Millers fall hard to Carmel in White River Rivalry

In every sport, the Carmel-Noblesville rivalry is a thick, fully competitive battle. In baseball, it's no different.

The past two seasons, the Greyhounds and Millers have battled it out to the tune of a couple 1-run ballgames. Last season, Carmel won 7-6 at Hartman Field on a Parker Massman walk-off 3-run home run. In 2014, Carmel scored on a passed ball in the top of the 7th at The Dunk to edge the Noblesville, 5-4. That loss for the Millers in 2014 was part of the mid-season motivation that helped Keever's squad later to win their final 9 games of the season, earning themselves the Class 4A State Championship.

The storied history of this great baseball rivalry reaches as far back as it can in the rich traditions of each program. The problem is that Noblesville hasn't been able to grab a win in the series in quite a few years.

Carmel wins White River Rivalry, scoring early and often
Carmel 11, 4A #7 Noblesville 1 (5 inn.) - at The Dunk, Noblesville (Sat. April 23, 2016)
Greyhounds     0     5     2     1     3     -     11     14     3
Millers              0     1     0     0     0     -      1       3     3

Sophomore Tyler Owens got another crack at starting for the Millers and unfortunately, it didn't pan out even close to what he hoped it would.

Because Noblesville would be finishing the continuation of their series finale with Zionsville on Monday, a non-conference game like this against Carmel would likely be a few arms getting work in, saving Conway and Marowski for Zionsville and the rest of the week to get rested.

Owens walked the DH J.C. Hanley to start the 2nd. Jack Van Remortal and Trent Terwilliger both singled to load the bases with no outs. Two hitters later with one down, Jarrod Moon doubled to left, scoring both Hanley and Van Remortal for an early 2-0 Carmel edge.

The Greyhounds kept at it as Sam Berry laced a two-run single into center and then scored the fifth run of the 2nd inning on a Pete Lamagna double to put Carmel up 5-0.

Two quick outs spelled offensive trouble for the Millers. They wouldn't go away quietly in the 2nd. Jackson Thurman drilled a two-out double and eventually scored Noblesville's lone run on an RBI-single from Austin Shirley that scored Thurman.

The visitors wanted to make it known that they weren't going away.

Rhett Wintner took a 1-0 pitch to the fence in right center for a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hanley for a 6-0 Carmel lead. Van Remortal got all of a Reese Sharp pitch and sent it sailing over the fence for a solo home run and extend the Greyhound margin to a touchdown at 7-0.

With Sharp getting the ball hit every which way off of him, he was pulled for sophomore Kade Gorman in the 4th after giving up two consecutive doubles to Lamagna and Wintner, respectively, scoring Lamagna on Wintner's two-bagger to center.

Terwilliger, catcher Colin Donahue and Berry would all three be able to score in the top of the 5th to really seal this victory for Carmel, leaving their mark on the Millers, stunning the hosts 11-1 in 5 innings of play.

4A #10 Millers sweep Westfield in HCC series

Entering the second conference series of the season, you start to get a full feel of how teams are and how well they play together.

This Noblesville team has some power, but as they showed in the Fishers series, and even more in their sweep of Westfield, they have the ability to finesse their way to victories. Winning games with great pitching and defense goes much further than a team that has mediocre arms on the mound and can hit the cover off of the ball. Those teams usually have to worry about outscoring their opponent, because of the lack of capable pitching to get the job done on the mound.

That reminds me of a handful of Indianapolis Colts seasons in the Peyton Manning era. Score enough on offense and hope the defense can hold off the opponents enough to secure the win.

The Millers aren't too far from being an 11-0 team right now. But, in high school baseball, its tough to win every single game. As much as you want to win every game, it's unfortunate that you can't wind up on top every game.

Hitting just 4-24 (.166) against Riverdale for the first loss of the season, the Millers left 9 runners aboard that day. And in the HCC opener vs. Fishers, it came down to 4 key base running blunders and a controversial ending that resulted in the second loss of the season.

From the looks of the Westfield series, I think the Millers are really putting things together at the right time.

GAME 1: Clayton Marowski tosses 5-hit shutout to seal the road win
#10 Noblesville 6, Westfield 0 - at Shamrock Field, Westfield (Thur. April 14, 2016)
Millers           2     1     0     1     0     2     0     -     6     10     0
Shamrocks    0     0     0     0     0     0     0     -     0      5      2

Taking the shortest road trip of the season is definitely never the easiest. That's normally the case when it comes to the rivalry between Westfield and Noblesville on the baseball diamond.

Westfield starting pitcher Brian Skelton had trouble from the the word go in Thursday night's first game of the series. Throwing 37 pitches (19 strikes) in the first inning, it looked like it was going to be either a short outing for the junior or he would have to work out those troubles and lengthen his night. Needless-to-say, Skelton wouldn't overstay his welcome for sure.

Travis Gillian led off the game with a walk on four pitches that put the Millers in a good position right away. Two batters later, Connor Christman found his way to first on an infield single toward third. Bryce Masterson made Skelton work and took the eighth pitch of the at-bat and rifled it down the first base line into right field, sending Gillian home easily for the first run on the board.

Ty Lindstrand singled and then Harris Camp walked to drive Christman to give Noblesville a 2-0 lead after their first trips to the plate.

The Millers would add another in the top of the 2nd before Skelton would exit stage left in the 3rd inning. Alex Cleverly walked with one out and Neil Brown would jog on to courtesy run for the catcher. Brown would score with the bases juiced on a Masterson walk, giving "Mouse" a 3-0 lead as he headed out to the mound for his second frame of work.

Marowski was as focused as he could be. Striking out a total of 7 Shamrocks in his seven innings of work.

After a leadoff single from Camp and hitting Jackson Thurman with a pitch on a full count, that was all that Westfield head coach Ryan Bunnell could take from Skelton on the mound.

Matt Meyer came in save Skelton and actually did a decent job. He made quick work of the rest of the bottom of the order to leave Camp aboard.

The score became 4-0 following Christman scoring on Masterson's RBI-double to right center.

Noblesville put another couple on the board in the 6th. Christman would single again, along with Masterson singling for his third hit of the game for two runners on. Lindstrand grounded out to Skelton at first base, allowing pinch-runner Julian Simac to score from third. Tyler Owens came in to courtesy run for Masterson and stole home to give the Millers their final score of 6-0, securing the goose egg for Marowski.

GAME 2: Young arms, Cleverly's bat propel Millers to 2-0 series lead
#10 Noblesville 8, Westfield 3 - at The Dunk, Noblesville - (Fri. April 15, 2016)
Shamrocks    2     0     0     0     0     0     1     -     3     6     1
Millers           0     0     0     2     4     2     x     -     8     6     1

It must have stung a little bit getting shut out on their home field the night before and the Shamrocks felt a little urgency to start Game 2 of the HCC series with Noblesville.

Starting pitcher Kade Gorman walked Milo Beam on a full count to lead off the game. Three batters later with two down, Ryan Pepiot got ahold of a 1-1 breaking ball from the sophomore right-hander and sent it sailing over the left field fence for a two-run home run. And just like that, Westfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

But, they would only have that lead for the first few innings before the Millers' offense woke up.

Harris Camp got hit by a Pepiot pitch with one out. Jackson Thurman joined him by walking on six pitches. After Austin Shirley grounded out to Meyer at second, it moved Camp and Thurman up a bag to third and second, respectively, with two away. Alex Cleverly took the first pitch to him and sliced it right down the left field line, driving in both Camp and Thurman to tie the game up 2-2.

It's become an every other game ordeal, but Michael Carmosino led off the bottom of the 5th getting plunked in the back by a Pepiot pitch. Carmo has to be leading the state in the HBP category, hands down. Connor Christman reached on an error by Sam Eaton at third to put two on and nobody out.

Masterson walked to load the bases and the Millers were in business. Camp drove in the go-ahead run on a single straight up the middle into center, scoring Carmosino to give Noblesville a 3-2 lead they wouldn't give up.

Jackson Thurman moved another run home (courtesy runner Tyler Owens) with his fielder's choice and would score Christman for 4-2. Austin Shirley walked for two aboard and once down.

Cleverly would do it again. Singling to left in consecutive at-bats, Alex drove in another two (Owens and Thurman) to jump the Millers out to a 6-2 cushion after five innings.

Carmosino led off the last of the 6th, torching a double to deep right center. Christman dropped down a bunt to sacrifice that moved Carmo to 3rd with one out. Carmosino scored on a wild pitch by Logan McClurg to make it 7-2. After a Masterson walk, he'd find his way home on a Thurman RBI-single into left to put the Millers up a half dozen, 8-2.

After a solid 4+ innings by freshman reliever Reese Sharp, he gave up two singles to lead off the top of the last inning. Max McCool came through with a pinch-hit base hit to left and was driven in on a single on the ground into center by Matt Meyer for the final score of 8-3.

But, that would stop there as sophomore Mark Goudy took over in the 7th. Goudy sent down the top of the Westfield order in a row. Forcing Milo Beam to fly out to Thurman in left, McClurg popped out to Christman in foul territory and Harrison Freed flied out to Shirley in right to end it with the Millers winning the game 8-3 and the first two games of the series.

GAME 3: Shirley drives in 3 runs, Conway fans 8 as Millers sweep Shamrocks
4A #10 Noblesville 7, Westfield 4 - at Shamrock Field (Sat. April 16, 2016)
Millers            0     0     1     0     3     3     0     -     7     9     2
Shamrocks     1     0     0     0     0     0     3     -     4     4     2

The host Shamrocks were going to try and do what they could, if they could, to salvage one game in this best of 3 series.

Milo Beam got Westfield started right away in the bottom of the 1st, bunting for a leadoff single off of Cory Conway. Max McCool grounded out to Christman at 3rd, getting Beam 2nd and then to third on a wild pitch from Conway. Harrison Freed helped the Shamrocks grab an early 1-0 lead when Freed reached on a dropped third strike that allowed Beam to sprint home from third.

The top of the order got the Millers started in the top of the 3rd with Carmosino walking on the first four pitches he saw from reliever Dillon Simpson. He advanced to second on a passed ball and then on to third from a Simpson wild pitch with Connor Christman up. Christman grounded an RBI single to left, sending Carmosino home to tie the game 1-1.

The Millers were back at it in the visitors half of the 5th. Two quick outs from Christman striking out and Masterson flying out to right almost put a damper on the inning. Ty Lindstrand laced a two-out triple to right to get Noblesville in prime position to take the lead. Harris Camp was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners.

Jackson Thurman reached on an error by Sam Eaton at third and the bases were now loaded. Austin Shirley eased a single to right on the ground, scoring Lindstrand, Camp and Thurman for a 4-1 lead that the Millers would keep for the duration.

The top of the 6th was the same song and dance for Noblesville, which obviously didn't bode well for Westfield pitching.

Noah Nigh was on to pitch out of the Shamrock bullpen in the 6th. Carmosino lined a double to right to lead the inning off. Christman bunted himself to first and Carmo to third, catching Eaton off guard at third. Masterson walked to load the bases once again.

Lindstrand flied out to left for the first out, but wasn't far enough to get Carmosino home. Camp hit into a fielder's choice at short, scoring Carmo to make it 5-1. Christman scored on an error at second for 6-1. Thurman lined a single to left, scoring Camp for a 7-1 count.

One last ditch effort by Westfield wasn't too shabby of an effort really. Mark Goudy came in to toss the 7th and got roughed up a little.

After hitting Logan Schneider and Cam Nance with pitches, Simpson (running for Schneider) when Max McCool walked with the bases loaded to cut it to 7-2. Harrison Freed was also hit by a pitch, scoring Nance for 7-3.

Michael Carmosino was called upon to help out Goudy's situation he had gotten himself into. The senior reliever walked Ryan Pepiot that scored Beam to trim the Millers' lead to 7-4, but that would be all that the Shamrocks would get.

Carmosino struck out Brian Skelton, forced Jackson Garrett to pop out to Tyler Owens at second and Sam Eaton grounded out to Travis Gillian at short to put an end to Westfield's threat and send the Millers back east on SR 32 with a 7-4 win and a series sweep of the rival Shamrocks.

Conway tossed a solid 6 innings, sending down 8 Shamrocks on strikeouts, walking four, giving up four hits and just one run (earned).

A combination of six different hitters helped Noblesville get this Game 3 win. Shirley's 3 RBIs were very crucial, along with Camp and Carmosino both scoring a pair of runs.



Getting swept drops Westfield to a shocking 0-8 on the season and 0-6 in the HCC. Noblesville moves its record to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference before starting a 3-game set with Zionsville.

Be sure to check out all of my blogs at millervoiceonsports.blogspot.com!

Craig Adkins
Voice of Noblesville Miller baseball

 

Noblesville wins final two to take series from Fishers

It's now that time of the baseball season when we separate the men from the boys and see who's made of what. The Hoosier Crossroads Conference has become the conference known as a "meat grinder."

Even before the HCC dropped from 10 schools to seven just two school years ago, it was still considered one of, if not the, toughest conference in most sports, if not all. This is what makes every sport in the HCC as competitive as it is on a statewide level.

Hoosier Crossroads Conference baseball was in great shape before teams even took the field this spring, according to the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association (ihsbca.org) poll, as well as the PBR Indiana (prepbaseballreport.com/indiana) poll.

This week, the Fishers-Noblesville series has turned into a wrap around series, stemming from last week because of the inclement weather that postponed Friday night's game to Monday and now Tuesday night. Fishers comes in as PBR-Indiana ranked #11 and Noblesville remains at #10. The Millers, dropped to #10 in the IHSBCA poll, while the Tigers are receiving votes in the coaches poll.

GAME 1: Fishers grabs series opener after controversial ending
4A #9 Fishers 9, 4A #7 Noblesville 6 - at The Dunk (Thur. April 7, 2016)

Tigers     1     1     0     6     0     0     1     -     9     9     3

Millers   0     5     0     0     0     0     1     -     6     6     2  

Fishers wasted no time trying to get ahead of the Millers. They did so in the top of the 1st with a two-out solo home run by Craig Yoho off of senior Clayton Marowski, that was aided by around 15-20 m.p.h. winds to right and right center.

The Tigers tacked on another in the top of the 2nd. A Mike Folta infield since drove in Taylor Soper and Fishers had jumped out to a 2-0 lead on the host Millers.

But, that slight edge wouldn't last long as the Noblesville offense would get itself started, making starting pitcher Ryan Metz feel not-so-comfortable on the mound.

With three walks and hitting two batters, Metz got himself into quite a hole. Bryce Masterson started the bottom of two by K-ing and was followed by Alex Cleverly walking. His courtesy runner (Neil Brown) was picked off of first base to put the second out on the scoreboard rather quickly.

Ty Lindstrand walked, followed by Austin Shirley getting plunked right in the back and Jackson Thurman also getting pegged to load the bases for Harris Camp. The junior CF Camp would also walk, driving Lindstrand in to cut the Fishers lead to 2-1.

Back to the top of the order, Travis Gillian reached on an error by the second baseman Yoho that allowed both Shirley and Thurman to sprint home, putting the Millers up 3-2. The scoring spree would continue with Michael Carmosino drilling a 2-1 pitch to the fence in center for a two-run double, scoring Camp and Gillian for a 5-2 Noblesville lead through two.

The Tigers weren't going to go away quietly or all, if you ask them about Game 1 of the series. Matthew Wolff singled to second for an infield hit. Luke Duermit walked. Then, Soper singled to center, sending Wolff home for 5-3.

DH Alex Jamieson got aboard on an error by Masterson at first, loading the bases with Duermit and Soper at 3rd and 2nd, respectively. Andy Bennett singled to center to score Soper to make it 5-4, Fishers down one.

Caleb Brencsewski took a Marowski pitch to center off of the fence for a 3-run triple for a 6-run 4th inning, putting the visitors back on top 7-6. Brenczewski would score on a passed ball that made the score 8-6.

Fishers would add another in the top of the 7th when Yoho walked. He was able to score two batters later on Wolff's sacrifice fly that gave the Tigers a four run cushion at 9-5.

Noblesville was looking for a comeback in the bottom of the 7th, trailing by four runs.

Carmosino was hit by a pitch from reliever Craig Yoho to get the Millers a runner aboard right away. Three pitches later, Connor Christman chopped an RBI-double to left, scoring Carmo with ease and cutting the deficit to 9-6.

Here's where it got just a little dicey.

Masterson walked for two runners on base and Julian Simac came in to courtesy run. Elliot Gilmore was now in to pitch in relief of Yoho. Cleverly foul tipped out for the first out of the inning. Ty Lindstrand came up next walking and loading the bases.

Austin Shirley hit a ground ball to the shortstop Andy Bennett, forcing Shirley out at first, as well as the lead runner that had just touched home plate.

The confusing thing about this final play of the game was that the base umpire said that Lindstrand popped up quickly from his slide into second base, creating an obstruction (runner interference). That called for Shirley to be out on the play at first and the lead runner (Christman) to also be out, unfortunately ending the game.

Noblesville's team replay camera from center field view, as well as Aimee Shirley's cell phone video, both were conclusive that Lindstrand didn't pop up out of his slide into second, making the umpire's assumption completely wrong.

That would have scored both Christman and Simac and the Millers down 9-8 with one out. They would also have had Lindstrand at 2nd and Shirley at first and a great situation to possibly stage the comeback for the win. Unfortunately, an umpire assuming that something happened cost them the game.

GAME 2: Conway cruises as Noblesville evens series up
4A #7 Noblesville 8, 4A #9 Fishers 3 - at The Dunk (Thur. April 7, 2016)
Tigers       0     0     0     3     0     0     0     -     3     6     3
Millers     0     0     2     2     3     1     x     -     8     10   0

Playing a doubleheader on a weeknight in early spring could be a good or bad idea, depending on the air temperatures, especially here in the state of Indiana. With the forecast calling for a high between 33 and 45 on Saturday, the Millers second home game of the series was moved up to Thursday.

The first game of the double-dip started at 4pm, because it was a school night. This meant that Noblesville senior ace Cory Conway would be pitching under the lights with a chance to even up the series.

Five strikeouts through three innings had Conway moving right along and he just needed offensive support to keep it going.

Christman singled to left with two down and was driven home by Bryce Masterson's double to the right center fence for the first run of the game. Masterson would score just moments later on an error by Fishers catcher Alex Jamieson to put the Millers in front 2-0 through three.

Caleb Brenczewski took the second pitch he saw in the 4th and sent it to the fence in left for a leadoff double. Yoho grounded out to Lindstrand at first, advancing Brenczewski to third with one away. Matthew Wolff dropped down a perfect bunt to single home Brenczewski to get the Tigers on the board, trailing 2-1. The catcher Jamieson walked and then he and Wolff were sent home for a 3-2 Fishers lead on a two-run single from the bat of Taylor Soper.

That was all of the offense that Conway would allow the rest of the night.

The Millers tacked on another pair in the 4th and really got to starter Cameron Boyd. Harris Camp walked with one out and he sprinted home on Michael Carmosino's infield single in the hole at short to tie it 3-3, after Camp stole both 2nd and 3rd. Carmo scored on a wild pitch by Boyd and the Millers regained the lead, 4-3, which they wouldn't give up again.

Two quick outs in the bottom of the 5th and the Miller offense felt pressured, so what better to do than relax and score some more runs. Jackson Thurman singled with two down. Harris Camp reached on an error by Brenczewski at third and Gillian walked to load em up. Carmosino reached on an error by Yoho at short, scoring Thurman. Next, Connor Christman hits a two-run double into the left field corner, plating both Camp and Gillian for three Noblesville runs, breaking it open at 7-3.

Ty Lindstrand got the last of the 6th going with a bunt single and was doubled home on Austin Shirley's two-bagger to deep left center, which would account for the final score of 8-3.

Cory Conway finished with a complete game striking out 7, giving up 6 hits and walking just two.

GAME 3: Shirley's bat, Owens/Conway pitching combo shuts out Tigers, wins series
4A #7 Noblesville 3, 4A #9 Fishers 0 - at Fishers (Monday, April 11, 2016) 
Millers    0     1     0     0     0     2     0     -     3     4     0
Tigers     0     0     0     0     0     0     0     -     0     2     5

Sophomore Tyler Owens hit the hill for Noblesville to see if he could help get the Millers the series win in the rubber match. In his first appearance since Friday, April 1st, when Owens tossed 2.2 innings and gave up five hits in relief during his varsity debut in the Millers' first loss of the year at Riverdale.

On Monday, April 11th, Tyler was in a different mindset. He threw 4.1 innings and only gave up just one hit to the Fishers Tigers, striking out three and walking four in an effort to earn his first win at the varsity level.

It honestly didn't take or require much offense for the Millers to get the conference road win. They relied on their stellar pitching duo of Tyler Owens and Cory Conway that clamp down and solve Fishers to up their HCC record to 2-1.

Presented with a great situation to produce a run, Austin Shirley rose up to the occasion. Shirley belted an RBI-double to left that would score Jackson Thurman to get Noblesville and early 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd.

Two more runs would touch home in the top of the 6th. Bryce Masterson led off reaching on an error by Yoho at second. Ty Lindstrand grounded a single to right for two runners aboard. Julian Simac came in to courtesy run for Masterson. Simac would score on a passed ball to make it 2-0.

Austin Shirley came through again for the Millers, lining an RBI-single to left, scoring Lindstrand for the final count of 3-0.

Cory Conway relieved Owens and pretty much dominated the Tigers offense down the stretch. the senior southpaw threw 2.2 frames, also allowing just one hit, walking one and fanning three hitters to earn the save.

Big first three innings propel 4A #7 Noblesville to rout of Frankfort

It always feels great to come back from the annual Spring Break baseball trip to Tennessee on positive notes. There were many that can be taken away from the two wins and one loss in Volunteer country.

From the leadership that has been part of the storied Noblesville Miller baseball program since they were mere freshmen to the seniors that they now are, these are the players that 12th-year Head Coach Justin Keever and his staff of Kevin Fitzgerald, Caleb Small and Tim Davis look to continue the success with this particular group that has enormous potential to do great things this season.

High, positive things happened on the trip. Another 9 strikeout performance from Cory Conway. Jackson Thurman's first career varsity home run vs. McCracken County. Michael Carmosino and Connor Christman being hit and RBI machines. And more importantly, this team won two of three games, and could have been three of four, against some outstanding teams from the lower Midwest.

It's these upperclassmen that will be counted on to lead the team in what is their last chance to make their mark in the history of Noblesville baseball.

4A #7 Noblesville 12, Frankfort 0 (5 inn.) - at The Dunk (Tue. April 5, 2016)
Frankfort       0     0     0     0     0     -     0    1     5
Noblesville     5     4     3     0     x     -    12   9     1

After being shorted one game because of inclement weather Thursday, March 31 in Tennessee, the Noblesville Millers were looking to make up for it in double the production in their next outing against Frankfort at The Dunk. And that's exactly what happened.

Travis Gillian roped a leadoff single to left center to get things going in the Millers' first at-bat in the first. Carmosino walked next. An error by the Hot Dogs' catcher Diego Santos made it easy for Gillian to sprint home and get Carmo to 2nd. Bryce Masterson smacked an RBI-triple to dead center to score Carmosino.

Ty Lindstrand lined a grounder up the middle into center, scoring Masterson for a 4-0 score. Austin Shirley reached on an error by Frankfort shortstop Christian Lopez and eventually scored on a passed ball to jump start the Millers' 1st inning lead to to 5-0.

Trying to make some more noise for the second straight inning, Masterson would walk with one out. Alex Cleverly reached on a fielder's choice and the inning's leadoff hitter was forced out at third on Alex's hit to the mound.

Two runners aboard and Lindstrand another big opportunity to make something happen and he did. Ty doubled, driving home Bryce for 6-0. Three more runs would touch home, including courtesy runner (for Cleverly) Julian Simac, Lindstrand and Austin Shirley, who reached for the 2nd time via an infield error. That put Noblesville with a 9-0 lead and looking to make it a short night for the Hot Dogs.

Gillian would work some more magic in the bottom of the 3rd, drilling a solo home run, on a 3-1 pitch, just inside the left field foul pole. This is the junior's first career varsity round-tripper.

After Carmosoino popped out to first, Christman walked and was immediately moved over to 3rd on Masterson's one-out double.

Two batters later, Lindstrand got ahold of a 2-2 pitch, sending it on the fly to the wall in right center for a triple and driving in both Christman and Masterson for what would be the eventual final tally of 12-0.

Kade Gorman made his 2nd start as a varsity pitcher, but this time he earned the win. He only had to throw three innings, allowing just one hit, one walk and striking out three Hot Dogs.

Mark Goudy and Harris Camp relieved Gorman in the 4th and 5th innings, respectively, combining for three K's between them, but more importantly not giving up a hit.

Ty Lindstrand was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, hitting a single, double and triple in consecutive at-bats to go 3-3 with 4 RBI's and two runs scored.

The win moves the Millers to 4-1 on the season and Frankfort drops to 1-1.

4A #5 Millers take 2 of 3 in Tennessee

In 2015, I had the opportunity to make the trip to the Knoxville area last year for the Millers' spring break baseball trip and broadcast all four games with my broadcast partner at Hometown Television, Perry Williams.

We had a great time broadcasting baseball for a few days at some very nice facilities in east Tennessee and we were really glad that we could provide fans who weren't able to make the trip, an opportunity to watch the 4 games live.

The unfortunate thing of a full-time job, I wasn't able to take Thursday and Friday off this year to head southward to join in on the fun, great baseball and overall togetherness that a trip like this creates for all involved. That also meant that neither myself, nor Perry were going to be broadcasting this year's games in west Tennessee.

It wasn't the worst thing having to keep updated on Twitter and Game Changer, but I wish I could have been there in person.

The intent of this trip to Tennessee on spring break is for the better good for the team in the long run. Playing against some of the best competition in the Midwest and possibly the entire country helps make Noblesville an even better team throughout the remainder of their season, which helped them strive to become the 2014 4A State Champions.

Thursday night, the Millers were to scheduled to open up their 4-game slate against Smyrna High School's Bulldogs. The Bulldogs and Millers were only able to get into the 2nd inning before inclement weather swept across the lower midwest, halting play for the night, making it an incomplete game, not getting 4 1/2 innings completed. Keever's squad had gotten out to a 1-0 lead over Smyrna before weather canceled the game altogether.

Probably more than a little disappointed that they barely got to play on their first day in Tennessee, but they know that Mother Nature is uncontrollable. The Millers did have two games to look forward to on Friday that could make any baseball player, coach and fan smile at getting to "play two" any day.

4A #5 Noblesville 11, Collierville (TN) 3 - at Riverdale HS, Tennessee (Thur. March 31)
Collierville     0     0     0     0     3     0     0     -     3     4     2
Noblesville     1     0     4     5     1     0     x     -    11   14    4

The Millers opened up their scoring in the bottom of the 1st and it didn't take long. Michael Carmosino laced a one-out triple over the right-fielder's head. Connor Christman drove Carmo home on an opposite field single to right for a 1-0 early edge.

Keever's offense exploded in the fourth and fifth frames to springboard the Millers out to a 10-0 distance between themselves and Collierville.

Travis Gillian led off with a walk. Carmo was back at it, doubling to center and driving Gillian in for 2-0. Christman kept his bat going with a single to left, sending Carmosino home from second. Bryce Masterson walked and advanced to second on Alex Cleverly's single to left. Austin Shirley drove Masterson home on an RBI single in the hole at short and just like that, it was 4-0.

Neil Brown, who came in to be Cleverly's courtesy runner, scored on Jackson Thurman's sacrifice fly to right to give Noblesville a solid 5-0 lead through two.

They weren't done, by any means, and wanted to make their presence known.

Harris Camp got things started in the bottom of the 4th with a leadoff double to left. Back to the top of the order, Gillian dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Camp to third. Carmosino continued his hot hitting game with another double, this time to left field, scoring Camp with ease and putting Noblesville up 6-0.

Christman grounded out to short, moving Carmo over to third. Next, Masterson lined a double to right, sending Carmosino home for a 7-0 score.

Cleverly singled on a hard-grounder to short to get Masterson to third. Ty Lindstrand lined a triple over the RF's head that would help Masterson and Clev touch home for 9-0. Austin Shirley continued the inning, reaching on an error by Collierville's third baseman, allowing Lindstrand to score and give the Millers a double-digit lead, 10-0 through four innings.

Collierville would get itself on the board with 3 runs on one hit and 3 Noblesville errors in the top of the 5th, but it would obviously be way too little, way too late to make a dent in the Millers lead.

Harris Camp would score the final run for Noblesville in the bottom of the 5th, as Michael Carmosino grounded out to short, putting Camp's second run of the game in the box score for the final score of 11-3.

Clayton Marowski pitched a solid 6 innings, striking out 7, walking 3, while allowing 3 hits and 3 runs (1 earned). Dusti McLochlin and Michael Carmosino combined for the other inning of work, giving up just one hit between them out of the Miller bullpen.

Riverdale (TN) 6, Noblesville 2 - at Riverdale HS, Tennessee (Friday, April 1, 2016)
Noblesville    0     0     0     0     0     0     2     -     2     4     1
Riverdale      1     1     2     0     0     2     x     -     6    10    1 

Sophomore starting pitcher Kade Gorman started off a little shaky in his varsity debut, but he honestly didn't throw terrible out there, considering that he debuted against some pretty hefty competition.

Noblesville was first up, being the visitors on the scoreboard on Riverdale's home turf in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Michael Carmosino reached on an error by the Warriors' shortstop

Riverdale wasted no time in the bottom of the 1st, as they were able to get their first run across on a bases-loaded HBP to go up 1-0. The home-standing Warriors added another in the 2nd and a pair in the 3rd and 6th to jump out to a 6-0 lead on the Millers.

The Millers looked to rally in the top of the 7th, but it was going to have to be a big one, considering the 6-0 hole that Riverdale had put them in.

Austin Shirley showed patience leading off the inning walking on five pitches. Thurman was fanned in a lengthy eight pitch at-bat for out number one. Harris Camp singled to Flippo at the mound, scoring Shirley and getting the Millers on the board. Camp scored from third on a wild pitch by Flippo to cut the deficit to 6-2, but unfortunately that would be all the Warriors would give up and they would hold on to give Noblesville their first defeat of the young season.

4A #5 Noblesville 5, McCracken County (KY) 3 - (Saturday, April 2, 2016)
McCracken County     1     0     1     0     0     1     0     -     3     2     1
Noblesville Millers      3     1     0     0     0     1     x     -     5     6     2

In a rare occurrence for senior southpaw Cory Conway, he gave up a first inning run. But that didn't last long at all really.

Travis Gillian got the offense started in the bottom by lining a single to center. Michael Carmosino laced a double to center that allowed Gillian to score from second, after he advanced there on a passed ball. Connor Christman joined the double party and hit a two-bagger to left to plate Carmo for a 2-0 score. With one out, Alex Cleverly singled to left on a fly ball that would get Christman home that pushed the Millers' lead to 3-1 after one.

Harris Camp belted a one-out triple to the right field wall to get the Millers a runner in scoring position. Gillian hit a sacrifice fly that would get Camp home for a 4-1 lead through two full frames.

McCracken County would cut the Noblesville lead to 4-2 in the top of the 3rd with one run and then get themselves down one by scoring again in the top of the 6th, but Conway wasn't phased.

Two outs were on the board with Lindstrand and Shirley grounding out and striking out, respectively, that brought Jackson Thurman to the plate. The junior speedster stroked a solo home run over the right center wall to give the Millers a two-run cushion and the eventual final count of 5-3.

Conway went the distance for the complete game win, striking out 9 for the second straight game of the season. He only gave up a pair of hits, three runs (one earned), while walking four.

The Millers concluded their Spring Break 2016 trip winning two games and losing just one. Their opening game against Smyrna High School was not a complete game, although Noblesville had a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning before the game was canceled due to inclement weather.