Baseball: No. 3 Millers poised with experienced mix

By CRAIG ADKINS

For The Reporter

Noblesville is aiming to do what no team in Sectional 8 has done since 2014 and that’s winning a sectional on their home field.

The Millers return a solid core back from last season’s team that won 16 games but are looking to advance out of the sectional for the first time since winning the 2014 state championship.

Head coach Justin Keever enters his 22nd year with a record of 375-237, just three wins short (378-176) of previous coach Dennis Kas’ program record. Keever’s teams have five Hoosier Crossroads Conference titles (2008, ‘14, ‘16, ‘23 and ‘24), four sectional (‘05, ‘07, ‘10, ‘14), three regional (‘05, ‘07, ‘14), one semi-state (‘14) and Hamilton County’s first baseball state championship in 2014.

The 2026 version is led by a pair of senior all-state candidates and Division I commits. Four-year starter Aiden Reynolds (Indiana) looks to keep his hot bat going to lead at the plate and 6’6 southpaw Beckett Doane (Mississippi State) is the top returning pitcher for the second season in a row.

Reynolds has a three-year .333 batting average with six home runs (three last season), 65 RBIs, 73 runs scored, five triples, 24 doubles and has 81 hits in 83 games played between shortstop and third base.

Junior Jalen Stidham is back as an outfielder and DH. Stidham scored 12 runs with a pair of doubles and four RBIs in 20 games in 2025. Senior Chris Martz started 21 games last year, improving his hitting with 12 RBIs, a home run, two doubles and nine runs scored. Catcher Garrett Dixon is back for his second season behind the dish. Dixon had a .983 fielding percentage in 26 games with five runs scored, three RBIs and a double in ‘25. Sophomore Zac Glander started the final 15 games after playing the first half of 2025 with the Junior Varsity Black. Glander managed to score 13 times, drove in seven runs and belted a couple doubles.

Newcomers like senior Blake Riggs, junior Jackson Graf, sophomores Slade Hodges, Ethan Clark and Christian Penaloza will all be counted on to produce.

On the mound, Doane brings two-plus seasons of starting experience. Over that span, Beckett is 6-5 with a 1.84 ERA in 80 innings pitched. He’s also tallied 118 strikeouts (68 in ‘25), given up just 39 walks, 54 hits, 32 runs (21 earned) and held opposing hitters to a .182 average.

Pitching will have plenty of depth with seniors Ethan Kang, Brooks Riggs, Brooks Muse and Ryan Ruse. Juniors Eli Hall, Griffin Snider, Quin Hendrich and Graf, along with sophomores Rhett Hostetler and Paul Stewart give the coaching staff plenty of arms to work with.

The Millers opened their season on Monday in Louisville at Kentucky’s No. 2 St. Xavier. Noblesville held on to defeat the host Tigers, 5-4. (A recap from that game will appear in Wednesday’s edition.)

Noblesville takes its annual spring break trip to Tennessee to play in the Donny Everett Classic in Clarksville. They will take on Hilliard Bradley on Thursday, April 2, play two on Friday, April 3 against Henry County and at Clarksville Academy and finish off the four games on Saturday, April 4 against Dixon County.

The Millers’ home opener is on Monday, April 6 versus Lebanon. They’ll begin HCC at Avon on April 8 and home against the Orioles on April 9. The Millers finish up spring break with a noon home game on April 11 against Lake Central.

Noblesville will also play Westfield in the Victory Field Classic on May 1 at approximately 8 p.m.