The Carmel and Fishers baseball teams both won first-round games as action at Class 4A Sectional 8 got underway Wednesday night at Westfield.
In the opener, the No. 1-ranked Greyhounds got off to a big early lead and that carried them to an 8-5 victory. Carmel got its first run in the top of the first inning when Jackson Micheels batted in Nick Mitchell.
The ‘Hounds let loose for four runs in the second inning. Cody Kantz doubled home Griffin Wolf and Hunter Snow, then was later brought home by Evan Neukam’s single. JD Rogers later stole home.
Carmel rolled in the third inning with three more runs. Wolf hit a center field home run, also scoring Alex Richter, who led off with a walk. Later, Mitchell hit a solo homer. That put the Greyhounds up 8-0.
Zionsville mounted a comeback in the later innings, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to get within three. The Eagles had the tying run at the plate with one out in the seventh inning, but Reece Bellin and Rogers caught flyouts to finish the game.
Mitchell, Kantz and Wolf all had two hits. Noah Bradbury pitched four and two-thirds innings for the win.
In the second game, the Tigers cruised past district rival Hamilton Southeastern 7-1.
Fishers got off to a solid start, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Dom Oliverio got the first run, scoring on Jack Brown’s fielder’s choice. Caulin Brown singled in Joey Brenczewski, then Jack Brown scored on Jack Braun’s RBI groundout. Matt Bryant came in to run for Caulin Brown, and he scored on a triple by JP Preston.
The Tigers added three runs in the third inning. Jack Brown scored on Braun’s RBI fielder’s choice, Dunn got home on an error, then Braun was brought in by Preston’s RBI fielder’s choice.
The Royals scored their run in the sixth inning, when Chugga Rosario hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Cole Earlewine.
Preston had two hits for Fishers. Tate Warner went six innings for the pitching win, striking out eight against two hits.
John McCall pitched five innings for Southeastern, striking out five. The Royals finished their season 12-16-1.
Carmel (23-3-1) and Fishers (18-12) will play each other Friday in the first semi-final game. The host and No. 5-ranked Shamrocks will take on Noblesville in the second semi-final.
CARMEL 8, ZIONSVILLE 5
Carmel AB R H RBI
Nick Mitchell 5 2 2 1
Cody Kantz 4 1 2 2
Connor Gioia 0 0 0 0
JD Rogers 3 1 0 0
Jackson Micheels 3 0 1 1
Evan Neukam 4 0 1 1
Daniel Cunningham 4 0 1 0
Alex Richter 3 1 0 0
Griffin Wolf 4 2 2 2
Hunter Snow 2 1 0 0
Totals 32 8 9 7
Score by Innings
Carmel 143 000 0 – 8 9 2
Zionsville 001 013 0 – 5 8 2
HR: Mitchell, Wolf. 2B: Kantz. SB: Gioia, Mitchell, Rogers. HBP: Micheels.
Carmel pitching IP R ER H
Noah Bradbury (W) 4.2 2 2 3
Jack Bruington 0.1 3 2 4
Aidan McConnell 1.0 0 0 0
Cunningham 1.0 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Bradbury 2, Bruington 1. Walks: Bradbury 3, Cunningham 1.
FISHERS 7, HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 1
Southeastern AB R H RBI
Noah Wolf 4 0 0 0
Eli Miller 2 0 0 0
Cole Earlewine 2 1 0 0
Hunter Dilts 2 0 1 0
Ty Bradle 1 0 0 0
Chugga Rosario 0 0 0 1
J.T. Mutchner 3 0 0 0
Landon Riekhof 2 0 0 0
Henry Kerr 1 0 1 0
Logan Callaghan 0 0 0 0
Peyton Lusby 3 0 1 0
Payton Hilfiker 2 0 0 0
Jason Dettman 1 0 0 0
Totals 23 1 3 1
2B: Kerr. SAC: Rosario.
HSE pitching IP R ER H
John McCall 5 3 2 3
Sam Reagan 1 4 4 3
Strikeouts: McCall 5. Walks: McCall 3, Reagan 1.
Fishers AB R H RBI
Dom Oliverio 3 1 0 0
Joey Brenczewski 3 1 1 0
Jack Brown 4 2 1 1
Carson Dunn 3 1 1 0
Caulin Brown 2 0 1 1
Jack Braun 3 1 0 2
JP Preston 3 0 2 2
Gavin Clayton 2 0 0 0
Tate Warner 3 0 0 0
Matt Bryant 0 1 0 0
Totals 26 7 6 6
3B: Preston. SB: Brenczewski 2, Oliverio.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Warner (W) 6 1 1 2
Kyle Manship 1 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Warner 8, Manship 2. Walks: Warner 4.
Score by Innings
Southeastern 000 001 0 – 1 3 1
Fishers 403 000 x – 7 6 1