Tigers, Eagles complete sweeps, advance to sectional semis

For The Reporter

CARMEL – The Fishers Tigers and the Zionsville Eagles both upheld their state rankings on Wednesday night and completed a pair of season sweeps to open Sectional 8 at Carmel’s Hartman Field.

The fourth-ranked Tigers (24-5) rallied back twice to tie and once more in the bottom of the sixth to beat rival Hamilton Southeastern, 3-2, behind a perfect 3-for-3 performance at the plate by senior Mayo Fernandez.

The ninth-ranked Eagles (19-8) capitalized on an error in the top of the first to plate their lone run, while sophomore starter Davis Moore pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout to propel Zionsville past Noblesville, 1-0.

The Tigers and Eagles will meet in the Sectional 8 semifinal round at Hartman Field on Friday at 5:30 p.m. followed by Carmel (16-8) vs. Westfield (19-9) at 8 p.m.

The Tigers swept the Royals (12-18) during their two-game, regular-season Hoosier Crossroads Conference series, 5-1 and 6-1, but the Sectional 8 quarterfinal Mudsock rematch called for heroics.

Fernandez, a Grace College commit, and relief pitcher Reid Garber, a senior, rose to the challenge.

Fernandez tied the game in the bottom of the second, 1-1, with a two-out RBI single, and his one-out single in the fourth loaded the bases for sophomore Carter Strole’s game-tying groundout that made it 2-2.

Fernandez’s final hit, a hard single up the middle of the field on a 1-2 count, put the Tigers ahead for good.

“All year. The kid has done it all year, man,” Fishers head coach Matthew Cherry remarked on Fernandez’s two-RBI game. “And it’s usually with two strikes and two outs. He’s been awesome all year long. I mean, literally, all year long, just finding barrels.”

Fernandez (.375) drove in four runs against HSE during the regular season and went 4-for-6 in the series. After Wednesday, he finished 7-for-9 against HSE pitching with six RBI.

“Never get tired of winning,” Fernandez said. “You know, I’m just trying to do my job. We spent the whole year working on putting bat on ball, trusting my skill, trusting my ability and ultimately trusting the Lord.”

The Tigers put their faith in Garber through the final three frames after the right-hander entered in relief, backing up senior ace Owen Sanders, who went 4.0 innings with two strikeouts, four walks and two earned runs allowed.

The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on senior Michael Hoog’s two-out, RBI single that scored junior Jackson Bixler (2-for-4). Hoog, a DePauw recruit, went 1-for-2.

Junior Chase Bradle put HSE ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly to center field after senior Isaiah Hamilton drew a one-out walk and junior Trey McManama (1-for-3) doubled to left field.

Garber retired 9 of the 10 batters he faced, allowing one hit, to earn the win.

Senior Trevor Hall (1-for-1) sparked the Tigers’ game-winning frame with a one-out walk, which senior Jase Ruggles (1-for-3) followed up with a single to put two runners on base for Fernandez.

Moore, a lefty, nearly recorded his first career no-hitter against the Millers (16-11). The son of Eagles’ head coach Jered Moore, Davis previously logged a pair of one-hitters earlier this month during HCC play.

A walk issued in the bottom of the first prevented Moore from a potential perfect game, but he retired the next 16 batters he faced until the bottom of the seventh.

Moore struck out 10 overall. His only hit allowed was a leadoff triple to junior Aiden Reynolds, an Indiana University commit, who was left stranded to end the game.

Moore induced an infield ground out, a shallow fly ball to right field and a strikeout looking to give Zionsville its third win over Noblesville this year. The Eagles swept the Millers during their HCC series this past weekend.

“I think most of us were holding a lot back the last two games in that series. Today was a game that mattered, and we just came up short,” Noblesville head coach Justin Keever said. “We had a lot of balls in play, some balls hit hard right at them. They made some great plays in the outfield, and we just couldn’t get Aiden home after that leadoff triple.”