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Sectional 8: Semi-Final Recap

May 29, 2018
Rich Torres
PBR Indiana Correspondent

NOBLESVILLE – Only days after the tragic school shooting at Noblesville West Middle School, baseball was secondary at Donald J. Dunker Field on Monday morning, but the host Class 4A No. 14 Noblesville Millers found their strength in community.

Supported by a capacity crowd of approximately 4,000, which stretched around the outfield fences, the Millers played inspired baseball during the Sectional 8 semifinals to defeat Hamilton Southeastern 6-3.

Meanwhile, top-ranked Fishers beat the 95-plus degree heat and the North Central Panthers (13-9) in the second semifinal 4-2 behind a pitching gem by Kent State recruit Luke Albright.

Originally, the Noblesville School district considered moving the conclusion of Sectional 8 following Friday’s school shooting, but instead administrators opted to keep the tournament at Hazel Dell Elementary and The Dunk on Memorial Day.

The crowd, community and players showed their appreciation while carrying the emotional weight of the day.

“To say it’s been a tough two days here is an understatement, but this community is unreal. Our kids are unreal,” Noblesville head coach Justin Keever said. “Our role is just to play baseball, and our kids did that under some tough circumstances.”

The Millers players wore heart-shaped stickers on the back of their batting helmets honoring both Jason Seaman, the heroic Noblesville West Middle School teacher who disarmed the shooter while being shot three times himself, and 13-year-old Ella Whistler, who was critically wounded during the incident.

Seaman was present during the Millers’ semifinal game, and the Noblesville West Middle School teaching staff was honored prior to the fifth inning.

More than $10,000 was raised through game day t-shirt sales and other fundraising efforts to help pay for medical costs for both Whistler and Seaman through a GoFundMe created by Noblesville senior Jackson Ramey.

To date, Ramey’s philanthropy has raised more than $70,000.

“What a testament of these two schools, playing for each other,” Keever said.

On the diamond, the Millers competed with Whistler in the forefront of their minds, incorporating “Ella Whistler, we’re all for you,” into their school fight song after advancing into the evening’s championship final against Fishers.

The Millers (21-11) used a two-run bottom of the fourth to take a 2-0 lead and erupted with a four-run fifth to overtake the Royals (13-16) for good after trailing 3-2.

Ethan Imel finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, including a two-run double in the fifth inning, and Ramey closed out the game with the save to secure the Millers 10th straight victory.

“That’s a good team with some good pitchers that we saw. We got some opportunities and we took advantage of them,” Keever said. “Imel was unbelievable in some tough spots for us. Jackson Ramey slammed the door.”

Noblesville built their advantage behind four Hamilton Southeastern errors. All four occurred in the fourth and fifth innings.

Back-to-back dropped third strikes in the bottom of the fourth put leadoff runners on base for the Millers, who drove them both in on an Imel RBI-single and a Taylor Owens’ bases loaded walk.

Noblesville loaded the bases four times combined in the two frames and paired four hits in the fifth as the Millers sent 10 hitters to the plate.

“I was proud of how they battled back from 2-0. This is a tough environment to come into today. I live in Noblesville, so I understand the emotions going through it,” Henson said. “That’s what I told these guys. ‘The game is in a bubble. And we control what’s inside that bubble. Everything else outside of it, you have to just let it happen.’ I thought with everything considered, we did a great job of being in the moment, doing what was asked.”

The Royals posted five hits in the top of the fifth, tying the game 2-2 with a two-run single by Jacob Daftari and the bases loaded. A Brayton Harrison RBI-single capped a stretch of five consecutive Royals reaching base.

Anthony Eggers was 2-for-4 with a double for the Royals, while Cole DeWael was 2-for-2 and Harrison finished 2-for-3.

“I thought it was a great game. You take those four errors out of it, and the however thousands of fans saw a great ball game,” Henson said. “Guys have nothing to hang their heads about. That’s just the game.”

Miscues haunted the Royals as the Millers rallied behind three dropped third-strike errors, a throwing error and two potential missed putout opportunities in foul territory.

“In our sectional, no matter who you play, you can’t give extra outs,” Henson said. “I think we gave at least five. We gave up four outs in the fourth. We had two pop ups that inning and two strikeouts. You can’t give a team seven outs in an inning.”

Bryce Randolph connected for an RBI-single in the decisive bottom of the fifth, followed by RBI doubles from Reese Sharp, an Indiana commit, and Imel.

“It was a hot one. It was a hot one for both teams, and we were able to get it done,” Keever said. “They gave us some extra outs and some dropped thirds. We’re not going to apologize for it and took advantage of it.”

The Tigers (24-7) came out roaring against North Central, taking a 3-0 lead after the bottom of the first.

Fishers scored one run on a balk, another on a wild pitch and the third with a Grant Richardson RBI-groundout to second base. The Tigers added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth behind Navy commit Kiel Brenczewski’s fifth home run of the season.

Richardson, an Indiana recruit, drove in his 19th RBI of the year. Brenczewski’s solo bomb cleared the left-field fence.

Albright turned the early run support into his sixth win in 10 appearances. The right-hander struck out 11 batters, walked one and hit three batters, which led to the Panthers’ two-run top of the fourth.

North Central loaded the bases behind two hit batters and a single by Jacob Snider before Sam Behrmann knocked in two with a single.

After the Panthers cut the deficit 3-2, Albright locked in and retired the next eight batters he faced to finish with a two-hit complete game.

 “Luke did great today and set the tone. There was one time they had momentum going, but he just did was he does,” Cherry said. “He pounded the zone.”

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