By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – Justin Keever, a man who knows baseball very well, said something after his Noblesville team won a semi-final game in Class 4A Sectional 8 on Saturday.
“This is the toughest sectional in the state of Indiana, and it’s not even close,” he said.
That statement is not exactly breaking news, but it bears repeating because it gets proven over and over again. The Millers are one of those tough teams in this sectional, and they came through with a dramatic 5-4 victory over the host and No. 5-ranked Westfield, after trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Noblesville’s win came after another tense semi-final game. That one was between Fishers and No. 1-ranked Carmel. The Tigers came through, scoring a run in the second inning and riding the pitching of freshman Jack Brown to a 1-0 victory over the Greyhounds.
Fishers and Noblesville will face off for the Sectional 8 championship at 1 p.m. Monday, with the winner heading to the Kokomo regional.
YOUNG STARS
The Tigers’ lone run began when senior Jack Braun led off the bottom of the second with a center field single. After Fishers absorbed a strikeout, Braun moved to second base on a wild pitch, then went home when sophomore Gavin Clayton knocked another single into center field.
That would turn out to be all the offense the Tigers would need. Brown took care of business on the mound, allowing only four hits to Carmel and striking out seven.
“They’ve been doing it all year,” said Fishers coach Matt Cherry. “I think J.B. now has like 25 straight scoreless innings. And he’s unbelievable. He’s coming into the dugout telling me who’s coming up and what he wants to do with them. He’s way older than a freshman and he competes like it. He wants the ball, he wants to use all his pitches. He’s incredible.”
The Greyhounds had two serious threats during the game. In the top of the third with two outs, Hunter Snow and Nick Mitchell delivered back-to-back singles, with Mitchell sending Snow to third base. But a lineout ended the inning.
In the seventh inning, Evan Neukam led off with a single. Connor Gioia came in to run for him and moved to second on Daniel Cunningham’s RBI groundout. But Brown sandwiched two strikeouts between a walk to finish the game.
Clayton had two hits for the Tigers, with Brown also getting a hit. Fishers is now 19-12 for the season.
Neukam had two hits for Carmel, which finished its season 23-4-1. Cameron Heaney pitched a complete game as well, allowing only four hits and one walk.
WALKOFF RUN
Noblesville scored its first run in the bottom of the third inning (the Millers were the designated home team) when Jacob Weiler scored on a passed ball. Westfield responded right away: Quentin Markle hit a one-out single, then moved to second after Maximus Webster drew a walk. Both were then sent home when Trey Dorton blasted a triple into right field.
That gave the Shamrocks a 2-1 lead. Noblesville tied it up in the bottom of the fourth when Luke Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to send Josh Kern home.
The score stayed at 2-2 until the later innings. Westfield added a run in both the sixth and seventh innings. First, Clarke got home on Ryland Sutcliffe’s RBI groundout. Then, Keaton Mahan hit a bunt single to send Brayden Hibler home. With that, the ‘Rocks were up 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Noblesville loaded the bases, drawing three walks around a strikeout. That brought up Dean White, and his double sent Wilson and Keegan Speek home, and also moved Drew Niswonger to third. Minutes later, Niswonger scored on a passed ball for the walkoff run.
“The only time mechanism in baseball are outs, right? And our guys just kept battling,” said Keever. “We weren’t perfect tonight by any stretch of the imagination, but they kept fighting. That’s a heck of a ball club, they’re very well-coached. A lot of respect for their program.”
Bryce Adams hit a double for Noblesville. Ethan Leslie got a complete-game win, tossing three strikeouts. The Millers are 15-16 for the season.
Collin Lindsey had two hits for the Shamrocks. Gage Stanifer went six and a third innings, striking out 12. Westfield finished its season 21-4-1.
FISHERS 1, CARMEL 0
Carmel AB R H RBI
Nick Mitchell 3 0 1 0
Cody Kantz 3 0 0 0
JD Rogers 2 0 0 0
Jackson Micheels 3 0 0 0
Evan Neukam 3 0 2 0
Daniel Cunningham 3 0 0 0
Alex Richter 3 0 0 0
Griffin Wolf 2 0 0 0
Winston Berglund 0 0 0 0
Hunter Snow 2 0 1 0
Connor Gioia 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 4 0
SB: Mitchell. HBP: Rogers.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Cameron Heaney 6 1 1 4
Strikeouts: Heaney 4. Walks: Heaney 1.
Fishers AB R H RBI
Carson Dunn 3 0 0 0
Joey Brenczewski 3 0 0 0
Jack Brown 2 0 1 0
Caulin Brown 2 0 0 0
JP Preston 3 0 0 0
Jack Braun 2 1 1 0
Tate Warner 3 0 0 0
Gavin Clayton 2 0 2 1
Dom Oliverio 1 0 0 0
Kaden Gorak 0 0 0 0
Matt Bryant 0 0 0 0
Totals 21 1 4 1
HBP: Braun, C. Brown, Oliverio.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
J. Brown 7 0 0 4
Strikeouts: J. Brown 7. Walks: J. Brown 2.
Score by Innings
Carmel 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
Fishers 010 000 x – 1 4 0
NOBLESVILLE 5, WESTFIELD 4
Westfield AB R H RBI
Casey Fanelli 3 0 1 0
Keaton Mahan 4 0 1 1
Quentin Markle 4 1 1 0
Mac Clarke 4 1 1 0
Maximus Webster 2 1 1 0
Trey Dorton 2 0 1 2
Ryland Sutcliffe 3 0 0 1
Collin Lindsey 2 0 2 0
Cody South 1 0 0 0
Brayden Hibler 1 1 0 0
Isaac Minder 1 0 0 0
Totals 27 4 8 4
3B: Dorton. SB: Clarke, Fanelli, Markle. SAC: Hibler. HBP: Dorton.
Westfield pitching IP R ER H
Gage Stanifer 6.1 4 3 3
Logan Nickel 0.0 1 0 1
Strikeouts: Stanifer 12. Walks: Stanifer 5, Nickel 2.
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Dean White 4 0 1 2
Kolbi Kazmierski 3 0 0 0
Mason Bohland 2 0 0 0
Bryce Adams 3 0 1 0
Josh Kern 0 1 0 0
Conner Bloss 3 0 1 0
Luke Wilson 2 1 0 1
Jacob Weiler 2 1 0 0
Bryce Riggs 1 0 0 0
Keegan Speek 0 1 0 0
Drew Niswonger 2 1 1 0
Totals 22 5 4 3
2B: Adams, White. SB: Wilson.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Ethan Leslie 7 4 2 8
Strikeouts: Leslie 3. Walks: Leslie 3.
Score by Innings
Westfield 000 201 1 – 4 8 0
Noblesville 001 100 3 – 5 4 3