Westfield beats HSE, is tied for 2nd in HCC

The REPORTER

The Westfield baseball team picked up a key Hoosier Crossroads Conference victory on Friday, May 15, beating Hamilton Southeastern 12-5 in a home game.

The Royals scored first with a run in the first inning. Clark Bucher hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jackson Bixler. The Shamrocks responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning: Lincoln Hoffman singled in Andrew Noble, then Robbie Brandenburg batted in Aiden Grabowski.

Bixler singled in Nick Bach to tie the game in the top of the second, but Westfield added two runs in the bottom of the inning. Beck Jordan cracked a double to bring in Gavin Russ and Noble.

The pattern continued in the third inning. Bach batted in Karson Seitz for a third-inning Southeastern run. But the Rocks took control in the bottom of the third, putting up five runs.

Hoffman led off with a triple, then scored when Brandenburg reached on an error. Gabe Garcia came in to run for Brandenburg and was brought home by a Russ double. Nick Fero singled in Kasen Jessup and Russ, then Grabowski singled in Fero. With that, Westfield led 9-3.

The Shamrocks completed their scoring with three more runs in the fourth inning. Russ blasted a one-out double, then Maddox Novotney sent him home with a single. Noble batted in Novotney, then Fero scored on Grabowski’s sacrifice fly.

The Royals got two more runs in the sixth inning. Carter Reed scored on a wild pitch, then Bixler singled in Johann Dierker.

Fero and Russ both collected three hits, with Russ getting two doubles. Evan Govert and Jessup both hit one double. Grabowski pitched four innings for the win.

Bach and Bradle both totaled two hits. Bradle pitched three innings and struck out four.

Westfield is 8-4 in HCC play, tied with Fishers for second place. Southeastern is 7-5 and sits in fourth place.

Overall, the Rocks are 13-9-1. Westfield’s Monday game was rained out, so its next contest is another HCC game Wednesday at Avon. The Royals are 17-9 overall and host Center Grove this evening.