By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The rainy weather of the past few days made it necessary for two big Hoosier Crossroads Conference openers to be played Wednesday at Grand Park.
The facility was crowded, and those attended saw a couple of great games. That included a clash between two of the highest-ranked teams in Class 4A, No. 1 Fishers and No. 3 Zionsville. The Eagles had the Tigers down going into the seventh inning before Fishers came back with two runs in the top of the final inning to win 3-2.
“It’s a testament to these guys,” said Fishers coach Matt Cherry. “It’s who they are. It’s inside of them. They kind of create it. They never give up.”
Meanwhile, Noblesville was providing some excitement of its own as the Millers began a series with Avon. After the Orioles jumped out to an early lead, Noblesville tied the game right back, then scored a pair of runs in the third inning and held the lead from there, cruising to an 8-6 victory.
RALLY TIGERS
Fishers was the visiting team, and it got on the board right away in the first inning. Joey Brenczewski led off with a single, moved to third base, then scored when Jack Brown smacked a line drive into right field. Zionsville tied the game right away with a two-out home run in the bottom of the first, then added a run in the fifth inning.
The Tigers started their seventh-inning rally when Jack Brown reached on error to begin the inning. Jackson Preston drew a walk, then Jack Backofen came in to run for Preston. After that, Gavin Clayton was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Caulin Brown came up next, and he hit a sacrifice fly to score Jack Brown. Backofen also tagged up and advanced to third base. That would set up the go-ahead run, and Backofen delivered by getting home on Zach Cox’s RBI fielder’s choice.
“This team does probably one of the best jobs we’ve ever had of manufacturing runs and creating running situations, and a lot has to do with how we run the bases, although we ran ourselves out a couple outs earlier in the game. But we want to be aggressive,” said Cherry.
Fishers had the lead at 3-2, and the Tigers then took care of Zionsville quickly in the bottom of the seventh, making two groundouts with a Joey Wilmoth strikeout in between.
Brenczewski had two hits for the game. Wilmoth pitched two and two-thirds innings for the win, striking out four. Starting pitcher Tate Warner struck out seven.
Fishers hosts Zionsville today to complete the series.
QUICK REGROUPING
Avon stunned the Millers in the first inning with back-to-back triples in its first two at bats, resulting in a run. The Orioles then added two more runs to take a 3-0 lead midway through the first.
But Noblesville quickly regrouped, scoring three runs of its own. Kolby Kazmierski led off with a double, moved to third on Nolan Decker’s single, and scored when freshmen Trevor Corbett sent a base hit into left field.
Decker later got home on a sacrifice fly by Josh Kern, and Corbett scored after Conner Bloss blasted a triple.
“Avon can flat swing the bat,” said Millers coach Justin Keever. “They ambushed us early and credit our kids responding.”
The score stayed at 3-3 until the third inning, when Noblesville added two runs. Decker got a leadoff single, then scored on Corbett’s right field hit. Corbett would be home soon as well, as Kern singled him in with a left field hit.
The Millers kept things rolling in the fourth inning. Drew Niswonger scored after Decker reached on error, then Corbett bunted in Kazmierski. Noblesville now led 7-3. The Orioles cut the lead to 7-5 with a couple of fifth-inning runs, but would get no closer.
Meanwhile, Corbett batted in the Millers’ last run of the game on a sacrifice bunt that scored Kazmierski. That gave Corbett a total of four RBIs on 3-for-3 hitting. Kazmierski and Decker also had three hits for the game.
“We’re just having competitive bats and that’s really what it comes down to. Hitting’s hard and getting hits are hard. But what’s great with our guys is that they’re relative with approaches and they’re being really competitive at the plate,” said Keever.
Eli Ketterer got the win, throwing three and a third innings in relief. He tossed four strikeouts. Bryce Riggs earned a save, with five strikeouts in two and a third innings. Avon, in fact, had the tying run at the plate after scoring on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, but Riggs finished the game with a strikeout.
“It’s always great to start the league 1-0, right?” said Keever. He called playing in the HCC “not for the faint of heart,” so every win is a big win.
“We never apologize for winning, so we’re really excited,” said Keever.
Noblesville travels to Avon today to complete the series.
FISHERS 3, ZIONSVILLE 2
Fishers AB R H RBI
Joey Brenczewski 3 1 2 0
Dominic Oliverio 3 0 0 0
Jack Brown 3 1 1 1
Jackson Preston 2 0 0 0
Jack Backofen 0 1 0 0
Gavin Clayton 2 0 0 0
Caulin Brown 2 0 0 1
Zach Cox 3 0 0 1
Joe Hietpas 2 0 1 0
Curtis Kearschner 0 0 0 0
Carson Dunn 2 0 0 0
Totals 22 3 4 3
Score by Innings
Fishers 100 000 2 – 3 4 1
Zionsville 100 010 0 – 2 6 2
2B: Hughes. SB: Cox. SAC: C. Brown.
Fishers pitching IP R ER H
Tate Warner 4.1 2 2 5
Joey Wilmoth (W) 2.2 0 0 1
Strikeouts: Warner 7, Wilmoth 4. Walks: Warner 3.
NOBLESVILLE 8, AVON 6
Noblesville AB R H RBI
Kolby Kazmierski 4 3 3 0
Nolan Decker 4 2 3 1
Trevor Corbett 3 2 3 4
Bryce Riggs 3 0 0 0
Josh Kern 3 0 1 2
Conner Bloss 3 0 1 1
Luke Wilson 3 0 0 0
Jacob Edwards 3 0 0 0
Drew Niswonger 3 1 1 0
Totals 29 8 12 8
Score by Innings
Avon 300 020 1 – 6 10 1
Noblesville 302 201 x – 8 12 2
3B: Bloss. 2B: Kazmierski. SB: Kern 2, Kazmierski. SAC: Corbett, Riggs, Kern.
NHS pitching IP R ER H
Decker 1.1 3 2 5
Eli Ketterer (W) 3.1 2 2 3
Riggs (S) 2.1 1 1 2
Strikeouts: Riggs 5, Ketterer 4, Decker 2. Walks: Riggs 2, Ketterer 1.