By RICH TORRES
CARMEL – The Noblesville baseball team was unable to gain traction in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference last week, but on Monday night, the Millers made their case for late May.
Down 7-4 after holding an early 3-0 lead, the Millers erupted for a decisive 10-run frame in the top of the fifth inning to get past host Carmel 14-12 at Hartman Field.
Noblesville opens its own sectional against Carmel in the semifinal round the Friday before Memorial Day, but during their regular-season meeting, senior Cade Nelis appeared postseason ready.
Nelis finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBI, including a towering three-run home run in the top of the first to set the tone.
Nelis’ long ball was his second of the season and took minimal time to develop. With one out and two runners on base, the left-handed slugger, who’s hitting .358 on the year, crushed the first pitch he saw to push his season RBI total to 21 in 64 plate appearances.
“I knew there were two guys on. I knew he didn’t have a lot of history on me, so he was just going to come fastball, and when I saw it, I just jumped on it,” Nelis said. “Both sides were taking walks, but we were going around the lineup as a whole, hitting well. We were seeing the ball well, working as a unit, everyone doing everything for each other.”
The Millers (12-10, 6-4 HCC) banded together against the rival Greyhounds (14-6) following a disappointing two-game series loss against league front-runner Hamilton Southeastern (12-6, 7-3 HCC).
Noblesville lost to HSE 7-4 and 12-0 on May 2 and 3 to drop into a second-place tie with Westfield (9-6, 6-4 HCC).
“It’s a new week. We were not very good in that (HSE) series. Even in the game we let get away, we didn’t play very clean, and in Game 2, we were dreadful,” Millers coach Justin Keever said. “The ability is there. We just have to clean it up. They’re a bunch of battlers, and they can put runs on the board, so that gives us a chance. But we’ll get there.”
In the top of the fifth, the Millers found it, using four hits, six combined walks and hit batters and two errors to send 14 hitters to the plate and take a commanding 14-7 lead.
A bases-loaded RBI single by Zach Gruver set the rally in motion before a throwing error to home extended the inning and gave the Millers the momentum their offense needed.
Noblesville loaded the bases four times in the frame and five Millers capitalized with run-scoring at-bats. Lucas Williams recorded the inning’s first out with an RBI sacrifice fly to right field that put the Millers ahead 8-7.
The throwing error for a force out at home and the bases loaded tied the game 7-7 as two runners scored.
Cooper Miles’ two-run single and Matt Peek’s two-run double added to the onslaught. Peek went 1-for-2, Brady Walden was 1-for-3 with an RBI double in the fifth.
“They walked us quite a bit, and we got the big error at the plate that scored two runs, and we were able to get some extra-base hits, but we have to pitch it better,” Keever said. “I thought (Camden) Nagel showed some good flashes. And I was really impressed with Jared Michael, coming into that situation and actually getting four outs. Stuff like that has to stop. It was sloppy.”
The Greyhounds charged back with five runs through the bottoms of the fifth and sixth behind a pair of RBI hits by Jared Greene, who laced a triple into right field in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
“Our guys did a nice job. Our hitters continued to stay in their at-bats, I thought, and continued to put good swings on good pitches and work the count. I was pleased with what we did on offense,” Carmel coach Matt Buczkowski said.
Greene ended the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI, but Millers’ relief pitcher Jared Michael eliminated a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the sixth.
Michael struck out one and walked one before slamming the door with a “four-out” bottom of the seventh.
“We didn’t hold them scoreless until the first and then the last inning,” Keever said. “Luckily, we got a big 10 spot in the fifth.”
Carmel loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, but Michael diffused the threat with a fly out to right field against Alex Brooks, who went 4-for-5 with two RBI.
“He’s been really good for us all year. Four hits is nice, but certainly, no surprise to see him have success,” Buczkowski said.
Michael struck out two and induced two groundouts in the bottom of the seventh as Carmel stranded nine base runners.
Carmel had 13 hits and three extra-base knocks compared to Noblesville’s nine hits and two doubles.
“Offensively, this year our kids are bunch of fighters, but there are things we have to clean up the next two weeks to get ready for sectional time,” Keever said. “But we’ll take it. Keep the oar, it’s a good win for our program, and we’ll see them again in two weeks.”
Carmel entered the remainder of the week tied with Center Grove atop the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference standings at 9-1. They face North Central for a two-game series today and Thursday and will play Warren Central twice on May 14 and 15.
“We talked about this being one game, and we talked about not having any hangover. We’re still in good shape in terms of controlling our own destiny in the MIC. We got a two-game set with North Central coming up,” Buczkowski said. “For us, I thought that the one play in particular, we panicked on the comebacker when we had a chance with a force out at home. If we make that throw, who knows?”
Noblesville 14, Carmel 12
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Ethan Imel 2 0 0 0
D.J. Owens 4 2 1 0
Cooper Miles 4 3 2 2
Cade Nelis 3 3 3 4
Matt Peek 2 2 1 2
Brady Walden 3 1 1 2
Zach Gruver 3 1 0 1
Cole Barnes 3 1 1 0
Lucas Williams 4 0 0 1
Jackson Hancock 0 1 0 0
Clay Holtzworth 1 0 0 2
Totals 29 14 9 14
HR: Nelis. 2B: Peek, Walden.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Matt Peek 2.1 7 4 6
Camden Nagel 3.0 5 4 5
Grant Braun 0.1 0 0 1
Jared Michael 1.1 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Nagel 3, Peek 2, Michael 2. BB: Peek 3, Nagel 3, Michael 2.
Carmel AB R H RBI
Drew Olssen 5 0 1 0
Christian Williams 2 2 0 0
Alex Brooks 5 1 4 1
Brayden Lentz 5 0 1 1
Jackson Adams 5 0 1 2
J.D. Rogers 4 1 2 0
Dryden Schroeder 3 2 0 0
Drew Kelly 1 0 0 0
Logan Urbanowski 2 4 2 0
Jared Greene 3 2 2 3
Totals 35 12 13 7
3B: Greene. 2B: Rogers, Greene.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Zach Vogt 4.0 7 6 5
Chris Grzeskowiak 0.1 4 3 0
Branden Rosefeld 0.2 3 3 3
Drew Harding 1.1 0 0 0
Mitchell Henneberry 0.2 0 0 0
Strikeouts: Vogt 5, Harding 1, Henneberry 1, Rosenfeld 1, Vogt 5. Walks: Harding 3, Henneberry 1, Vogt 5, Grzeskowiak 1.
Score by innings
Noblesville 301 0(10)0 0 – 14 8 2
Carmel 021 423 0 – 12 13 3
MILLERS CRUISE PAST KOKOMO
Noblesville followed up its big win with a 7-0 victory Tuesday at Kokomo.
The Millers led from the beginning, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Ethan Imel led off with a single and DJ Owens hit a double, then Cooper Miles was walked to load the bases. Cade Nelis hit a sacrifice fly to score Nagel, and Matt Peek’s sacrifice fly brought Miles in.
Zach Gruver scored in the second inning on a passed ball. In the fifth inning, Miles batted in Nagel, and Owens scored on an error. Noblesville got two more runs in the sixth, as Cole Barnes scored on a passed ball and Owens singled in Lucas Williams.
Owens finished the game with two hits. Gruver hit a double. Jared Crandall pitched the complete-game win, allowing only four hits.
Noblesville 7, Kokomo 0
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Ethan Imel 3 0 1 0
DJ Owens 3 2 2 1
Cooper Miles 2 0 1 1
Cade Nelis 3 0 0 1
Matt Peek 3 0 0 1
Brady Walden 4 0 0 0
Zach Gruver 3 1 1 0
Jackson Hancock 1 0 0 0
Cole Barnes 2 1 0 0
Lucas Williams 1 1 0 0
Camden Nagel 0 2 0 0
Totals 25 7 5 4
Score by innings
Noblesville 210 022 0 – 7 5 0
Kokomo 000 000 0 – 0 4 2
2B: Gruver, Owens. SB: Owens 2, Miles, Williams. SAC: Nelis, Peek.
Noblesville pitching IP R ER H
Jared Crandall 7 0 0 4
Strikeouts: Crandall 1. Walks: Crandall 1.