Lafayette Jeff 9, 4A #6 Noblesville 5 (The Dunk, Noblesville - 6 innings - rain)
Too much baseball has been postponed, delayed or canceled due to inclement weather in central Indiana. These two Hoosier Crossroads Conference rivals weren't going to let a little bit of rain stop them from playing some baseball on Tuesday at The Dunk in Noblesville. After just one batter in the top of the 7th, both umpires made the command decision to call the game when the rains came pouring down with no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Brian McLean took and one out walk and stole second almost immediately. Garrett Christman followed walking with a full count. Luke Porter singled to drive home McLean for a 1-0 NHS lead. Trevor Salmon walked to get aboard, but he and Christman were left stranded with Vinny Essig lining out to the shortstop to end the first.
Peter Ripke led off the 2nd with a towering 1-1 fly ball to deep left, but with his back against the wall at the 360 feet sign, Andrew Wilson hauled in the catch before it could get over the wall.
Lafayette Jeff hadn't done much in the first two innings off Zach St. Pierre, so they were bound and determined to make some noise in the 3rd. Joe House sent a one-out single up the middle into center. Austin Albrecht walked just after. Bailey Perdue singled to left, scoring House for a 1-1 tie. After Keaton Hamilton walked to load the bases, Griff Clark got the easy pass to first, scoring Albrecht to give the Bronchos a 2-1 slim margin after two and a half.
TJ Lindstrand grounded out to Clark at short for the second straight at-bat. McLean dropped a "Texas leaguer" over the head of Ripke at third. B-Mac sprinted to second and then to third on two consecutive wild pitches by Broncho hurler Ethan Smith. Christman walked for a 2nd plate appearance in a row to give the Millers first and third. Head Coach Justin Keever made the offensive call from the dugout. McLean was headed home as soon as the ball hit the ball. Porter made contact, grounding out to third, but McLean was driven home for a second tie of the game at 2-2.
Daniel Nelson continued Lafayette Jeff's work on Zach St. Pierre in the 4th. Singling to left, he was joined on the base path by House and the was all the Bronchos saw of St. Pierre. Drew McLochlin came out of the Noblesville bullpen to relieve ZSP. On his second pitch, McLochlin hit Austin Albrecht with a pitch to load the bases. Perdue was walked on four straight pitches to allow Nelson to trot home for a 3-2 Jeff advantage.
Usually it's a basketball game where you have to count lead changes and ties.
Noblesville led off the bottom of the 4th with a Nick Miller single up the middle into center field. With the outfield shifting left, it gave Andrew Wilson some room down the right field line. Unfortunately, Bailey Perdue had enough room to chase down Wilson's fly ball in foul territory and made a terrific diving catch for the first out. Easton Brock walked and Lindstrand hit a short choppy grounder to catch the Jeff infield off guard for an infield single, loading the bases. Two batters later, Garrett Christman belted a low liner up the middle to drive in both Miller and Brock for a 4-3 NHS lead. Following Christman's two-run single, Porter drove Lindstrand in with a single to left and a 5-3 cushion for the Millers.
Lafayette Jeff's hitters really got to McLochlin in the 5th. Peter Ripke walked on five pitches. Two hitters later, Reid Pittard singled to left center to plate Ripke, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Pittard headed down to 2nd on a passed ball. Ethan Smith and Daniel Nelson both walked to load the bags. With Joe House striking out, it looked like freshman reliever Cory Conway came on to save the night for the Millers. Not the case. Albrecht dropped in a two-run single into shallow left center to score Pittard and Smith for a 6-5 Bronchos overtaking.
The visitors from Lafayette wouldn't relinquish that lead for the rest of the game.
Peter Ripke came on in the 5th and 6th in relief and couldn't have been more dialed in on the mound, despite the misting rain starting to fall harder. He allowed just two hits and one walk in his two innings of work to shut down the Noblesville offense.
Broncho bats were out to make a statement. Ripke walked and quickly stole second. Pittard reached on an error by second baseman Vinny Essig, scoring Ripke. Two wild pitches in a row by Conway get Pittard to 3rd and Ethan Smith (walked) to second. Daniel Nelson put this game to bed with a two-run single to give Lafayette Jeff the final score of 9-5, shortened to a 6-inning game because of the absolute downpour that arrived at The Dunk in the top of the 7th.
Albrecht, Perdue and Nelson all had two RBIs a piece, while Ripke and Pittard scored twice to lead the Bronchos.
Noblesville was led at the plate by Luke Porter with a 3-4 performance with 3 RBIs. Garrett Christman walked 3 times, but also had a two-run single to his credit.
Lafayette Jeff 6, 4A #6 Noblesville 1 (Loeb Stadium, Lafayette)
Luke Porter had the lone RBI for Noblesville and Trevor Salmon struggled on the mound as the diamond Millers fell at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette to the Lafayette Jeff Bronchos, 6-1.
The host Bronchos used a 5-run fourth inning to ease past Noblesville and secure the HCC series sweep.
Griff Clark was on the mound and pitched a dandy. He helped his own cause by smacking a home run off Salmon, while Austin Albrecht and Bailey Perdue also drove in runs to keep the Miller offense at a minimum.
2A #4 Delphi 7, 4A #6 Noblesville 2 (at Delphi)
The Millers knew they had their work cut out for them as they hit the road and headed northwest near Lafayette to face the 2A #4 Delphi Oracles. A Saturday night affair under the lights between two great baseball schools and it couldn't get any better.
Delphi took very little time to show the Millers that nothing was easy on the road.
The Oracles jumped out 1-0 in the first and planned on not looking back from there. Holding Noblesville scoreless through the top of the first and second, Delphi put six more runs on the board in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead through two innings.
Luke Porter and TJ Lindstrand both had RBI-doubles in the top of the third to put both Miller runs on the board to break up the shutout.
Zach St. Pierre got roughed up by the Oracles' bats in his two innings. ZSP was responsible for all 7 runs (6 earned) that Delphi scored, while giving up 5 hits. Will Plumer, Drew McLochlin and Cory Conway combined for four innings of work out of the bullpen for Noblesville, only allowing two hits by Delphi over the final four innings.
4A #16 Noblesville 9, 4A #7 McCutcheon 8 (at Lafayette)
It was a high scoring Monday night in Lafayette for the Millers and Mavericks as they lit up the scoreboard in their Hoosier Crossroads Conference matchup at McCutcheon. Noblesville came away victorious with a big 9-8 road win.
Five different Miller hitters had RBIs. TJ Lindstrand stroked a pair of doubles, driving in a run. Adnrew Wilson and Luke Porter were also able to drive in a run each. There were two difference makers on offense for the Millers. Nick Miller and Vinny Essig were both able to hit two-run home runs, giving NHS the offensive push for the victory at McCutcheon, 9-8.
The pitching duo of Garrett Christman (3.1 inn.) and Drew McLochlin (3.2 inn.) put together a good night on the mound for Noblesville. Christman was tabbed for the win and McLochlin the save.
4A #7 McCutcheon 4, 4A #16 Noblesville 2
It's a tough task to sweep the two-game series in the HCC, let alone do it two days in a row. This was what the Noblesville Millers had in front of them and it wouldn't be easy.
The Mavericks made the Tuesday trip to Noblesville with one thing in mind...to split this series with the Millers, no matter what it took to do it.
Trevor Salmon took the hill for NHS and was looking to work the corners and keep McCutcheon from getting on base as much as he possibly could.
Walking leadoff hitter Braden Giroux, Salmon found himself pitching from behind right away. Dylan Kiracofe popped out to Zach St. Pierre at first for out #1. Quickly after in a bang-bang play, Salmon covered first and got the toss from St. Pierre to double Giroux up at first for two rapid outs. Logan Sowers was then worked into a 2-2 count by the southpaw Salmon, but took a pitch stomach high and sent it sailing over the left field fence for a solo home run and an early 1-0 McCutcheon lead.
The Millers couldn't muscle a whole lot of anything together offensively against the fastball throwing Jordan Young. Going 1-2-3 in each of the first five innings, Young seemed to be cruising right along.
Salmon was able to settle himself down mentally throughout the second through fifth innings, allowing six hits, striking out 6, while the Mavericks stranded 6 on the basepath during that span.
Before the 6th, Noblesville was only able to get one hit off of Young before they finally got their wakeup call at the plate.
Salmon took a 2-2 Young pitch over 2B Caleb Jordy's head and into left field with one out. Zach St. Pierre followed him with a 1-2 single into right center. Back to the top of the order, Brian McLean sent a single of his own to left, driving in both Matt Swearingen (pinch-runner for Salmon) and St. Pierre for a 2-1 overtaking through 6.
You never know when it's a good time to let a starter go the distance or if you should pull him after six innings of up-and-down calls by the umpires and a mix of plate appearances by the opponents. Noblesville head coach Justin Keever decided to stay with his crafty lefty and it honestly wasn't a bad move.
The top of the 7th started off well for Trevor by forcing pinch-hitter Hank Gray to fly out to left. Catcher Mason Bruce hit a grounder to Luke Porter down at 3rd, but Porter committed an error, allowing Bruce aboard. Giroux struck out for two outs and it looked like the Millers were in complete control from there. Not the case. Salmon walked Kiracofe on four straight pitches, giving McCutcheon two runners on with two outs. Sowers' bat had just about been silenced since his first inning HR and he was having no more of that. The Mavs' #3 hitter sent a long double to deep right center on one hop, scoring both Bruce and Giroux to grab the lead 3-2. Sowers was able to make it home himself on a throwing error on the relay from the outfield and McCutcheon now lead 4-2.
Noblesville had one final chance in the last of the 7th. With Porter striking out looking to lead off, it didn't look promising. Lindstrand was hit in the back by a pitch and almost immediately stole second while Vinny Essig was at-bat. Vinny got a little anxious and popped out to 3B Andrew Roginski for the second out. Andrew Wilson provided a little spark with a single to left. The Millers' rally fell short with two runners in scoring position as pitcher Trevor Salmon grounded out to third on the next pitch.
Two fielding errors in the final two innings came back to haunt the Millers and gave McCutcheon a 4-2 win and the two HCC rivals split their series
The loss kept Noblesville on a slight downward tilt with losses in 4 of their last five.
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