Millers sweep Royals for 3rd straight season

In a baseball rivalry as rich as it is with Hamilton Southeastern and Noblesville, it's somewhat crazy that it has turned out to be such a one-sided series in the last four years, dating back to just 2013.

Fortunately for Noblesville, this one-sided series has fallen heavily to their favor. The Millers have now won 10 of their last 11 against the Royals, sweeping the season series in all three games the last two years, including this season, along with also winning both regular season meetings in 2014.

Noblesville wound up 3-0 against Hamilton Southeastern in that historic 2014 season, taking the sectional semifinal match-up (6-0) against the Royals, en route to helping springboard them to an eventual 4A State Championship.

None of these wins were easy, because the Hoosier Crossroads Conference is honestly way too tough for wins to come that easy, no matter the opponent.

GAME 1: Owens solid out of the bullpen, Millers win on road in 10
4A #12 Noblesville 5, 4A #6 Hamilton Southeastern 4 (10 inn.) - at HSE (Thur, May 5, 2016)
Millers     3     0     1     0     0     0     0     0     0     1     -     5     5     1
Royals     0     0     0     4     0     0     0     0     0     0     -     4     7     3

As of late, it seems like a good theme to have going at this point in the season and that's getting some runs on the scoreboard early to get the opponent on their heels as quickly as possible.

Michael Carmosino walked with one out on five pitches from Carter Poiry to get the Millers' first runner aboard. Two batters later, Bryce Masterson grounded a single up the middle into center. Connor Christman smacked a hard ground ball to J.B. Washburn at short, getting Christman on via an E6 by Washburn, scoring Carmosino on the play and advancing Masterson to third with two down.

Masterson scored on a wild pitch by Poiry to make it 2-0 and Christman at third in prime scoring position. Ty Lindstrand would walk to put runners at the corners. Connor ran home while Austin Shirley was up on a passed ball, giving Noblesville a 3-0 lead before the Royals came to bat.

The Millers were able hold the Royals at the plate in the first few innings, thanks to a good start by freshman pitcher Reese Sharp.

Noblesville's bats got going a little more in the top of the 3rd. Masterson led off lining a double to left. After Christman struck out, Lindstrand laced a single to center for runners at the corners again. Shirley climbed on base with a hard grounder to Washburn at short for a fielder's choice, driving Masterson in for an early insurance run for 4-0.

Southeastern came storming back on their home field in the 4th. JB Washburn at Matt Gorski were both hit by pitches to start the inning, getting Sharp off to a shaky start, especially in the meat of the Royals' order.

Owen Callaghan reached on an error by Carmo at 2nd, scoring Washburn from second to cut the Miller lead to 4-1. Gorski touched home to make it 4-2 on a Jack Lang ground out to Christman at 3rd. Cole Jacobs plated Callaghan with a double up the middle and Jon McGee's single to right would allow Jacobs to score and just like that, the Royals had tied the game up 4-4 in the bottom of the 4th. The two would play to a stalemate in the remaining three innings and head to extras

Tyler Owens relieved Sharp (no decision) in the bottom of the 5th and had a great outing out of the Miller bullpen. The sophomore hurled 5 2/3 innings, giving up 5 hits, walking one and striking out two Royals and would pick up the win.

Noblesville figured out exactly how to make some magic happen in the top of the 10th and they did it with IU-recruit Matt Gorski on the mound in relief of Poiry.

Bryce Masterson walked to lead off the inning and would be replaced on the base path by Julian Simac as a courtesy runner. Ty Lindstrand stroked a one-out double to left, giving Simac a chance to sprint home and give the Millers their game-winning run, 5-4.

Carmosino relieved Owens in the bottom of the 10th with two down. The senior spot reliever Carmosino only needed two pitches, forcing Callaghan to line out to Harris Camp in center to earn the save and secure the Game 1 win for the Millers.

GAME 2: Thurman's walk-off walk completes comeback over HSE
4A #12 Noblesville 3, 4A #6 Hamilton Southeastern 2 - at The Dunk (Fri. May 6, 2016)
Royals     0     0     0     0     2     0     0     -     2     6     0
Millers    1     0     0     0     0     0     2     -     3     8     2

Soft-throwing southpaw Mike Pachmeyer was on the mound for Hamilton Southeastern and Clayton Marowski for the Millers in a Friday night tilt at The Dunk in Noblesville.

The Millers got a good crack out of Pachmeyer in the bottom of the 1st, hitting four times and scoring their first run on an RBI-single from Connor Christman for a 1-0 count that would last for a few innings.

Southeastern woke up their bats in the top of the 5th that would help them take the lead, but only for the time being. A one-out double from Washburn got the Royals' dugout fired up. Gorski then sent a liner up the middle into center to tie the game 1-1. Gorski would score in the inning to help Hamilton Southeastern take the lead 2-1.

Fast forwarding the the bottom of the 7th. You could honestly feel it in the air that something was going to happen. Ty Lindstrand led off the last of the 7th with an opposite field double down the left field line to get the Miller faithful going and to their feet. Alex Cleverly hit an RBI-single that would send Lindstrand home to knot the game 2-2. Neil Brown would check in to courtesy run for Cleverly.

Harris Camp walked and Travis Gillian would hit himself on with an infield single, loading the bases with one down. Carmosino would pop out to the shortstop Washburn for the second out. Jackson Thurman had one of the more patient, and trying, at-bats I've seen in a while. The plate umpire had lost control of his strike zone with the atmosphere getting more intense and called a pair of inside pitches (off the plate) strikes, when they were clearly both a ball from my bird's eye view.

Thurman walked on seven pitches to give the Millers a walk-off walk win, scoring Brown from third for a 3-2 victory.

Marowski earned his 4th win on the year, moving his record to 4-1 on the mound. The silent senior struck out just four, but was confidently able to rely on his defense behind him to help him get the job done.

GAME 3: Millers plate 4 in the 8th, sweep the Royals
4A #12 Noblesville 5, 4A #6 Hamilton Southeastern 1 (8 inn.) - at HSE (Sat. May 7, 2016)
Millers    0     0     1     0     0     0     0     4     -     5     7     2
Royals    0     0     0     0     0     0     1     0     -     1     3     3

Owen Callaghan would get the start for Hamilton Southeastern and ace Cory Conway for Noblesville in what would turn out to be the Millers' third consecutive season shutout of the Royals, which is pretty much unheard of in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, let alone high school baseball.

After playing 10 innings Thursday night and coming down to a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the 7th Friday night, both teams took a few innings to get settled in.

Conway was cruising on the mound, striking out 5 in his first three innings and keeping the Royals' bats minimized.

Alex Cleverly walked on four pitches with one out to get the top of the 3rd going for Noblesville. Neil Brown would check in to run for Cleverly. After Brown stole second, Harris Camp grounded out to third, advancing Brown over to third with two outs. Travis Gillian lined a single to right and Brown would score on an error by first baseman Jon McGee jumping the Millers out to a 1-0 edge.

It's an extremely good thing that Conway can rely on his defense. That's what he did some of the night, all while striking out 11 Hamilton Southeastern hitters.

Fast forward to the bottom of the 7th. It's hard to tell what could happen when it's a 1-0 game heading into the bottom of the last inning with the home team up to the plate.

Matt Gorski led off the home half of the 7th, singling on a hard ground ball to Carmosino at second to get the Royals' first runner on. Gorski moved to second on a Callaghan ground out. Jon McGee singled to center to send Gorski home, tying the game 1-1 and sending it to extras for the second time in three nights.

The Millers were at the point where they wanted to put this game away and put this series to bed with a sweep.

Harris Camp led off visitors half of the 8th grounding a single to left. Gillian followed suit to left and just like that, two Millers were on with no outs. Scott Henson called to the bullpen for lefty Carter Lohman.

Jackson Thurman doubled into the gap in right center, scoring Gillian for what would be the game-winner and a 2-1 lead. Being on the road, Noblesville just poured it on.

Carmosino reached on a fielder's choice, bunting and Masterson (Simac in to run) would be intentionally walked, loading the bases for another big opportunity.

Connor Christman lined a single to right to plate both Carmo and Thurman for a 4-1 cushion. Lindstrand walked to load the bags again. Austin Shirley plated the final run on his walk, sending Simac home for a 5-1 score and Conway in line for the win, as the Millers would need three outs to secure the sweep.

The Royals had a glimmer of hope in the bottom of the 8th, but honestly couldn't overcome Noblesville's crooked number in that 4-run top of the 8th.

Conway was outstanding on the mound, pitching a solid 7.2 innings, allowing 3 hits, one run (earned), walking two and striking out 11 on the way to his 6th win of the season.

*Series note: This series sweep of Hamilton Southeastern is Noblesville's third straight sweep of the Royals in a row. Grabbing all three 2015 games, the Millers also were also able to sweep the two-game series, as well as a sectional semifinal win in 2014, en route to an eventual 4A state championship. Noblesville is now 10-1 in their last 11 against HSE, just dating 2013-present, as they split the series 1-1 in 2013.