THE REPORTER
The Hamilton Southeastern baseball team finished its regular season this week with two wins over county teams.
On Monday, the Royals beat University 9-7 in nine innings at the Trailblazers’ RoundTripper Academy. University got on the board first with a run in the second inning: Jimmy Caldwell scored on Jasper Owens’ sacrifice fly.
Southeastern scored two runs in the top of the third inning. Harrison Dilts got home on Alex Billman’s RBI groundout, then Ty Bradle singled in Colin Goley. The ‘Blazers answered with two runs in the bottom of the third: Ryan Castetter got home on a passed ball, then Caldwell was sent home by Josh Newton’s left field hit.
Jake Hooker smacked a two-run home run in the fourth inning, also scoring Owens and putting University up 5-2. Southeastern got back two of those runs in the sixth inning, as Cole Earlewine singled in Bradle and Griffen Haas was brought home by Maddux Bach’s sacrifice fly.
A two-run single for Owen Schellhase put the Trailblazers up 7-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Hooker and Owens both scored. The Royals tied the game in the top of the seventh: Billman’s homer also brought in Goley, and Earlewine tied it up with a sacrifice fly to score Bradle. Neither team scored again until the ninth inning, when Bach’s left field hit brought in Haas and Bradle, and proved to be the game-winner.
Haas went 3-for-4 at the plate, with Bradle and Dilts both getting two hits. Eli Lantz struck out four in two and two-thirds innings.
Owens was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3 including a triple. Hogg and Newton both had two hits, with Hogg hitting a double. Hogg pitched six innings, striking out seven.
University finished the regular season 13-11-1 and will play Monday, May 29 in Class 2A Sectional 43 at Cascade, taking on Covenant Christian in the semifinals.
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Southeastern beat Hamilton Heights 8-0 on Tuesday at Ken Seitz Field.
The Royals scored four runs in the first inning. Bradle got home on an error, Haas scored when Dilts drew a bases-loaded walk, then Bach and Earlewine were sent home by Kam Seitz’s single.
Bradle scored a second-inning run when Bach drew a bases-loaded walk. Southeastern added two runs in the third inning: Goley scored after Billman reached on error, then Clayton Wilke was brought in by Bradle’s sacrifice fly. Bach hit a fourth-inning sacrifice fly to score Earlewine.
Dylan Cope pitched five innings for the win, striking out five.
Dean Mason hit a double for the Huskies. Kaleb Murray pitched one and two-thirds innings, striking out four.
The Royals are 16-14 and play Westfield Saturday in the semifinals of 4A Sectional 8 at Carmel.
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Sectional 8 host Carmel cruised to a big win for its regular-season finale, beating Warren Central 14-3 in six innings on Monday.
The Warriors scored two runs in the first inning, but the Greyhounds put up three runs in the second inning, and held the lead from there. Carmel finished the game with four runs in the sixth inning, with a two-RBI single from Hunter Snow the game-ender.
Snow had an incredible night at the plate, hitting 4-for-4 with seven RBIs. Snow hit a two-RBI home run in the fourth inning and a two-RBI double in the fifth inning. He also hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning, giving him seven RBIs total.
Case Sullivan had two hits, a double and a single, and scored three runs. JD Stein and Tyler Walkey both drove in two runs, while Carmichael and Walkey both scored two runs. Ivan Dodd pitched all six innings, striking out four.
The Greyhounds are 18-7 and host Zionsville at 5:30 p.m. tonight in the opening round of Sectional 8.
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Westfield won its regular-season finale on Tuesday, beating Roncalli 7-2 in a home game.
The Royals scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the Shamrocks put up three runs in the bottom of the first and were in front from that point forward. Collin Lindsey singled in Brayden Hibler for the first run, then Ian Wilson’s right field single brought in Collin Lindsey and Evan Russ.
Westfield kept rolling in the second inning by adding three more runs. Caden Lindsey scored after Eli Manbeck reached on a dropped third strike. Manbeck got home when Russ hit a sacrifice fly, then Collin Lindsey scored on a wild pitch.
Russ batted in another run in the sixth inning, when his left field hit scored Drew Law. Russ had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3. Wilson and Tyler Gentry both had two hits, including a double for Gentry. Ty Anderson pitched two innings for the win.
The Shamrocks are 17-10 and play Hamilton Southeastern Saturday in the semifinals of the Carmel sectional.
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Heights lost another tough game on Monday, falling to Yorktown 8-5 in a home contest.
The Tigers led 7-0 in the middle of the sixth inning. The Huskies got on the board in the bottom of that inning, when Alex Rickey’s center field hit brought in John Irion.
Yorktown led off the top of the seventh inning with a home run, giving it an 8-1 lead. Heights made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh by scoring four runs. Lucas Spicer’s right field hit scored Logan Hickman, then Irion’s center field hit sent Spicer home. Rickey then hit a center field single with the bases loaded, bringing Kaleb Michael and Irion.
Irion and Rickey both finished with two hits. Rickey also pitched four innings, striking out six.
The Huskies are 13-11 and plays Shortridge Saturday morning in the semis of 3A Sectional 27 at Bishop Chatard.