By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
The Noblesville Millers opened their season March 27 on the road and did it against some of the best competition in the Midwest, playing at top-ranked St. Xavier from Louisville, Ky.
The Millers led for most of the game until the host Tigers were able to get the win in eight innings, 5-4.
Noblesville got started in the top of the 1st, putting runners aboard right away.
Trevor Corbett led off with a walk, followed by freshman Aiden Reynolds getting hit by a pitch and then Bryce Riggs walked to load the bags. Aiden Ramsey was also hit by a pitch, plating the first run for 1-0.
Nolan Decker lined a single to center to send Reynolds home for a 2-0 Miller lead.
The Tigers got their first run on a sacrifice fly to center to cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the 3rd.
Reynolds led off the 5th with a double to left. Riggs laid down a sacrifice bunt that helped move Reynolds to third base with one out.
Ramsey walked for runners at the corners. Decker then sent another single to center, driving in Reynolds to make it 3-1.
Jack Shade increased the lead to 4-1 with a sacrifice fly.
St. Xavier struck a comeback in the home half of the 6th with two runs on the board to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Tigers were able to tie it 4-4 and send it to extras.
Hunter Corbett had a pinch-hit single in the top of the 8th, but was stranded. St. Xavier completed their comeback with a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the 8th.
Nolan Decker led the Millers at the plate with a 3-of-4 performance and two RBIs. Aiden Reynolds has quite the freshman debut, going 2-for-3 with a triple, double and two runs scored. Aiden Ramsey also made his first varsity start going 1-of-2 with an RBI, run and walk to his credit. Bryce Riggs started on the mound, throwing 5 ⅔ innings, striking out six and giving up just four hits.
Noblesville (0-1) takes off on their spring break trip to play in the Warrior Classic in the Murfreesboro, Tenn., area. The Millers play at 5 p.m. tonight at Collierville (10-1). They play two on Friday, March 31: at 1 p.m. at Wilson Central (1-1) in Lebanon, Tenn., and then follow that game against Summit (2-2) from Spring Hill, Tenn. Their trip concludes Saturday, April 1 at 10 a.m. against Hartselle (7-4) from Alabama.
Fishers edges Homestead in opener at home
The Spartans made the road trip south from the Fort Wayne area to open the season against the Fishers Tigers.
Homestead grabbed the lead early twice, but Fishers found ways with their bats to climb out of a slight hole and come away with a victory, 4-2.
The Spartans struck first in the 1st inning on a sacrifice fly from Logann Tuttle that scored Fuchs for an early 1-0 lead.
Huston Dunn walked with one out in the bottom of the 2nd and then eventually scored on a wild pitch, knotting the game at 1-1.
Homestead grabbed a 2-1 lead in the top of the 3rd with Fuchs scoring again, this time on a line drive single from Goode.
That lead wouldn’t last for long. Jack Brown hit a sacrifice fly to right that sent Carson Dunn home evening it up again at 2-2.
Quinn Seefeldt singled to left to score Gavin Clayton, giving the Tigers a 3-2 edge that they wouldn’t give back.
Then, with two outs in the bottom of the 5th, Clayton would score his second run of the night, accounting for the insurance run, propelling the Tigers to a 4-2 home win in their season opener.
Fishers (1-0) managed just four hits, two of those off of the bat of Quinn Seefeldt. Clayton and Carson Dunn each had one hit. Gavin Kuzniewski struck out six Spartans in just two innings and the six Tiger pitchers gave up a total of three hits. Jacob Kohlman got the win and Kyle Manship earned the save, working the final two innings.
The Tigers will also head to Tennessee to size up some of the better competition around. Their trip starts on Friday, March 31 at Oakland (Tenn.) when they face Briarcrest Christian (6-3-1) at 3 p.m. The nightcap pits them against Oakland (1-11) in Murfreesboro at around 5:30 p.m. April 1 matches the Tigers against Clarksville (Tenn.; 4-2) at 10 a.m. and McCracken County (2-0) from Paducah, Ky., at around 12:30 p.m.
Westfield outlasts North Central in slugfest to take opener
Sometimes the first game of the year might not be one that yields many runs from each team. North Central and Westfield didn’t want anything to do with that.
The two combined for 24 hits and 27 runs, but it was the host Shamrocks who were able to hold on for a 15-12 season-opening win of the visiting Panthers on Monday.
After one inning, the ‘Rocks led 4-2. North Central came back with three more runs in the top of the 2nd to take a 5-4 lead, but that was short-lived.
Westfield had a statement inning in the 2nd, touching home plate eight times to pull way out in front 12-5 through two complete frames.
The Panthers cut it to 12-8, scoring three in the next two innings. But that only fueled Westfield. The ‘Rocks plated three more in the 4th to make it 15-8.
North Central put up a good fight and scored four more in the fifth and sixth combined that would account for the final score of 15-12.
Matt Drozlek led the Shamrocks with three hits in four at-bats, which included two doubles, four RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Brayden Hibler and Alex Rudolph each drove in three runs on two hits apiece.
Ty Anderson also had two hits and led with three runs scored. Hibler and Rudolph each also scored twice.
Westfield (1-1, 0-1 HCC) started off HCC play on Wednesday against Franklin Central at Grand Park, losing that game to the Flashes 3-2 and conclude that league series at Franklin Central tonight at 6 p.m.
The Shamrocks will also be playing in Tennessee during their spring break.
On April 6, the ‘Rocks play Goodpasture Christian (9-2) from Madison, Tenn., at 7:30 p.m. On April 7, Westfield meets up with Hardin Valley Academy (5-0) at 1:30 p.m. and ends the day against Bradley Central (5-7) out of Cleveland, Tenn., at around 4 p.m. The ‘Rocks play a fourth game on April 8, but that opponent is yet to be determined.