There's just no quit in this baseball team and 12th-year head coach Justin Keever and his staff wouldn't have it any other way.
During their current 13-game winning streak, the diamond Millers have outscored those seven opponents by a whopping 80-20 margin, averaging 6.1 runs per game during this current stretch.
Those wins include four shutouts, two extra inning victories, two by the run-rule and eight of them winning by at least four runs or more.
The Hamilton Southeastern series was the closest of the season, but the Millers still almost doubled up the Royals with a 13-7 total in the 3-game set.
The Millers were pretty much dominant on the scoreboard in the Brownsburg and Avon series, taking down the Bulldogs (22-4) and Orioles (20-1) pretty handily in those two three-game series.
I could probably throw more stats at you, but I'll save those for a later date, because to be honest, the Millers have a lot of work to do first before their story is finished.
Back to the lecture at hand...the sweeping of the Avon Orioles...
GAME 1: Millers work quick, beat Avon by 10
4A #9 Noblesville 11, Avon 1 (5 innings) - at Avon (Wednesday May 18, 2016)
Millers 0 1 0 4 6 - 11 14 1
Orioles 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 2 3
The second to last road game of the regular season couldn't have gone any better than it did, especially for starting pitcher Clayton Marowski.
With the offense clicking on all cylinders of late, it made it just that much easier for Mouse to stay focused and get he job done on the mound.
After a scoreless first from both sides, the bottom third of the batting order got the bats going for Noblesville.
Austin Shirley walked with one out and moved to second on Alex Cleverly's base hit to left. Two batters later at the top of the order, Travis Gillian singled to center to drive Shirley home for an early 1-0 Miller advantage.
Avon struck back in the bottom of the 2nd. Spencer Strobel lined a leadoff single to right. Wendell Mosteller walked to give the Orioles two on and nobody out. Jack Hart grounded to Michael Carmosino. The Miller second baseman stepped on second and threw over to first for the double play, but that gave Strobel enough time to score to knot the game at 1-1.
The Millers found a solid opportunity to put some runs on the board and do it quickly. They did so with Shirley leading off with a walk. The senior right-fielder would be forced out at second on a Cleverly fielder's choice. Neil Brown came in to run for the catcher Cleverly.
Nine-hole hitter Harris Camp knocked a base hit to center to get Brown to second with one down. Gillian grounded a single of his own to center, loading the bases still with one out.
Carmo grounded to short to load the bases again, scoring Gillian to break the tie and give the Millers a 2-1 edge and a lead they obviously wouldn't give back. Jackson Thurman sent another hit to center. Camp and Gillian touched home to make it 4-1. That got Carmosino to third and he would also head home for a four-run cushion at 5-1.
Ty Lindstrand got on base to start off the top of the 5th with an infield single. Austin Shirley was also able to beat out an infield single for a pair of runners on and no outs. Lindstrand stole third base and then scored on an error by Avon catcher Kahia'u Quartero to put Noblesville up a handful at 6-1.
Camp walked and Gillian sent a base hit to left that loaded the bases. Carmosino line his own hit to let to plate both Shirley and Camp for a touchdown lead (8-1). Bryce Masterson walked to load the bags (again). Sticking with the common theme that was working, Connor Christman smoked a grounder to second, plating Gillian, jumping the lead to 9-1 and the Millers weren't done yet.
Two more runs would find their way on the board when Carmosino and Julian Simac (Masterson's courtesy runner) both scored on Lindstrand's two-run single to center, which proved to be the final nail in the coffin, putting Avon away by ten in Game 1 of the series, 11-1.
Marowski was on a roll and completely in a zone of his own, sending down the Orioles in order in the 3rd through 5th innings to help seal the win and up his record on the mound to 6-1 and keep his ERA low at 1.65.
Clayton threw just 39 pitches (29 strikes) en route to cruising to the complete game victory. He fanned a pair of Avon hitters, walking one and giving up just two hits and an unearned run.
GAME 2: Conway K's 14, throws 3-hitter for series win over Avon
4A #9 Noblesville 8, Avon 0 - at The Dunk, Noblesville (Thurs. May 19, 2016)
Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 2
Millers 5 2 0 0 1 0 x - 8 5 1
The Noblesville offense took off from where they left things at Avon on Wednesday night in their 11-1 rout of the Orioles and brought that momentum back to The Dunk.
Cory Conway was completely dialed in and in a zone of his own. The southpaw might have allowed Andrew Griffin on to start the game with an error by Lindstrand at first and walked DH Matt Moore, but struck out two of the five Oriole hitters in the 1st inning.
Travis Gillian took a 3-2 pitch from Spencer Strobel and found a spot for it in shallow left. Carmosino walked and Gillian was on the move to third for runners at the corners. Jackson Thurman grounded out to third and Gillian sprinted home for a quick 1-0 Noblesville lead.
Carmosino, along with Bryce Masterson and Connor Christman all would also score with Strobel on the mound, which chased the the junior after just 2/3 of an inning. Despite being relieved by Alex Ayler, Strobel was still responsible for the bases being loaded. Ayler walked Gillian to send in the fifth run of the 1st for the Millers and Strobel was charged with all five runs in the 5-0 bottom of one for Noblesville.
Much of the same happened in the last of the 2nd. Thurman walked to lead off the inning and was quickly tripled home from the bat of Masterson for a half dozen lead that would grow a little more. Ty Lindstrand reached on a fielder's choice and scored in the inning to make the score 7-0.
As Conway was mowing down the Avon hitters and carving his way up and down their lineup, it made things seem that much easier for the rest of the Millers. Striking out 14 in the game, Cory was averaging a pair of K's per inning in dominating the Orioles. Tossing 104 pitches (67 strikes) in a complete game, three-hit shutout in his final regular season home game as a senior, shows the Cory Conway that we're all used to seeing over the past few seasons and he's not even close to done yet!
The home half of the 6th was a moment that has been due for quite a while and it couldn't have come at a better time. Junior catcher Alex Cleverly torched a 2-2 Ayler pitch and sent it over the left field fence for a solo home run, the first of his varsity career! The solo shot from Clev turned out to be the final score of 8-0 and a 2-0 series lead.
GAME 3: Sharp not phased by lack of run support, 3-hits Avon for series sweep
4A #9 Noblesville 1, Avon 0 - at Avon (Friday, May 20, 2016)
Millers 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 4 1
Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 1
In a game that was the final regular season tuneup for both Noblesville and Avon, both teams had something to prove and were out to try and make something happen before sectional play starts.
Noblesville had everything still on the table with the chance that Fishers could steal a game from Zionsville and help the Millers tie the Eagles at 15-3 in HCC play, making them co-champions. The Tigers did help out, beating Zville 6-1 on Saturday night, creating that tie Noblesville needed.
Reese Sharp was on the mound for the visiting Millers and Mitch Ubelhor for the host Orioles. By the looks of the first two games of the series, it was safe to say that Noblesville would keep out big bats and let their offense do the talking. The two starting pitchers had another thing in mind.
It was a pitcher's dual that wasn't expected at all, to say the least.
Scoreless through the first four innings, it became time for the Millers to take advantage of Ubelhor. Austin Shirley and Alex Cleverly (Neil Brown came in to courtesy run) walked for the first two plate appearances of the top of the 5th. After Harris Camp popped out to first, Travis Gillian singled to left, scoring Shirley from second to account for Noblesville's (and the game's) lone run for a 1-0 Miller win.
The win moved Sharp to a solid 4-0 on the mound with a 2.29 ERA in 36.2 innings pitched during his 10 appearances in this his freshman season.
With the sweep of the Orioles, it was the 4th HCC sweep of the season for the Millers, upping their conference mark to 15-3 and overall finishing the regular season at 23-5.
Noblesville now faces Carmel (22-6), whom they lost 11-1 to in 5 innings at home on April 23rd at home and are out for revenge on their Hamilton county rivals on Monday, May 30 (Memorial Day) in the 2nd semifinal game of the Class 4A Sectional 8 tournament at The Dunk in Noblesville.
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