Lowest-ranked team takes down state-ranked sectional opponent
By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
CARMEL – The time was right to show out, and the Hamilton Southeastern Royals did precisely that Monday at Carmel’s Hartman Field.
The lowest-ranked team in the Class 4A Sectional 8 field, and hardly the tournament favorite, the Royals put their regular-season trials behind them on Memorial Day during the sectional title game and instead focused on tradition.
Their collective mindset and approach paid championship dividends, as junior Ethan Lund, a Purdue commit, and senior Brady Strawmyer, a Rose-Hulman recruit, combined to throw a two-hitter, and senior Ty Bradle provided the run support to power the Royals to a 3-1 win over state-ranked Noblesville.
“Even from early on this season, we were never seen as a strong team. We were looked at as an easy win, but we’ve shown we can compete with the big boys,” Strawmyer said. “This is huge. We’ve been through a tough year, but we all kind of expected that something great was coming.”
What unfolded was the Royals’ (18-14) first sectional title since 2019 – when the program won the 4A state title – and their 16th overall in program history.
“Traditionally, we’re a successful team, so to just bring it back, especially in coach (Kory) Seitz’s first year here, it feels great. I’m so happy for him and so happy for this team,” Bradle said.
The feat required an all-out effort, and it started with pitching.
Lund, who struggled against Noblesville during their regular-season meeting in early May, turned the page and carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the fourth in the rematch to finish with eight strikeouts through 4.2 innings.
Strawmyer closed out the game with 2.1 one-hit innings and two strikeouts for the save.
When the two teams met for their annual two-game Hoosier Crossroads Conference series, they split, but with the sectional title on the line, the Royals proved a more confident and refined rendition.
“As we were going through the season and we would go through a little bit of a lull, we told the guys, ‘Hey, all we need to do is play our best at the right time. Nobody cares about regular-season records.’ That’s the biggest thing, getting to that point of playing well, having some confidence and playing at the right time,” Seitz said. “If you can get those things going in the right direction, you never know what can happen.”
This season, the Royals’ longest winning streak reached five games, while their lengthiest losing run was the same. Now, they’re at six consecutive victories and in their first regional game in four years.
“It just means so much to the program, especially to Kory, his first year stepping in as the head coach,” Lund said. “I think it’s just awesome for the team to come out and get this sectional win because it just shows everyone that we’re here and the Royals are coming to play.”
Bradle (1-for-3) was prepared to challenge at the plate.
With Noblesville (23-7) keeping the Royals’ hitters quiet behind a strong start by senior Bryce Riggs, who retired the first nine batters he faced, junior Alex Billman (2-for-3) broke up the three-inning no-hit bid with a lead-off single in the top of the fourth.
Bradle stepped up next, and with a 1-0 count, he changed the momentum.
“Coach gave me the slash sign, and I was just looking to put the bat on the ball and make contact and move the runner. The first pitch I pulled back, and it was low in the dirt, and then the second one I just saw it pretty well and put the bat on the ball. It carried and got over,” Bradle said. “It felt pretty good.”
The 2-0 lead jumped to 3-0 in the top of the fifth, as Colin Goley drove in Harrison Dilts, who reached with a one-out triple.
Briggs was relieved in the top of the sixth, finishing with six hits allowed through five-complete innings, one walk and nine strikeouts.
Lund walked five batters and was lifted in the bottom of the fifth after issuing back-to-back walks to open the frame, but despite the Millers putting their lead-off hitter on base in each of the first five innings, they left six stranded.
Three straight strikeouts by Lund in the bottom of the first left a runner stranded at third base. In the second, three strikeouts by Lund kept Jack Shade stuck at first base after getting hit by a pitch.
A trio of tag outs in the bottom of the third and fourth prevented any substantial damage after Lund walked the first batter in the first, third and fourth innings.
An RBI single by Riggs in the bottom of the fifth scored Trevor Corbett, who walked to start the inning, but Lund and Strawmyer stuck to their formula to end any further threat.
“Originally, it was supposed to be him starting, but then we switched it up because we like him better out of the pen,” Lund said. “I’ve started most of the games, and Strawmyer has closed out most of the games in long relief for me, and we just didn’t really want to switch that up. Obviously, it worked. I’m just happy we switched it back up and it ended the way it did.”
The Millers were attempting to win their first sectional title since 2014, but eight stranded batters overall kept them chasing the Royals down to the final out.
Noblesville had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Strawmyer induced a fly out to right field for the second out and a grounder to first base where Bradle recorded the final putout unassisted before the Royals dogpiled in victory.
“Hats off to HSE, they played a great game today. The amount of electricity you see out on the mound in this sectional is second to none, and they had a good guy on the mound again. They have a really good staff, and Strawmyer came in and did a nice job,” Noblesville head coach Justin Keever said.
“We just couldn’t break through. We couldn’t get the hit when we needed it, and we had some opportunities, but they didn’t happen. That’s baseball.”
Noblesville’s Hunter Corbett takes a swing at the plate. (Joshua Herd)
The win secured coach Seitz’s first sectional title in his first try alongside his father and long-standing HSE baseball coach Ken Seitz.
The duo was on staff during the Royals’ state championship season in 2019, and after upending 17th ranked Westfield, according to MaxPreps, in the sectional semifinal, 5-2, and No. 2 Noblesville in the final, the path ahead is the team’s to control.
“You can talk to these other coaches. It’s an absolute grind. You can go six, seven years in a row without getting it just because the draw is ridiculous on who you get stuck with,” Seitz said. “Great to get it the first year, but by no means did I get into this for personal success. If there was one thing, I wanted to do with this being around this growing up with my dad and being an assistant this long; It’s so much more about how well our program is represented. I want these kids to understand what tradition that used to be here at Southeastern and getting them to be part of it.”
Now, the present-day Royals are in the history books, and will face No. 16 Harrison for a one-game regional on June 3. The game takes place at 3 p.m. at Lafayette Jefferson.
“It’s going to be a dogfight, but we just have to go out and pitchers have to throw strikes and the batters have to be aggressive, putting the bat on the ball like today. If we can do that, we can do it,” Bradle said.
“Coach has really hyped us up exactly for this moment,” Strawmyer added. “And we’re going to move forward with that.”