From the start, it wasn't even close to how Noblesville wanted this 3-game series on the road at Brownsburg boost off. The Millers, coming into the HCC set on a 7-game winning streak, following Tuesday's 6-1 win over Heritage Christian at home, were tied with the Bulldogs for 2nd place in the league, both having 7-5 records coming in.
Having never been to Brownsburg for a Noblesville road game, I was told by Mike McLochlin that it was referred to as the "launching pad" and that seemed to be fitting, but for the home Bulldogs, of course.
Normally, these two HCC powers put forth quite a dogfight to even split the former format of a two-game series. Even with this change to three games played against each opponent, that won't change with the Bulldogs and Millers one single bit.
The Westfield Shamrocks had already locked up the outright HCC championship over the weekend, so it's all up to Noblesville to fend off Brownsburg and Zionsville to secure sole possession of 2nd place.
Bulldog bats batter Miller pitching in series opener
Game 1: Brownsburg 11, Noblesville 4 - (Thurs. May 14 at Brownsburg)
Millers 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 - 4 9 1
Bulldogs 4 2 0 3 0 2 x - 11 11 1
Caleb Sampen got the nod to start on the mound for Brownsburg and was going to do everything he could to help put a halt to Noblesville 7-game winning streak.
He allowed a single in the top of the 1st by Michael Carmosino, but stranded him at second.
Jacson McGowan got things going in the bottom with a one out walk from Cory Conway. Sampen flied out to left for two down, but that didn't really cross the minds of the Bulldogs.
Anthony Travelsted singled and then he and McGowan were driven home on a two-run double by the DH Brooks Birely for a 2-0 lead. First baseman Owen Gilbert walked for two on and Travis Mears loaded the bases reaching on an error by Vince Essig at short.
Ryan Robbins walked to score Birely and Brad Gullinger singled home Gilbert to help Brownsburg grab a 4-0 after one inning.
Cory Conway lasted just 2/3 of an inning, giving up 4 runs on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out just 1. Those numbers are completely uncharacteristic of the junior southpaw, but it seemed like Thursday night just wasn't his night (for once).
Clayton Marowski came in with 2 outs in the bottom of the 1st and was able to get the final out of the inning.
Dax McLochlin singled past Mears at short for a one out single. Two batters later, Austin Shirley was hit by a pitch. The senior McLochlin and Shirley advance up a base on a passed ball to get into scoring position. Alec Parker singled down the left field line to score both Dax and Austin to cut the Bulldogs' lead in half and Noblesville trailed 4-2 after two at-bats.
McGowan drilled a double to the fence in right center to lead off the home half of the 2nd. Two hitter later with one out, Anthony Travelsted jacked a two-run homer to deep left to extend the Brownsburg lead back to four runs at 6-2 through two.
Noblesville was going to do whatever they could to climb their way back into the game. Vince Essig got on with a one out single to right. Carmosino doubled to get Vince to third and they both were in scoring position with one away and Connor Christman walked to load the bases. Bryce Masterson singled to the outfield to score Essig to cut the deficit to 6-3.
Marowski sent down the Bulldogs in order in the 3rd and that gave the Millers another chance in the top of 4.
Parker got his second hit of the night into left again. Essig was within inches of his first home run of the season, but settled for a ground-rule double that would score courtesy runner Harris Camp to close the gap back to two runs at 6-4.
Andrew Dishinger walked and was forced out at second on a fielder's choice by Jacson McGowan. Caleb Sampen reached on an infield single and Travelsted walked to load up the bags with one out. Then with two outs, Owen Gilbert trailed a three-run double to the fence in right over the head of Shirley to bust the game open at 9-4 Brownsburg after four.
Patrick Coleman pitched his first full inning of varsity work out of the bullpen, forcing a groundout and a pair of fly outs. The sophomore Coleman pitched the final 1/3 inning Tuesday at home against Heritage Christian to get his feet wet.
Connor Adams got the call from the bullpen to throw in the bottom of the 6th with a five run deficit. Cameron Martin pinch hit for McGowan and led off with a single right up the middle into center. Ryan Schutte also pinch hit for Sampen, dropping a single into shallow right for two on. Travelsted was at it again, this time bunting a single in the infield to score Martin.
Triston Polley pinch hit and reached on a fielder's choice, which forced Travelsted out at 2nd, and also scored Schutte for the final score of 11-4.
Millers win "longest Senior Night ever" in comeback fashion
Game 2: Noblesville 5, Brownsburg 4 (8 inn.) - (Fri. at The Dunk/Sat. at Brownsburg)
Bulldogs 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 10 1
Millers 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 - 5 5 2
Friday night was Senior Night at The Dunk to honor student trainer Casey Ferguson, the 7 senior players and Avrey Rose.
The weather was starting to turn as the game started and we were just hoping to get some baseball in. That's exactly what happened.
Andrew Dishinger led off the game with a walk by senior left-handed hurler Will Plumer. Jacson McGowan singled up the middle and Caleb Sampen bunted for a single to load the bases with no outs. Anthony Travelsted hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Dishinger for a 1-0 Brownsburg lead.
Travis Mears was throwing pretty well for the Bulldogs, allowing one hit over the first three innings, including fanning 5 of 6 in the 2nd and 3rd.
Brownsburg added to their lead in the 2nd. Mears led off with a single by the second base bag and into center. After a ground out by Ryan Robbins, Brad Gullinger dropped a single into right center to score courtesy runner Cameron Martin for the second Bulldog run. Three batters later with two outs, Sampen lined a single into left to score Gullinger and Brownsburg had a 3-0 lead through two at-bats.
The Bulldogs weren't done yet. Robbins singled to lead off the top of the 4th, but was forced out at 2nd on a grounder to Michael Carmosino, getting Gullinger to first on a fielder's choice. Gullinger would score on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 off of the bat of Sampen.
The Millers knew they had to get their offense going. Vince Essig legged out an infield single and reached second on a passed ball. Connor Christman took advantage of having Vince in scoring position and drove an RBI single to left to plate Essig to get Noblesville on the board, but still trailed 4-1.
Triston Polley came out of the Bulldog pen and immediately walked Bryce Masterson and Dax McLochlin reached on an E5 by McGowan at third. L.J. Tilley walked to score Christman from 3rd to cut the Brownsburg lead to 4-2.
Will Plumer was back on the mound in the top of the 5th and the weather wasn't looking promising to get the game in .
He got Ryan Schutte to line out Gillian in center. Owen Gilbert singled into shallow left center and no sooner that the ball was thrown back in to the infield, there was a lightning strike off in the distance close enough to throw the game into a delay.
After a delay of close to 45 minutes, the two head coaches, the pair of umpires and Noblesville assistant athletic director Tony Oilar decided that with the weather not going to be any better for the rest of the night, that Game 2 would be suspended until Saturday at Brownsburg. Along with the continuation, Game 3 would also be slated for Saturday to follow.
Continuation of Game 2, "the longest Senior Night ever..."
Justin Buchanan had been warming up in the bullpen Friday night at The Dunk to relieve Plumer, so it worked out that he would resume a bullpen warm-up upon the Millers' arrival in Brownsburg Saturday.
Resetting the situation, the Bulldogs were up to bat with one out and the runner aboard was Owen Gilbert. Buchanan's first hitter he faced was pinch hitter Chase Haynes, who flied out to center for the second out. With Robbins up, Pinch runner (for Gilbert) #23 (not listed) was picked off as he tried to steal second. Buchanan to Dax to Essig for the third out of the inning, igniting the Miller fans that made the road trip to Brownsburg!
Jacson McGowan came to the mound the start the 5th, giving both teams fresh arms to start the day. He mowed right through the 9-1-2 hitters of the Millers, striking out Parker and Gillian looking and forcing Essig into a pop out to Gullinger at 2nd.
After Buchanan struck out two of the hitters he faced in the 6th, the Millers were ready for McGowan in the bottom.
Michael Carmosino walked and Connor Christman singled to center to get Carmo to third with no outs. Bryce Masterson grounded out to Gilbert at first (unassisted) for the first out. Carmosino scored on a passed ball with Dax up and it was 4-3 Brownsburg.
Christman stole home when a ball got away from Bulldogs catcher Brandon Reid and the Millers tied the game at 4-4.
Neither could get anything going in the 7th, which took the game into extra innings.
Buchanan was able to get two quick outs to start the 8th, but a single from Dishinger and walk to McGowan brought an end to his day. Sophomore Patrick Coleman was on to face Caleb Sampen. On a 2-1 count, Coleman forced Sampen to ground out to McLochlin at first to end any threat with those two runners on.
Matt Rollyson had pitched the 7th, but head coach Eric Mattingly brought Michael Klayer in after Rollyson had already walked Christman and Masterson to start the inning. Neil Brown came in to pinch run for Christman. A passed ball with McLochlin up helped Brown to third and Masterson to second with no outs. Then, on a 3-1 count, Dax McLochlin launched a game-winning RBI walk-off single to deep right center on the fly to the fence, scoring Brown for the win, 5-4 in 8 innings!
The Millers tied the series up at 1-1 and Patrick Coleman had just earned his first varsity win on the mound.
Two 4-run innings fuel Millers to series win; Christman, Masterson go back-to-back
Game 3: Noblesville 9, Brownsburg 3 - (Mon. 5/18 at Brownsburg)
Millers 0 4 0 4 1 0 0 - 9 7 0
Bulldogs 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 - 3 4 4
With as much of this series that has been played at Brownsburg (all but 4.1 innings), it seemed like all three games were on the road
Caleb Sampen reached first on a dropped third strike with one out, but he wasn't on base for long, as he was picked off by Cory Conway. But, before that, Anthony Travelsted hit a solo home run to center to give Brownsburg the early 1-0 lead.
Noblesville answered that call in the top of the 2nd and put their first crooked number up.
Bryce Masterson grounded a single to right. Dax McLochlin lined a single of his own to left, moving Masterson to 2nd. L.J. Tilley reached on an error at first by Owen Gilbert to load the bases for the Millers.
Austin Shirley walked to bring home Masterson to tie the game 1-1. Alec Parker drove in two runs with a single to left on a liner, scoring Dax and L.J. on the play. Vince Essig grounded to short for the second out of the inning, but that allowed Shirley to sprint home and just like that, Noblesville had put a four-spot on the scoreboard to lead 4-1 heading into the bottom of the second.
Travis Mears led off with a walk. Brooks Birely singled to right, advancing Mears to 2nd and was able to score on the play to pull the Bulldogs within two at 4-2 through two.
The Millers were back at it strongly in the top of the 4th after yes, a "thunder delay" in the Brownsburg area in Hendricks county.
Travis Gillian reached on an error at shortstop by Sampen and he possibly would have had it legged out anyway. Michael Carmosino singled on the ground to right, scoring Gillian from first for 5-2.
Next up, Connor Christman took advantage and drove his first career varsity home run over the left center fence to give the Millers a 7-2 lead. The junior 3rd baseman was LONG overdue for his first longball and it couldn't have come during a better opportunity.
Noblesville wasn't done in the inning. Bryce Masterson decided that it had been WAY too long since he took a baseball over the fence. It was the Friday night of the HCC series opening games on April 10th, when Thursday's game was pair with Friday's for a doubleheader. The sophomore DH belted two home runs that day, one in each game.
This time, Masterson must have taken a page right out of first base coach and former Miller ('09) Jake Wood's book and took a pitch opposite field for a solo shot to left to lengthen the score to 8-2.
Before Brownsburg could even think about getting their bearings, the Millers were up in the top of the 5th to do some more damage.
Austin Shirley doubled to deep right center on one hop to the fence. Gillian reach again on an error by Sampen at short, which made it possible to get Shirley home from second for a 9-2 margin.
Brownsburg's last-ditch effort to come back was in the bottom of the 6th. Jacson McGowan led off with a single to right. Anthony Travelsted singled to center, getting McGowan to third. Owen Gilbert grounded to Essig, Vince stepped on the second base bag and gunned to first to get the double play. McGowan scored on the play for what would be the final score of 9-3.
Cory Conway pitched six solid innings before he was pulled for Clayton Marowski out of the bullpen to finish the game. The junior southpaw notched his HCC-leading 7th win on the mound and is now 7-2 this season. He also has 78 strikeouts and 22 walks in 53.1 innings pitched so far.
Brownsburg drops to 13-10 overall and 8-7 in Hoosier Crossroads Conference play. The Bulldogs conclude league play and their regular season in a series with Hamilton Southeastern starting at the Royals on Thursday at 6.
Noblesville improves to 17-9 on the season and is 9-6 in the HCC. The Millers will wrap up their conference slate and regular season with the Avon Orioles starting on the road Thursday night at 6. Friday night will be a doubleheader at The Dunk in Noblesville. Game 1 on Friday will be at 6 p.m. with the second game around 35 minutes after the conclusion.
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