By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
NOBLESVILLE – A nearly flawless, whirlwind week for Class 3A No. 2 Guerin Catholic carried over into Monday night at Donald J. Dunker Field, and the final result was win No. 23.
Five days after sweeping Circle City Conference foe Roncalli at home for an outright league title, and three days following a decisive win over Heritage Christian at Victory Field, the Golden Eagles (23-2-1) capitalized on their opportunities and defeated county rival 4A No. 3 Noblesville, 4-3, at the Dunk with pitching and plate discipline.
The loss halted the Millers’ (18-5) winning streak at five consecutive games while locking down the Golden Eagles’ sixth victory in seven contests.
Guerin Catholic beat visiting 4A Greenfield-Central, 11-10, to open their doubleheader this past Saturday before tying the Cougars in the second, 4-4, as the finale was suspended due to darkness.
“It was a big week for us last week. We had to sweep Roncalli in order to win the conference. That was Tuesday, Wednesday, then you get a chance to play at Victory Field on Friday night (for the Victory Field Classic), so emotions were high. And Saturday was senior day,” Guerin Catholic head coach Keith Nunley said. “We had four emotional days there in a row, and we were a little flat in the second game against Greenfield, but that’s a good ball club, too.”
While victory was on the Golden Eagles’ title-hungry minds at the Dunk, respect was given to the host Millers, who led 3-1 after three innings before Guerin Catholic plated three unanswered runs in the top of the fourth to win the battle between two, top-five ranked programs.
“The team was pumped. We’ve been looking forward to this game ever since our Saturday senior day. We came out fired up, and we just did our job. We didn’t play our best game, but the team came out on top,” GC senior and Wabash commit Will Fremion said.
Guerin Catholic’s early-game setbacks turned into motivation, after the Millers utilized a fielding error to extend the bottom of the second, which set up a two-out, RBI single by Jacob Edwards (1-for-3) and a 1-0 lead.
The Millers loaded the bases four times in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs on no-out, RBI walks drawn by Nolan Decker and Jack Shade to make it 3-1.
The eight at-bat frame opened with singles by Trevor Corbett, Aiden Reynolds (2-for-3, triple) and Eastern Illinois commit Bryce Riggs (1-for-3).
However, a slick double-play on a bases-loaded grounder to third base kept the Millers off the board before Guerin Catholic starter Davis Wagner posted his third of four total strikeouts to end the rally.
Wagner pitched 4.0 innings with four hits allowed, two earned runs and four walks for the win.
The Millers led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back hits by Hunter Corbett (1-for-3) and Trevor Corbett (2-for-4) before Wagner walked the bases loaded with no outs, but the Millers could do no more damage.
Noblesville hitters loaded the bases seven times overall, including four times in the third.
In the fourth, Wagner induced a pop up to shortstop, struck out another and knocked down a comebacker to the mound for a putout at first base to escape unscathed.
“Davis wasn’t completely on his game tonight. The arm looked good, but he just didn’t quite have the command he normally has, and we were fortunate our bullpen did a nice job there at the end,” Nunley said. “Much respect to Davis, too. He’s worked really hard, and here we are late in the season, and he’s going to be a big part of our postseason.”
The Golden Eagles’ bullpen protected the 4-3 advantage behind a one-hit, one strikeout performance from Nate Gremelspacher (2.1 innings pitched) and a save by Alabama recruit Tate Troxell, a freshman, who went 0.2 IP with a strikeout looking to end it.
Guerin Catholic tied the game 1-all in the top of the third off a Fremion (2-for-4) one-out, RBI single to right-center field; and in the fourth, the Golden Eagles loaded the bases twice to score three without a single hit.
“The pitching isn’t what beat us. It was the fact that we didn’t come through tonight with the bases loaded and nobody out. That’s what it came down to,” Noblesville head coach Justin Keever said.
“In the fourth, we walked five in one inning, giving up toll-free bases. I don’t think they had a hit, and then we had the bases loaded, no one out, and didn’t score a run (in the fourth). It’s hard to do those two things and win a ball game.”
The Golden Eagles put their first runner on base with one out in the top of the fourth on a throwing error. A walk followed by a fly out, gave the Golden Eagles two on base before three straight walks and a pair of wild pitches plated a trio of runs.
AJ Nunley brought home the first run with a bases-loaded, RBI walk.
“I don’t know if they made that many mistakes. Justin is a great coach, and they run a great program. They’ve got a lot of talent, and they’re a very respectable program throughout the state of Indiana, so I think we used the hand we were dealt in order to try to get a W tonight,” Nunley said.
What the Golden Eagles were supplied with was a quintet of Miller pitchers, as Keever and his program preserved their arms with a crucial two-game Hoosier Crossroads Conference series finale against Zionsville ahead beginning on Wednesday at the Dunk.
The Millers lead the HCC with a 9-3 record, just one game up on rival Fishers (8-4) and two ahead of Westfield (7-5) in the race for first.
Dylan Keever started the game for the Millers, going 2.0 IP with one strikeout and one hit allowed through a pair of clean frames. Fellow senior Tom Talarico (0.1 IP) entered in relief, followed by junior Quinton Black (1.1 IP) and freshman Beckett Doane (1.1 IP). The trio walked a combined six batters.
Doane came in with the bases loaded and a 3-1 lead, but he retired four of the final five batters he faced despite the high-pressure situation to start his outing.
Junior Garrick Addison suffered the tough loss, going the final 2.0 innings with one hit permitted, no runs allowed and two strikeouts.
The Millers defense kept the game close throughout, as Edwards caught two runners stealing with a pair of laser throws from home to second base, and a rundown situation to get Fremion out in the third inning that led to a runner stranded at third base.
Guerin Catholic left four runners on base. Noblesville had 10.
“We left a small nation on the bases tonight,” Keever said. “I thought some of the young guys came in and did a nice job. Beckett Doane came in with the bases loaded and had his own clean inning after that, and Garrick Addison did a good job. I thought Dylan (Keever) did a great job starting the game and got us two clean ones.
“Again, we should have scored more than those three runs that ball game. We didn’t and credit to Guerin with a nice one.”
Guerin Catholic travels to Lawrence Central on Thursday to wrap up the regular season before sectional play begins for the program at Bishop Chatard on May 24 against conference foe Brebeuf Jesuit, a team the Golden Eagles swept last month.
“It’s been fantastic ever since my sophomore year here. We were 10-19 (in 2021) and not the best culture team,” Fremion said. “We had a coaching switch and give coach Nunley props, he totally flipped this program around and went 20-10 last year, lost in the sectional championship. We’re 23-2-1 right now, looking to win our school’s first (baseball) sectional championship. We just won our first outright conference. It’s only up from here.”