Noblesville 3, Brownsburg 2 (Monday, 4/16)
The Millers got that proverbial "monkey off their back" last week and won their first Hoosier Crossroads Conference game of the season with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory at The Dunk.
Brownsburg managed to get five base runners aboard in the top of the first, but were only able to cross the plate twice. Logan Coughlin and Tyler Whetstone both singled. John Moore reached via an error by catcher Sam Wides on a throw to first. Bobby Carr was intentionally walked. Whetstone's deep single to left center scored Coughlin and David Oliger's sacrifice fly drove John Moore home for a 2-0 Bulldogs lead through half an inning.
Jordan Teal did his job in keeping Noblesville's bats quiet as long as he could through 4 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits.
The Millers' bats finally came alive in the fourth and fifth. Nick Vallier led the 4th off with an infield single. Vallier was plated when DH Mike Nichols hit an RBI single down the right field line.
Sam Wides continued the hitting for NHS in the fifth. Leading off with a bloop single over third base and just into shallow left field. Wides stole second with ease and advanced to third on a single to left by Brian McLean. Center fielder Steven Jones got his first varsity RBI in his second start with a sacrifice fly to center that sent Wides home.
Ben Yoder pitched a solid 5+ innings, only allowing 2 hits and 2 runs (both earned) and 6 strikeouts. He started off the 6th with three consecutive walks, which brought Brock Hammond in from the Miller bullpen. Hammond struck out a couple Bulldog hitters in two innings of relief, never allowing the ball out of the infield.
Noblesville had one last chance to grab the W. Brian McLean took the first pitch of the bottom of the 7th and drilled it into left. He stole second just before Jones flied out to right for the first out. Garrett Christman was intentionally walked without seeing a pitch. Garrett Welch struck out, putting two outs on the scoreboard and both teams wondering what would happen next. Vallier walked on four straight pitches, loading the bases for Nevin Fansher. Fansher then smoked a 2-1 fastball into left center and McLean scored with ease from third, giving the Millers a walk-off victory, 3-2 over Brownsburg.
McLean, Vallier, Welch and Wides all provided two hits a piece, but it was the RBI hits from Steven Jones, Mike Nichols and Fansher's walk-off that proved the most vital in this HCC win.
Brownsburg 9, Noblesville 8 (9 inn.; Tues. 4/17 at Brownsburg)
Brownsburg got right at it in Game 2 of the series, putting three runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Noblesville tallied their first run in the top of the second, but Brownsburg lengthened their lead to 6-1 with another three runs in the bottom of the third. Noblesville planned to keep up with this track meet on the line score. They posted a three-run 4th to close the Bulldog lead to 6-4. Each scored once in the fifth for a 7-5 lead for the hosts.
The Millers tied the game up at 7-7 with a Justin Holloway two-run single that sent this HCC tilt to extra innings. Noblesville scored in the 8th, but Brownsburg one-uped them by scoring single runs in both the eighth and ninth to close out the game 9-8 in 9 innings and split the two game series.
Nick Vallier went 3-for-4 to lead the Millers' eight-hit parade. He and Brock Welch scored twice each while Mike Nichols, Garrett Christman, Nevin Fansher and Sam Wides all crossed the plate once. Justin Holloway's two RBI's in the 7th was the confidence that Noblesville needed, but they were unfortunately outscored 2-1 in the two extra frames.
Starting pitcher Taran Murphy was roughed up in his four innings of work. He allowed 4 hits, 6 runs (all earned), while walking two and striking out a pair. Trevor Salmon contributed three innings, keeping Brownsburg in-check for the most part, only giving up two hits and one run (earned), to go with three K's. Brock Hammond and Mike Speek combined for two innings, Hammond suffered the loss for the Millers.
4A #2 Zionsville sweeps series with Noblesville
Zionsville brings quite the potent attack on the diamond this season. They aren't ranked second in Class 4A for nothing.
In Thursday's game at Zionsville, the host Eagles did nothing but hit the ball. Parker Dunshee nabbed a three-run double. Drew Small went 2-4 with a double. Cameron Richey scored twice. Ben Kocher scored twice, had a double, RBI and stole a base. Travis Tokerk and Jared Wentz each had an RBI to go along with Ryan Bertram's 2-3 night with and RBI-double.
It honestly left Noblesville beside itself when they were trying to figure out how to get back into the game. The Millers had six hitters in its lineup that tallied a hit and all but McLean reached base at least once. So, it was pretty much a chore keeping Zionsville off the bases. The end result last Thursday was Zionsville 8, Noblesville 3 at Zionsville.
Friday night's game was rained out and the two teams took to The Dunk (Dunker Field) at noon on Saturday, 4/21. Ben Kocher pitched six solid innings for the Eagles on the road to help shutdown the host Millers 8-1.
Troy Kuhn highlighted the Eagles at the dish by going 3-for-4, leaving himself a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, with a double, triple, along with two runs and two RBI's. Nick Barrientos also stroked an RBI-double and Joel Trewartha scored twice, including a solo home run.
DH Mike Nichols was the only bright spot in the Noblesville batting order last Saturday. The Miller DH went 2-3 with a double and the lone run for the hosts. John Cola was what sent Nichols home to score with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh.
Carmel keeps White River oar with 3-2 win at Noblesville
Aside from hitting Carmel catcher Clay Morrison twice in as many plate appearances, Taran Murphy was in complete control on the hill Monday night for the Millers in their White River Rivalry matchup with the Carmel Greyhounds. Murphy four total hits through 5.1 innings and struck out four Greyhounds.
Sophomore Drake Gardner was pitching for the visitors and didn't do a half bad job in his 4.2 innings. Gardner gave up five hits, two runs (both earned) and three walks. Jack Martin took over with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, eventually gaining the win.
Bottom of the fourth, Noblesville got itself on the scoreboard. 3B Luke Porter led off with a single to right center and reached second on the play because of a throwing error by Carmel CF Alex McManus. New Miller CF Andrew Wilson got his first varsity RBI, smacking a single to center, scoring Porter from second for a 1-0 Noblesville lead.
Noblesville got back at it with their bats in the bottom of the fifth. Garrett Christman walked to leadoff. After Fansher flied out to right, Mike Nichols roped a triple to the wall down the left field line, scoring Christman from first to give Noblesville a 2-0 lead.
Murphy let himself get a little rattled and it turned out to be a bad thing in the Carmel half of the sixth. Riley Miller hit a 2-2 pitch for a single to left. Kyle Fiala got his bat on the ball and shot a ball to right field, giving the Greyhounds runners at first and second. In what looked to be an easy out on a grounder to short, Jack Martin reached base on an error by Nick Vallier at short, scoring Miller to cut the gap to one. With Clay Morrison up and Brock Hammond pitching in relief, Hammond throws and ball in the dirt. Fiala scores on a passed ball to tie the game at 2-2.
Jeremy Faulkner grounded out to Hammond for the first out in the seventh, giving the senior reliever slightly more confidence than he had after he allowed two runs in to tie the game in the 6th. Pinch hitter Greg Williams hit a routine ground ball to third. Williams reached because of an error on the play by Porter overthrowing Fansher at first. Cameron Cruz flew out to left for the second out. On consecutive pitches, Williams stole second and wound up at third from another passed ball by Hammond. With a 1-2 count, McManus struck out swinging, but the ball went behind catcher Sam Wides, allowing Williams to score from third, giving Carmel a 3-2 edge.
Jack Martin was pretty much unstoppable on the mound in the sixth and seventh innings for Carmel, allowing just one hit. In the last of the seventh, Martin threw 9 total pitches, which forced three ground outs to end the ball game.
With the victory, Carmel moves its record to 6-7 overall and Noblesville drops to 3-12.
#Noblesville played at Lafayette Jeff on Tuesday, and host the Bronchos Thursday, followed by a Saturday night battle with 2A #7 Delphi (10-3). Those three games will be featured in Sunday's blog.
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