieve Wagner, but Alec Parker and Travis Gillian both singled with two outs, but Parker's courtesy runner (Jackson Thurman) and Gillian were stranded at 3rd and 2nd, respectively, to end the inning.
Noblesville kept at it in the top of the 5th. Michael Carmosino roped a long single right center and reached second on a passed ball while Christman was up. Masterson got under a 1-0 pitch and popped it up to the shortstop for the second out. McLochlin notched his second hit of the game with an RBI single to the gap in left center and the Millers had tied the game 2-2.
The bottom of the 5th was a little testing for Conway. Striking out Chad Garicek on three pitches to start the inning off, he seemed on point. Jacob Hurtibise singled up the middle and Joey Mushalla doubled just inside the third base bag to give the Eagles runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.
That was enough to motivate Cory even more, as hey struck out Riley Bertram at the top of the order and forced N. Elsbury to ground out to Brown at short to end the inning.
Both squads pretty much went down 1-2-3 on strikeouts in the 6th, except for Gillian grounding out to 1st in the top and Prather reaching on an error by Harris Camp in right.
Through six innings, Conway had mowed down 14 Zionsville hitters striking them out.
Lindstrand checked back into the lineup in right and led off the top of the 7th with a double down the right field line to get the Miller dugout and fans to erupt. Carmo would walk for two on and Christman reached first on an error at short by Mushalla to load the bases with no outs.
On an 0-2 count, Bryce Masterson lined an RBI single up the middle to the shortstop side of the second base bag, scoring Lindstrand for what would be the game-winning hit and a 3-2 Miller lead.
Dax, Austin Shirley and Neil Brown would strikeout consecutively to put a stop to any more scoring on the new Eagle relief pitcher Jack Pilcher.
Conway walked out determined to finish off the host Eagles in the 7th inning. Grant Sloan pinch hit for Garicek and struck out to start the inning for Cory's 15th strikeout of the night. Hurtibise grounded out to Christman at third for the second out on a close play at first. Mushalla got his second hit of the night up the middle, followed by a four pitch walk to Riley Bertram.
That brought head coach Justin Keever out of the Noblesville dugout that would end Conway's unbelievable night on the mound, striking out 15 and walking just 1 in 6 2/3 innings to improve his record on the mound to 3-1. To say the least, the Millers that made the road trip to Zionsville gave the junior lefty a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout where his teammates were there to greet him.
On the season, Conway has struck out 42 batters in 26.2 innings and only walked just 6.
Clayton Marowski came out of the bullpen to face Nolan Elsbury with two on and two down. It took just five pitches for the junior relief pitcher to strike out Elsbury looking to end the game, giving the Millers the road victory and the series win, 2-1.
Travis Gillian, Dan McLochlin and Bryce Masterson accounted for two hits each, with Masterson providing the game-winner in the top of the 7th. McLochlin, Shirley and Masterson drove in the three Miller runs in the win.
That was Zionsville's second loss in a row, dropping them to 9-4 overall and 3-3 in HCC play.
Noblesville improved to 8-6 on the season and 4-5 in the HCC, after starting league play at 1-4, they've for three out of their last four.
The Millers take Friday to get some kinks out and get a good practice in before hitting the road again just west to take on the Carmel Greyhounds (5-6) at Hartman Field on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Saturday night's Battle for the Oar in the "White River Rivalry" will be streamed live on Hamilton County TV at www.hctv5.com! Myself (Craig Adkins) will have the play-by-play and Perry Williams will provide the color as the Millers and Greyhounds renew their Hamilton county rivalry. Following the game Saturday night, the game will also be archived at hctvsports.com!
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