Winning the Class 4A State Championship in 2014 obviously sets the bar higher for Noblesville baseball from now on. With expectations that high, there are bound to be lessons learned and a bumpy road along the way.
The toughest thing to do in the world of sports, no matter which sport, is to repeat any feat that was accomplished during the previous season.
That was surely the case for this particular group of Millers in 2015. Some of this season's team were a part of last year's state champions and others were there this season for their first season at the varsity level and were going to do whatever it took to achieve the goals that were set in the beginning of the season and even in the fall during Fall Ball.
The more challenging task is to win the Hoosier Crossroads Conference in any season or any sport. This group of Millers had their hearts set on winning the conference title for a second consecutive season, but it would be a tall order with what the rest of the conference schools had coming back.
It all starts with the coaching staff getting the players to fully buy in to what they are trying to accomplish for the better of the team. Justin Keever is in his 11th season at the helm of the Millers and has an outstanding core of assistant coaches in Kevin Fitzgerald, Caleb Small and Jake Wood.
4A Sectional 8 First Round Game - (Thursday, May 28 at Zionsville)
Zionsville 3, Noblesville 2
Eagles 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 - 3 8 4
Millers 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 3 0
Cory Conway got in a top of the 1st jam, where he allowed two hits and a walk to load the bags, but the junior southpaw managed to find his way out. Jack Pilcher was called for the third out on an offensive interference to end Zionsville's early threat.
Noblesville got started off on the right foot in the bottom of the first inning by simply getting runners aboard and getting them home.
Travis Gillian led off getting hit by a Prather pitch for an early runner on. Michael Carmosino singled to short and was able to leg out an infield single for two on and one out. Bryce Masterson was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.
Dax McLochlin hit a grounder to Chad Garisek at third and Garisek committed an error on his throw to first, allowing both Gillian and Carmo to score from third and second, respectively, for a 2-0 Noblesville lead after one.
Nick Prather started off the top of the 4th lining a single on the ground to left. Pilcher duplicated Prather's hit and went to left for a single for two on and no outs. Duke Schillaci came in to pinch run for Prather. With Garisek up, Schillaci and Pilcher advanced to third and second on a passed ball. Drew Bertram sent a sacrifice fly out to right and into Austin Shirley's glove, but that was enough to get Schillaci home from third, cutting Noblesville's lead down to 2-1.
Aside from a single and double by McLochlin in the 4th and 6th, along with Harris Camp getting hit by a pitch and Shirley walking, the Miller offense went stagnant for the rest of the game.
Highly-touted Virginia recruit Grant Sloan came on to pitch in the bottom of the 6th and completely changed the dynamic of the game. Two strikeouts right away of Connor Christman and Bryce Masterson put the Millers in a crucial situation.
McLochlin lined a double to left to start a possible two-out rally. Camp (HBP) and Shirley (BB) reached to load the bases, but the Millers weren't able to get any insurance runs across, stranding all three aboard.
The Eagles took advantage of their last at-bat in the top of the 7th. Chad Garisek singled on a grounder to Essig at short to start the inning off. Drew Bertram dropped down a sac bunt that moved Garisek over to second with one away. Relief pitcher Grant Sloan then lined a triple to deep center, scoring Garisek to tie it up at 2-2. Riley Bertram bunted a single that would score Sloan's pinch runner Jacob Hurtibise to give Zionsville a 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th.
The Millers were at the top of their order and looking to win this game and move onto the semifinals, but they knew it wouldn't be easy.
Gillian struck out on a foul tip to lead off. Vince Essig reached on Joey Mushalla's second error at short to put the tying run on with one out. Michael Carmosino was the second out of the inning, also striking out with a foul tip on the third strike.
Down to their final out, Noblesville left it up to junior third baseman Connor Christman to get Essig home for at least a tie ball game. On an 0-1 count, Connor half-check swinged and grounded to Nick Prather at first base, ending the game and the Millers' pursuit of a repeat 4A state tournament run.
The win improved Zionsville to 22-8 and they would then knock off Westfield 6-1, who drew the bye. The host Eagles weren't able to take full advantage of home field in the sectional championship, as they lost to Hamilton Southeastern 2-1, ending their season at 23-9.
Noblesville (19-11) ended their season nothing like their storybook, dream season of 2014. They have nothing to hang their heads on this season. Yes, there were 8 (to my count) of their 11 losses that could have turned into wins, but there are some things that can't be changed. This group needs to stand tall and be proud of who they are!
So many critics out there expected them to do exactly what the 2014 Millers did and that feat is extremely difficult to duplicate and a lot of people just don't understand how tough that is, unless they have actually been in the place of these players.
We say goodbye and best of luck to seven outstanding seniors that have given a tremendous amount of their young lives to this Noblesville baseball program!
The seniors' 2015 totals...
Dax McLochlin - (.263 BA, 20-76, HR, 8 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 13 RBIs, 19 R; 3-0, 1.68 ERA, 25 IP, 20 K/8 BB, .255 OBA, .985 fielding %, 135 PO, 113 Ast.)
Alec Parker - (.286, 22-77, 2B, 3B, 15 RBIs, 11 R; .995 fielding %, 160 PO, 41 Ast.)
Vince Essig - (.204, 10-49, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 4 RBIs, 10 R; .929 fielding %, 23 PO, 29 Ast.)
Connor Adams - (1-1, 3.87 ERA, 1 save, 12.2 IP, 9 K/7 BB, 8 APP)
Justin Buchanan - (3-0, 1.22 ERA, 10 APP, 28.2 IP, 27 K/19 BB, .234 OBA)
Will Plumer - (0-2, 4.34 ERA, 7 APP, 29 IP, 15 K/10 BB, .287 OBA)
L.J. Tilley - (.185, 5-27, 3 RBIs, 6 R, 1.000 fielding %, 7 PO, 7 Assists)
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Millers win 2 of 3 from Avon, finish 2nd in HCC standings
After starting out the Hoosier Crossroads Conference season going 1-2 in each of their first two series against Fishers and Westfield, the Noblesville Millers turned their season back to the winning ways that it knows how to do.
The Millers rattled off a 9-3 mark for the remainder of their conference games to finish at 11-7 for a solid 2nd place finish behind Westfield, who won the HCC title outright with a 14-4 record.
At this point, Noblesville's main intent is finishing the regular season on a high note and head into sectionals at Zionsville vs. the host Zionsville Eagles playing great baseball and keeping their stride.
Millers best Orioles in extras, take series opener
Game 1: Noblesville 8, Avon 7 (10 inn.) - (Thurs. May 21 at Avon)
Millers 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 - 8 9 2
Orioles 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 7 11 2
Travis Gillian started off the top of the 3rd getting hit by a pitch. Vince Essig grounded to third baseman Johnathan Staab, but committed an error from his spot at the hot corner on his throw to first, giving the Millers two aboard. The error on the throw helped Gillian make it to third and Essig made his way to second.
With Michael Carmosino at the plate, a passed ball gets by Orioles' catcher and Gillian sprinted home for the first Noblesville run.
Avon got motivated to get a little scoring done themselves in the bottom of the 3rd. Kahi'au Quartero tripled to right to lead off the inning. Andrew Griffin came in to courtesy run for him. Austin Natalie grounded out to Dax McLochlin at first for out number one, but that helped get Griffin home to tie it up 1-1.
Tanner Brandt walked and advanced to second on a Matt Moore single to center. Brayton Nyland grounded to third and Connor Christman committed a rare error, allowing Brandt to score from third for a 2-1 Avon lead.
Jarrett Truran dropped a single into center field to score Moore from second for a 3-1 Orioles lead and runners at the corners. Nyland scored soon after on a wild pitch by Noblesville starter Will Plumer and Avon jumped out to a 4-1 score after three full innings.
Noblesville was in prime position to put up a crooked number themselves in their next at-bat with the 3-4-5 hitters due up.
Connor Christman led off the 4th with a double to left. Bryce Masterson was hit by a pitch for two runners on. Dax McLochlin reached on another error by Staab at 3rd to load the bases. Jackson Thurman came in to run for Masterson at second.
Ty Lindstrand hit a grounder (fielder's choice) to Trevor Curran at second base. Curran tossed to the shortstop Navarro for the force out of McLochlin, but that scored Christman to cut Avon's lead down to 4-2. Thurman made his way to third and into scoring position and Lindstrand at first.
Austin Shirley hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Thurman and it was now 4-3 Orioles. Alec Parker followed suit hitting a single on the fly to right to score Lindstrand and in no time at all, the Millers had tied the game 4-4.
The Millers were back at it in the top of the 6th.
Dax McLochlin led off lining a double to left. Parker was hit by a pitch after Lindstrand and Shirley struck out consecutively. A passed ball allowed Dax to head to third and Harris Camp (running for Parker) found himself to second. Then, a wild pitch with Travis Gillian at the plate gave Dax and Harris time to run home for a 6-4 Noblesville advantage. Gillian lined a single to center and immediately was tripled home by Vince Essig's extra base hit for a 7-4 Miller edge.
With a three run lead heading into the bottom of the 7th, the host Orioles felt the pressure on them.
Joey Miller led off with a walk, Moore singled to right and Nyland walked to load the bags to start the inning. Jarrett Truran walked to send Miller home. Noah Navarro reached on a fielder's choice to Essig. Vince tossed to Carmosino at second for the force out of Truran at second. But, Moore scored to get Avon within one at 7-6. Trevor Curran doubled to left to score Brayton Nyland to tie the game at 7-7, sending the game into extra innings.
With neither scoring in the 8th and 9th, it was up to one of them to get something going in the 10th inning.
Austin Shirley patiently led off the 10th with a walk and moved over to second on Alec Parker's single to left. Leadoff hitter Travis Gillan layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Gillian to third and Parker to second. Shirley was able to score on a wild pitch that would prove to be the game-winning run for an 8-7 win in 10 innings for Noblesville.
Connor Adams tossed shutout baseball over the final four innings of the game, allowing just four hits, walking three and also striking out three to earn the win on the mound.
Orioles edge Millers behind Matt Moore to open doubleheader
Game 2: Avon 3, Noblesville 2 - (Fri. May 22 at The Dunk, Noblesville)
Orioles 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 - 3 10 2
Millers 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 3 2
Travis Gillian started the Miller offense on the right foot in the bottom of the 1st, singling into center and made his way to second on Vince Essig's fielder's choice. Gillian scored on a Michael Carmosino RBI ground out to third and Bryce Masterson grounded to short for the second out of the inning, sending Essig home for a 2-0 Noblesville lead through one.
Avon was able to get their offense going in the third. Kahi'au Quartero hit a bloop single to left with one out and was doubled over to third by Brayton Nyland for runners at second and third with one down. The DH Jarrett Truran hit a double on the fly to the left field fence to score both Quartero and Nyland to tie the game 2-2.
The Orioles were dialed in on what Noblesville starter Clayton Marowski was throwing and took advantage again in the top of the 5th. Avon started a two-out rally with a Matt Moore single to shallow right center and Johnathan Staab singled to left for two on. Andrew Griffin came in to pinch run for Moore and scored on an RBI single by Austin Natalie that gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead that would turn out to be the final score to even the series at one game apiece.
Noblesville wasn't able to hit the junior Purdue recruit Matt Moore like they hoped they would. Avon roughed Marowski up for a total of nine hits in 6 innings of work on the mound, striking out one and also walking one.
Moore allowed just three hits over his 7 innings. He struck out 8 while walking three. Avon evened the series up at 1-1 with Game 3 to follow.
Buchanan, Conway combo shuts out Avon; Millers take series and regular season finale
Game 3: Noblesville 7, Avon 0 - (Fri. May 22 at The Dunk, Noblesville)
Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 1
Millers 1 2 3 0 1 0 x - 7 7 1
Michael Carmosino started a short, but run scoring bottom of the first, two out rally. Carmo singled up the middle into center and stole second with Connor Christman up. Christman smacked an RBI-single on the ground, also into center, and the Millers took an early 1-0 lead after one.
Dax McLochlin started off the home half of the second walking. Alec Porter for runners at first and second and no outs. After Alex Cleverly's sacrifice bunt, Dax and Alec moved to 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Austin Shirley then took the first pitch he saw from Joey Miller and drove a two-run double off of the fence in left center to score both McLochlin and Parker for a 3-0 Noblesville score after two.
The Millers kept at it at the plate in the bottom of the third. A lead-off single by Carmosino, followed by a pair of walked to Christman and Masterson and that would be all for Joey Miller on the mound for Avon. Trevor Curran came on for the remainder of the game for the Orioles.
Carmosino scored on a passed ball with McLochlin up. Dax then hit a sacrifice fly to right that would score Christman for 5-0. Parker would also hit a sac fly in foul territory down the right field line to make it 6-0, scoring Masterson.
Noblesville finished off their scoring in the bottom of the 5th. McLochlin would reach on an error by second baseman Joey Miller, then would score on an RBI single by Alex Cleverly to give the Millers a 7-0 lead that they would keep for the rest of the game.
Justin Buchanan pitched a solid 4 innings in his final start of the season. The senior righty struck out 5, walked 4 and allowed just three hits. Cory Conway came in to pitch the final three innings and took off right where Buchanan left off.
Conway gave up just two hits, walked one and also struck out five, which gave him 83 strikeouts on the season.
The Millers finish the regular season with a 19-10 record and 11-7 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, while Avon wound up their regular season at 16-13 and 6-12 in the HCC.
The Millers rattled off a 9-3 mark for the remainder of their conference games to finish at 11-7 for a solid 2nd place finish behind Westfield, who won the HCC title outright with a 14-4 record.
At this point, Noblesville's main intent is finishing the regular season on a high note and head into sectionals at Zionsville vs. the host Zionsville Eagles playing great baseball and keeping their stride.
Millers best Orioles in extras, take series opener
Game 1: Noblesville 8, Avon 7 (10 inn.) - (Thurs. May 21 at Avon)
Millers 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 - 8 9 2
Orioles 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 7 11 2
Travis Gillian started off the top of the 3rd getting hit by a pitch. Vince Essig grounded to third baseman Johnathan Staab, but committed an error from his spot at the hot corner on his throw to first, giving the Millers two aboard. The error on the throw helped Gillian make it to third and Essig made his way to second.
With Michael Carmosino at the plate, a passed ball gets by Orioles' catcher and Gillian sprinted home for the first Noblesville run.
Avon got motivated to get a little scoring done themselves in the bottom of the 3rd. Kahi'au Quartero tripled to right to lead off the inning. Andrew Griffin came in to courtesy run for him. Austin Natalie grounded out to Dax McLochlin at first for out number one, but that helped get Griffin home to tie it up 1-1.
Tanner Brandt walked and advanced to second on a Matt Moore single to center. Brayton Nyland grounded to third and Connor Christman committed a rare error, allowing Brandt to score from third for a 2-1 Avon lead.
Jarrett Truran dropped a single into center field to score Moore from second for a 3-1 Orioles lead and runners at the corners. Nyland scored soon after on a wild pitch by Noblesville starter Will Plumer and Avon jumped out to a 4-1 score after three full innings.
Noblesville was in prime position to put up a crooked number themselves in their next at-bat with the 3-4-5 hitters due up.
Connor Christman led off the 4th with a double to left. Bryce Masterson was hit by a pitch for two runners on. Dax McLochlin reached on another error by Staab at 3rd to load the bases. Jackson Thurman came in to run for Masterson at second.
Ty Lindstrand hit a grounder (fielder's choice) to Trevor Curran at second base. Curran tossed to the shortstop Navarro for the force out of McLochlin, but that scored Christman to cut Avon's lead down to 4-2. Thurman made his way to third and into scoring position and Lindstrand at first.
Austin Shirley hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Thurman and it was now 4-3 Orioles. Alec Parker followed suit hitting a single on the fly to right to score Lindstrand and in no time at all, the Millers had tied the game 4-4.
The Millers were back at it in the top of the 6th.
Dax McLochlin led off lining a double to left. Parker was hit by a pitch after Lindstrand and Shirley struck out consecutively. A passed ball allowed Dax to head to third and Harris Camp (running for Parker) found himself to second. Then, a wild pitch with Travis Gillian at the plate gave Dax and Harris time to run home for a 6-4 Noblesville advantage. Gillian lined a single to center and immediately was tripled home by Vince Essig's extra base hit for a 7-4 Miller edge.
With a three run lead heading into the bottom of the 7th, the host Orioles felt the pressure on them.
Joey Miller led off with a walk, Moore singled to right and Nyland walked to load the bags to start the inning. Jarrett Truran walked to send Miller home. Noah Navarro reached on a fielder's choice to Essig. Vince tossed to Carmosino at second for the force out of Truran at second. But, Moore scored to get Avon within one at 7-6. Trevor Curran doubled to left to score Brayton Nyland to tie the game at 7-7, sending the game into extra innings.
With neither scoring in the 8th and 9th, it was up to one of them to get something going in the 10th inning.
Austin Shirley patiently led off the 10th with a walk and moved over to second on Alec Parker's single to left. Leadoff hitter Travis Gillan layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Gillian to third and Parker to second. Shirley was able to score on a wild pitch that would prove to be the game-winning run for an 8-7 win in 10 innings for Noblesville.
Connor Adams tossed shutout baseball over the final four innings of the game, allowing just four hits, walking three and also striking out three to earn the win on the mound.
Orioles edge Millers behind Matt Moore to open doubleheader
Game 2: Avon 3, Noblesville 2 - (Fri. May 22 at The Dunk, Noblesville)
Orioles 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 - 3 10 2
Millers 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 3 2
Travis Gillian started the Miller offense on the right foot in the bottom of the 1st, singling into center and made his way to second on Vince Essig's fielder's choice. Gillian scored on a Michael Carmosino RBI ground out to third and Bryce Masterson grounded to short for the second out of the inning, sending Essig home for a 2-0 Noblesville lead through one.
Avon was able to get their offense going in the third. Kahi'au Quartero hit a bloop single to left with one out and was doubled over to third by Brayton Nyland for runners at second and third with one down. The DH Jarrett Truran hit a double on the fly to the left field fence to score both Quartero and Nyland to tie the game 2-2.
The Orioles were dialed in on what Noblesville starter Clayton Marowski was throwing and took advantage again in the top of the 5th. Avon started a two-out rally with a Matt Moore single to shallow right center and Johnathan Staab singled to left for two on. Andrew Griffin came in to pinch run for Moore and scored on an RBI single by Austin Natalie that gave the Orioles a 3-2 lead that would turn out to be the final score to even the series at one game apiece.
Noblesville wasn't able to hit the junior Purdue recruit Matt Moore like they hoped they would. Avon roughed Marowski up for a total of nine hits in 6 innings of work on the mound, striking out one and also walking one.
Moore allowed just three hits over his 7 innings. He struck out 8 while walking three. Avon evened the series up at 1-1 with Game 3 to follow.
Buchanan, Conway combo shuts out Avon; Millers take series and regular season finale
Game 3: Noblesville 7, Avon 0 - (Fri. May 22 at The Dunk, Noblesville)
Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 1
Millers 1 2 3 0 1 0 x - 7 7 1
Michael Carmosino started a short, but run scoring bottom of the first, two out rally. Carmo singled up the middle into center and stole second with Connor Christman up. Christman smacked an RBI-single on the ground, also into center, and the Millers took an early 1-0 lead after one.
Dax McLochlin started off the home half of the second walking. Alec Porter for runners at first and second and no outs. After Alex Cleverly's sacrifice bunt, Dax and Alec moved to 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Austin Shirley then took the first pitch he saw from Joey Miller and drove a two-run double off of the fence in left center to score both McLochlin and Parker for a 3-0 Noblesville score after two.
The Millers kept at it at the plate in the bottom of the third. A lead-off single by Carmosino, followed by a pair of walked to Christman and Masterson and that would be all for Joey Miller on the mound for Avon. Trevor Curran came on for the remainder of the game for the Orioles.
Carmosino scored on a passed ball with McLochlin up. Dax then hit a sacrifice fly to right that would score Christman for 5-0. Parker would also hit a sac fly in foul territory down the right field line to make it 6-0, scoring Masterson.
Noblesville finished off their scoring in the bottom of the 5th. McLochlin would reach on an error by second baseman Joey Miller, then would score on an RBI single by Alex Cleverly to give the Millers a 7-0 lead that they would keep for the rest of the game.
Justin Buchanan pitched a solid 4 innings in his final start of the season. The senior righty struck out 5, walked 4 and allowed just three hits. Cory Conway came in to pitch the final three innings and took off right where Buchanan left off.
Conway gave up just two hits, walked one and also struck out five, which gave him 83 strikeouts on the season.
The Millers finish the regular season with a 19-10 record and 11-7 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, while Avon wound up their regular season at 16-13 and 6-12 in the HCC.
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