Fishers nearly made a comeback for the ages Wednesday in its Hoosier Crossroads Conference opener with Class 4A No. 3 Zionsville.
The host Tigers were down 7-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, and in fact were just three outs from being on the bad end of a no-hitter. But Fishers staged a big rally, and got the winning run on second base before the Eagles got the final two outs and a 7-6 win.
Zionsville had built its 7-0 lead by the top of the fourth inning, while only allowing the Tigers one baserunner: Joe Hietpas drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Fishers got back-to-back walks when Tate Warner and Evan Allbright both drew base-on-balls. That brought up Grant Moritz, and he broke through to get the Tigers their first hit, and first run, as Warner scored.
After absorbing a strikeout, Fishers knocked in three straight hits, by Jack Brown (scoring Allbright), Zach Cox (loading the bases) and Matt Bryant (scoring Moritz). Carson Dunn came up, and he was hit by a pitch to send Brown home.
With the bases still loaded, Joey Brenczewski came up and batted in Cox with a single. Warner came back to the plate, and he was hit by a pitch, scoring Bryant. But after that, Zionsville got the last two outs.
“Our guys will never give up, I can tell you that,” said Tigers coach Matt Cherry. The coach noted other examples of his team not quitting, such as in their opener against Homestead and games at this past weekend’s Noblesville Invitational.
“They are going to keep fighting,” said Cherry. “We just have to grind out ABs. The guys that came off the bench sparked us. They were hungry and they were ready to get their chance and they made the most of their opportunities and they did awesome.”
Fishers is 1-4 overall and travels to Zionsville today to complete the HCC series.
ZIONSVILLE 7, FISHERS 6
Fishers AB R H RBI
Joey Brenczewski 4 0 0 1
Jack Braun 2 0 0 0
Tate Warner 0 1 0 1
Dom Oliverio 3 0 0 0
Evan Albright 0 1 0 0
JP Preston 1 0 0 0
Jack Backofen 1 0 0 0
Grant Moritz 2 1 1 1
Joe Hietpas 2 0 0 0
Jack Brown 3 1 1 1
Caulin Brown 1 0 0 0
Kaden Gorak 1 0 0 0
Zach Cox 1 1 1 0
Matt Bryant 3 1 1 1
Carson Dunn 2 0 0 1
Totals 26 6 4 6
Score by Innings
Zionsville 312 100 0 – 7 6 0
Fishers 000 000 6 – 6 5 2
HBP: Dunn, Warner.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Joey Wimoth 3 6 5 4
Kyle Manship 1 1 0 2
Gavin Kuzniewski 2 0 0 0
Cody Jones 1 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Kuzniewski 3, Jones 3, Wilmoth 2, Manship 2. Walks: Wilmoth 5, Kuzniewski 2.
Noblesville took a tough loss at Avon Wednesday, as the host Orioles scored in the eighth inning to take the Hoosier Crossroads Conference game 1-0.
Neither team scored in the regulation seven innings. The Millers did get five hits, including doubles from Drew Niswonger in the fifth inning and Jacob Weiler in the sixth inning. Avon scored its run with no outs in the eighth inning.
Ethan Leslie pitched a complete game for Noblesville and threw well, striking out 11 and allowing only three hits.
This was the Millers’ first HCC game, and they dropped to 1-4 overall. Noblesville hosts Avon today at Don Dunker Field to complete the conference series.
AVON 1, NOBLESVILLE 0
(8 innings)
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Dean White 3 0 0 0
Drew Niswonger 3 0 1 0
Mason Bohland 3 0 0 0
Bryce Adams 3 0 0 0
Kolbi Kazmierski 3 0 2 0
Jacob Weiler 3 0 1 0
Josh Kern 3 0 1 0
Conner Bloss 3 0 0 0
Caden David 0 0 0 0
Bryce Riggs 3 0 0 0
Luke Wilson 3 0 0 0
Totals 27 0 5 x
Score by Innings
Noblesville 000 000 00 – 0 5 5
Avon 000 000 01 – 1 3 1
2B: Niswonger, Weiler. SB: Kazmierski, White.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Ethan Leslie 7 1 0 3
Strikeouts: Leslie 11. Walks: Leslie 2.
Hamilton Southeastern was also dealt a tough Hoosier Crossroads Conference defeat on Wednesday, as the Royals were beaten at Brownsburg 8-5 on a walkoff grand slam.
Southeastern got off to an early lead, thanks to back-to-back RBI singles from J.T. Mutchner and Landon Riekhof. The Royals added two more runs in the top of the fourth: Hunter Dilts drew a bases-loaded walk, then Payton Hilfiker scored on a wild pitch.
The Bulldogs got their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Southeastern’s Peyton Lusby hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth, and HSE led 5-1. But Brownsburg took over after that, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, then loading the bases in the seventh inning. That brought Steven Walsh to the plate, and his left field grand slam ended the game.
Cole Earlewine had two hits for the Royals, who are 2-2-1 for the season. The Wednesday game was Southeastern’s conference opener, and it will host the Bulldogs tonight to complete the series.
BROWNSBURG 8, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 5
Southeastern AB R H RBI
Noah Wolf 3 1 1 0
Peyton Lusby 2 2 1 1
Hunter Dilts 0 0 0 1
Garrett Dettman 0 0 0 0
J. T. Mutchner 4 0 1 1
Landon Riekhof 4 0 1 1
Cole Earlewine 4 0 2 0
Jason Dettman 3 0 0 0
Griffen Haas 1 0 0 0
J. Bush 2 0 0 0
Payton Hilfiker 1 1 0 0
Ty Bradle 0 1 0 0
Totals 24 5 6 4
Score by Innings
Southeastern 200 201 0 – 5 6 2
Brownsburg 000 103 4 – 8 8 1
HR: Lusby. SB: Wolf 2, Bradle, Earlewine.
HSE pitching IP R ER H
John McCall 3.2 1 1 1
Sam Reagan 1.1 3 3 5
Eli Lantz 1.0 4 3 2
Strikeouts: McCall 3, Reagan 2, Lantz 1. Walks: McCall 2, Reagan 2, Lantz 1.
Guerin Catholic went extra innings in its second Circle City Conference game with Bishop Chatard on Wednesday, and the Golden Eagles also had a tough loss, as the host Trojans walked off with an 11-10 victory in nine innings.
Chatard led 4-0 after two innings, but Guerin tied it up in the top of the third. Braden Reel hit an RBI double to send Daniel Donahue home, then Aidan Morse smacked his own double into center field, scoring Clay Patton and Reel. Morse scored when Adam Novelen hit an RBI single into right field, and the game was knotted at 4-4.
The Trojans moved ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Golden Eagles jumped into the lead, 6-5, in the top of the fifth, thanks to a two-run home run from Morse. Guerin Catholic extended its lead to 9-5 in the top of the seventh, with Morse sending Anthony Ferrucci home on a sacrifice fly, then Novelen blasted a two-run homer into right field.
Chatard tied the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run home run and a two-run double. That sent the game into extra innings. Donahue scored for GC in the top of the eighth when Donahue got home on Patton’s RBI groundout. But the Trojans tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, and won on a two-out RBI single in the ninth.
Morse went 3-for-5 at the plate, driving in five runs. Reel and Donahue both had two hits and scored two runs, with Morse also scoring twice. Novelen drove in three runs. Donahue and Will Fremion both hit triples and Patton hit a double.
The Golden Eagles are 1-1 in conference play and 1-2 overall. Guerin Catholic will play two games at West Vigo on Saturday, taking on the host Vikings at 10 a.m. and Portage Central at noon.
BISHOP CHATARD 11, GUERIN CATHOLIC 10
(9 innings)
Guerin Catholic AB R H RBI
Clay Patton 4 1 1 1
Anthony Ferrucci 4 1 1 0
Braden Reel 5 2 2 1
Aidan Morse 4 2 3 5
Will Fremion 4 1 1 0
Adam Novelen 5 1 2 3
Josh Schaff 3 0 1 0
Ryan Zimmerman 1 0 0 0
Sam Tabor 2 0 0 0
Daniel Donahue 4 2 2 0
Evan Brong 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 10 13 10
Score by Innings
Guerin Catholic 004 020 310 – 10 13 5
Bishop Chatard 220 100 411 – 11 15 0
HR: Morse, Novelen. 3B: Donahue, Fremion. 2B: Morse, Patton, Reel. SB: Ferrucci 2. SAC: Tabor, Morse. HBP: Ferrucci.
GC pitching IP R ER H
Morse 1.1 4 4 3
Ferrucci 3.2 1 0 5
Brong 1.1 2 1 1
Davis Wagner 0.1 2 2 3
Reel 2.0 2 2 3
Strikeouts: Ferrucci 2, Brong 2, Morse 1, Wagner 1, Reel 1. Walks: Morse 5, Reel 2.