Noblesville's diamond Millers were able to put together two dominating performances in Saturday's 2013 Miller Invitational and kept the trophy. Stellar left-handed pitching and fundamental hitting gave NHS what they needed to defend The Dunk.
The 2013 Miller Invitational featured two new teams, along with the two-time defending champion Homestead Spartans and Noblesville Millers. A pair of participants from last year's one-day tourney weren't able to make it because of religious affiliations. Chicago de LaSalle and Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller weren't able to be a part in this year's tournament because it fell on Easter weekend.
Game 1: Noblesville 3, Richmond 0
It took very little time at all for Noblesville to get its bats going in the bottom of the first. TJ Lindstrand was hit by a pitch. He stole second and advanced to third on Brian McLean's groundout to second. Garrett Christman then drove in TJ with and RBI groundout to second for a 1-0 Noblesville lead. Luke Porter smoked a 3-2 pitch sailing over the left field wall, taking a high bounce off of SR 32 and into the grass across the street. Porter's solo home run put the Millers up 2-0 after one inning.
The Millers put one more on the board in the bottom of the 5th when McLean drove Lindstrand in for the final score of 3-0.
What's the most impressive about Noblesville victory over the Richmond Red Devils really had nothing to do with the great work they did at the plate. Starting pitcher Zach St. Pierre was simply in a zone of his own on the mound. Striking out 10 Red Devils over his 6 innings of work, there was nothing at the plate that would stymie St. Pierre. He did an amazing feat mowing down all three batters in the 2nd, but even better was that he struck all three out looking. Zach was also able to strike out two hitters in both the 3rd and 5th innings.
"Strategery" became second nature for St. Pierre and his left-handed windup. Being a southpaw, Zach picked off two Richmond base runners. Drew McLochlin worked the 7th inning, striking out two of the four hitters he faced for the save.
Game 2: Hanover Central 10, Homestead 6
Each had a five-run inning, but it was Hanover Central that was able to keep it going throughout the game. The Wildcats had four different players with 4 RBIs.
Homestead was the two-time defending champion of the Miller Invitational, but 2A Hanover Central is obviously no slouch when it comes to meeting up with the big schools like 4A Homestead.
Hanover Central advanced to the championship with a 10-6 win over the Homestead Spartans, getting them a date in the nightcap with host Noblesville.
Game 3: Richmond 6, Homestead 3
After dropping their opener to Noblesville, Richmond did what it could to get things back on track to get in the win column.
Jimmy Bailey led the Red Devils with two hits, but couldn't stay on the base path. He got picked off by McLean Trieglaff not once, but twice.
Alex Rodriguez, Matt Morrow and Kristian Rodriguez each scored a pair of runs to help Richmond edge Homestead.
Championship game: Noblesville 7, Hanover Central 0
Consistent hitting and focused pitching is exactly what were the keys to Noblesville capturing. Trevor Salmon was in complete command on the mound, striking out 7, while just allowing three hits and two walks in five innings of work.
TJ Lindstrand scored in the first on a passed ball to get Noblesville on the board.
Nick Miller and Vinny Essig lined out and grounded out to short respectively to start the bottom of the second. Salmon and Zach St. Pierre had back-to-back singles to put the Millers in a prime spot to score again. Lindstrand was back at it, doubling to right center and scoring both Salmon and St. Pierre. Brian McLean drove TJ home with a single to left center. Luke Porter drove home McLean to cap the four-run second, putting Noblesville up comfortably through two, 5-0.
Lindstrand scored his third run of the game on a passed ball in the 4th for a 6-0 Miller lead.
Noblesville put their final run on the board in the bottom of the sixth with Nick Miller's RBI-single, scoring Garrett Christman. The Millers won the 2013 Miller Invitational over Hanover Central, 7-0.
My 2013 Miller Invitational All-Tournament Team
C TJ Lindstrand (Noblesville): 3-3, 5 runs, reached base in all 7 plate appearances
1B Evan Garthus (Hanover Central): 3-6, run, 2 singles, RBI double
2B Dan Stum (Hanover Central): 4-7, run, 3 singles, double
3B Luke Porter (Noblesville): 3-6, solo HR, 2 singles, run
SS Matt Morrow (Richmond): 2-4, 2 runs, RBI, single, double
OF Brian McLean (Noblesville): 3-5, 2 RBI, run
OF Luke Landrigan (Homestead): 3-6, 2 runs, RBI, 2 doubles
OF Nick Myszkowski (Hanover Central): 1-6, 2 RBIs
Util Jesse Wilkening (Hanover Central): 3-6, 2 runs, RBI
Util Tyler Zimske (Homestead): 2-4, 2 BB, run, 2 singles
SP Zach St. Pierre (Noblesville): Win, 6 IP, 10 K's, 3 hits, 2 BBs; Hitting: 2-4, run
SP Trevor Salmon (Nobleville): Win, 5 IP, 7 K's, 3 hits, 2 BBs; Hitting: 2-4, run
RP Drew McLochlin (Noblesville): 2 IP, 3 K's, 2 hits, 2 BBs
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