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)
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