By CRAIG ADKINS
NOBLESVILLE – Things seemed to come in threes against Noblesville in the final regular season home game on Thursday against HCC rival Zionsville.
The Millers just couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of the visiting Eagles’ scoring sprees in three different innings, dropping the first game in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference series, 16-4 in six innings.
Starting pitcher Josh Kern got off to a decent start in the first two innings, striking out two, allowing one hit and just two baserunners, one by an error. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.
Zionsville’s offense showed what it is capable of in the top of the third. They unleashed six runs and six hits on Kern. The Eagles connected for three singles, two doubles and sandwiched in the middle of the hit parade was a solo home run from Brody Chrisman. That opened up the scoring and the visitors were out to a commanding 6-0 lead.
“Our defense wasn’t very good. So, we gave them way too many outs and we didn’t execute pitches,” stated Noblesville head coach Justin Keever on his team’s performance.
The Millers didn’t give up once down by a half dozen. They got a little rally in place in the bottom of the third.
Nolan Decker led off with a triple to left center and would quickly be driven home on a sacrifice fly to center from Luke Wilson to get the Millers on the board. Connor Bloss would reach on an error by Eagles third baseman Elliott Peter. Kern was hit by a pitch for two runners aboard. Then, Jacob Edwards showed the improvement in his bat, taking a double to deep left center that would score Bloss from second to cut Zionsville’s lead to 6-2.
“The bats weren’t bad tonight,” said Keever on the Millers’ lack of production in comparison to the Eagles’ output.
The Eagles weren’t done, as they added five more hits to their total to put four more runs up that ran the score to 10-2.
Bryce Riggs began the home fifth with a double over Colin Price’s head in center. Two batters later, Kern took a double of his own to the fence in left center, sending Riggs home for a 10-3 score.
The theme of threes for Zionsville was mainly involving its three big run-producing innings.
The Eagles put another crooked number on the scoreboard to keep Noblesville from any chance of a comeback, plating six more runs in the top of the sixth. That half dozen were aided by another three singles, two doubles and a triple that bumped the count up to 16-3.
The Millers got one more run in the bottom of the sixth. Drew Niswonger tripled to start it off and scored on an RBI groundout from Decker for the final score of 16-4.
Zionsville improves its record to 16-11 and is now 6-7 in HCC play.
The Eagles had four players with three hits apiece. Chrisman highlighted his three-hit night with the home run. Max Bond the most productive with five RBIs.
Noblesville drops to 13-12 overall and 7-6 in the HCC. The Millers head to Zionsville tonight for the second game of the series at 6 p.m. They will conclude the regular season on Saturday with a doubleheader against Lafayette Jefferson (10-17) at Loeb Stadium with the first game at noon.
ZIONSVILLE 16, NOBLESVILLE 4
(6 innings)
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Trevor Corbett 3 0 0 0
Nolan Decker 2 1 1 1
Luke Wilson 3 0 0 1
Bryce Riggs 3 1 1 0
Conner Bloss 3 1 1 0
Josh Kern 2 0 1 1
Jacob Edwards 3 0 1 1
Kolby Kazmierski 2 0 0 0
Conner Seago 1 0 0 0
Drew Niswonger 3 1 2 0
Logan Shoffner 0 0 0 0
Totals 25 4 7 4
Score by Innings
Zionsville 006 406 – 16 17 2
Noblesville 002 011 – 4 7 4
3B: Decker, Niswonger. 2B: Edwards, Kern, Niswonger, Riggs. SB: Shoffner. SAC: Wilson. HBP: Kern.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Kern 3.0 8 5 7
Eli Ketterer 0.2 2 2 4
Garrick Addison 2.0 6 1 5
Aidan Shoemaker 0.1 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Addison 3, Kern 2, Ketterer 1, Shoemaker 1. Walks: Kern 2, Addison 1.