Baseball roundup: Rocks sweep Orioles to finish HCC play

The REPORTER

Westfield swept Avon in a Thursday home doubleheader to finish its Hoosier Crossroads Conference season.

The Shamrocks beat the Orioles 10-0 in a five-inning first game. Maddox Novotney was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, scoring three runs. Lincoln Hoffman had two hits, a double and a single, and drove in three runs. Evan Govert also had two hits, while Nick Fero batted in two runs and scored two more. Andrew Noble also scored two runs.

Aiden Grabowski pitched all five innings, striking out seven.

Westfield won the second game 7-3. Novotney doubled in Kasen Jessup in the second inning to get the Rocks on the board.

Avon scored twice in the top of the third inning, but Westfield came back by scoring three runs in the bottom of the third. Noble got home on Grabowski’s RBI groundout, Gavin Russ singled Hoffman home and Jessup scored to put the Shamrocks ahead 4-2.

The Orioles cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the sixth. Westfield responded in the bottom of the inning: Hoffman smacked a three-run double. Noble, Fero and Beck Jordan all got home.

Noble also hit a double. Corey Wilhelm pitched 4.1 innings, tossing five strikeouts.

The Rocks finished conference play 10-4, giving them second place. Westfield is 15-9-1 overall and plays at Crown Point on Saturday.

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Guerin Catholic won an all-county game 9-2 over Hamilton Heights.

The Golden Eagles scored two runs in the first inning. Liam Zorger got home on Carson Kail’s sacrifice fly, then Ben Canada scored on a wild pitch. Luke Gremelspacher got a second-inning run on a wild pitch to put GC up 3-0.

The Huskies got on the board in the top of the fourth inning; PJ Wright was sent home by Tyson Upchurch’s RBI groundout. Guerin Catholic responded with six runs in the third inning. Canada batted in Brody Cain, Karson Smith singled in Canada and Ian Taylor, then Grant Beard blasted a three-run home run, also scoring Smith and Kail.

Wright doubled in AJ Flanagan in the fifth inning for Heights’ second run.

The Golden Eagles’ Ben Aho pitched three innings for the win. Wright finished with two hits for the Huskies, including a double. Owen Hughes threw four strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

Guerin Catholic is 21-3-1 and plays tonight at Center Grove. Heights is 7-15 and plays a Saturday doubleheader at Frankfort.

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Hamilton Southeastern finished an HCC sweep of Franklin Central on Thursday, beating the Flashes 6-0.

Cy Cole singled in Jackson Bixler for a first-inning run. In the third inning, Kian Kelly scored on Clark Bucher’s RBI groundout, then Parker O’Steen brought in Bixler with a sacrifice fly. Bixler had gotten on base with a double.

The Royals sprinted to the finish line, scoring three runs in the seventh inning. Bixler singled in Carter Reed and Nick Bach, then Bucher drove in Kelly with a single.

Bixler was flawless at the plate, going 4-for-4 with two doubles. Dylan Cope pitched five innings for the win, striking out six.

Southeastern finished HCC play 9-5 and is 19-9 overall. The Royals now head to the Noblesville sectional, where they play Carmel in a Wednesday first-round game.

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Fishers dropped a 5-1 HCC game at Brownsburg on Thursday.

The Tigers scored their run in the second inning; Carter Davis got home on Isaac Fernandez’s RBI groundout. Fernandez had Fishers’ lone hit of the game.

Austin Conley pitched five innings, striking out four.

The Tigers finished conference play 9-5 and are 15-13 overall. Fishers plays next at Sectional 8, taking on Westfield Friday, May 29.

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University lost to Center Grove 5-0 in a Thursday road game.

Quinn Green had two hits, while Beckett Suh hit a double.

The Trailblazers are 17-9 and play a doubleheader at Eastbrook on Saturday.