BY CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
CARMEL – In a sectional like the six-team field in Class 4A Sectional 8, it’s a matter of if you can survive and be the last team standing with the championship on Memorial Day.
The Hamilton Southeastern Royals took full advantage of drawing the bye game and only having to win twice, but the difficult task was getting those victories in two days.
Two solid starts on Saturday from Ty Bradle against Westfield and Monday from Ethan Lund over Noblesville helped HSE capture its first sectional title since 2019, the season the Royals won the 4A state championship.
“It’s been a while. This team’s gone through some ups and downs. I’m just so proud of this whole team. We’ve worked so hard since January and February and that hard work is finally paying off. It feels really good,” said Hamilton Southeastern senior pitcher and first baseman Ty Bradle.
Bradle and Lund had two strong outings to control Westfield, Noblesville bats
Last Saturday against the Shamrocks, Bradle was in complete control in moving his second mark on the mound to 7-1. The senior Lincoln Trail commit sent down nine Westfield hitters on strikeouts, walked five, but yielded just two hits. The Shamrocks scored their two runs in the fourth, but the Royals completed the comeback to make their way to the championship.
Bradle got it done both at the plate and on the mound. In Saturday’s semifinal, Ty threw 6.1 innings, struck out nine Westfield hitters, gave up two hits, two runs and walked five. His two sectional games at the plate he went 2-for-7, including a two-run home run in the fourth inning against Noblesville in Monday’s title tilt.
This team had the mindset that they were being overlooked, simply because of their record. The Royals entered sectional play with 14 losses. An outlook like that by their opponents takes a little pressure off of Hamilton Southeastern as well.
“Coach Seitz told us going into sectional that we’ve got nothing to lose. We’re the so-called worst-ranked team in the sectional and we came in here and shocked some people. Everybody’s 0-0 going into the state tournament and we’re still surviving,” continued Bradle.
Junior Purdue commit Ethan Lund went 4.2 frames in the championship to even his record to 3-3. Lund gave up just one hit and a run, striking out eight and walking five.
The one-two punch of a Bradle and Lund rotation proved to be exactly what the Royals needed to have success against both the Shamrocks and Millers.
The added pressure of base runners in the championship seemed to only fuel Lund to throw better.
“That’s how I’ve been throwing all year. Against Zionsville, I had bases loaded in the first two innings and then struck out the side. I just like to keep it interesting,” said Lund.
Lund and southpaw relief pitcher Brady Strawmyer allowed one hit apiece in holding down the Millers.
It was an all-business approach for Lund. He went three and two-thirds before giving up a hit to Noblesville catcher Jacob Edwards.
“We definitely had the luck of the (sectional) draw, getting the bye. I remember when the sectional draw happened. We were in Lantz’s basement and we all just went crazy, because we knew we only had to play two games in the toughest sectional in the state,” continued Lund.
The Royals were fortunate enough to be able to rest every other arm that could possibly be used throughout the remainder of the state tournament. Bradle and Lund started both sectional games and Strawmyer was the only reliever to appear in both contests, leaving plenty of possibilities in Saturday’s Regional 4 championship.
The Royals’ bats came alive at the right times, securing two wins and sectional crown
Senior Harrison Dilts turned himself into a pivotal option at the plate for HSE. In Saturday’s semifinal win over Westfield, Dilts was the clutch hitter that helped punch Hamilton Southeastern’s ticket into the sectional championship.
Dilts went 2-for-4 with an infield single in his first at-bat and also reached on a fielder’s choice in the sixth. What sent the Royals into Monday’s championship matchup with Noblesville was a bases-clearing double to deep left center for the 5-2 final score.
“I went up to the plate and thought you got to get the job done, get a hit. It turned out, a little double, bases-clearing and it worked. I’ll take that all day,” said HSE senior third baseman Harrison Dilts.
The Royals were able to rough up Westfield pitching for 10 hits and Noblesville’s Bryce Riggs and Nolan Decker for a total of six. Their at-bats were relaxed and it became a different approach at the plate.
“We see pitchers like this all year in our conference. We just have studs left and right. We came in confident and we knew what to do, since we’ve seen them all year. Have the approach and be confident and we can win this ball game,” stated Dilts.
Alex Billman, Bradle, Griffin Haas and Dilts combined for 11 of their 16 total hits in their two games.
Bradle’s two-run home run in the championship would turn out to be all of the scoring that HSE would wind up needing. Dilts scored following his triple for an insurance run.
Kory Seitz gets sectional championship in first season as head coach
“Ty kind of sets the tone for us when he’s on the mound. When he throws, I feel like we’re almost a different team, just with a confidence level and the way he commands that space up there,” said first-year Hamilton Southeastern head coach Kory Seitz.
Seitz has been a mainstay on the Royals’ staff as an assistant for the past 18 seasons, before taking over as head coach this season. He’s already proving that he is the perfect choice to lead HSE.
Under the great pedigree of coaching that he grew up under, with his father Ken Seitz, who is the cornerstone of Hamilton Southeastern baseball. After all, HSE’s home field is named Ken Seitz Field.
“Lund has been our starter the whole time. Ethan has been a little inconsistent for us and I bet if you ask him, he would feel like his season has not gone the way he wanted it to,” continued Seitz.
In a game of this magnitude, Seitz wanted his starter Lund to be relaxed and not feel pressured while getting the job done to win.
“I talked to him this morning and said, this is not a pressure thing for you, but this can be a statement game for you at this point. This is the biggest stage you’ve thrown on in your career,” stated Seitz.
Seitz wanted his team to have fun. It seems to normally feel like a pressure cooker of a situation and that’s when kids can make the most mistakes.
“There’s zero expectation from us. There’s a reason they (Noblesville) were two or three in the state. They’re a good team and even when it’s 3-0, they’re going to make a run or a push at some point. My pitchers were phenomenal in these two games,” said Seitz.
“Now, you’re in a format of one game in regional, two-game semi-state. This right here is a little bit of rehearsal, but not necessarily for that, but you have to have two or three good arms and you’ve got a shot. I think anybody that gets out of our sectional, there’s a shot,” continued Seitz.
The Hamilton Southeastern Royals (18-14) will have fresh arms heading into their Regional championship showdown with former Hoosier Crossroads Conference opponent Harrison Raiders (23-8) on Saturday.