By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
FISHERS – A year ago, any deficit would conjure a sense of impending doom for the Hamilton Southeastern Royals.
Not this season.
For the second straight night, the HSE Royals trailed Hoosier Crossroads Conference foe Brownsburg early on.
For a second consecutive game, the Royals didn’t let it define the outcome.
Instead, the Royals rallied with a pair of two-run frames to erase a 2-1 Brownsburg lead, while junior Spencer Mohr nearly tossed a complete-game at Ken Seitz Field on Friday, April 10.
HSE swept their two-game HCC series with the Bulldogs, winning the second contest, 5-2, after charging back, 9-7, on Thursday, April 9.
The victories improved HSE to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference. In 2025, the Royals finished 12-18 overall and 2-12 in the HCC.
“Last year, we got down a lot, and we kind of put our heads down and let the game get away from us, honestly,” HSE junior Clark Bucher said. “This year, I feel like we can really fight back and show some teams that we’re pretty gritty.”
On Thursday, a six-run top of the fourth swung the tide after HSE fell behind 4-0.
On Friday, the Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, as Bucher (2-for-4, double), a Michigan recruit, scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left field by senior Cy Cole (1-for-1, RBI), a Manchester commit.
Brownsburg sophomore Canyon Koonce’s (2-for-2, 2 RBI) one-out, two-run double in the third put the pressure on HSE.
The Royals didn’t back down, especially Mohr.
“Spencer’s been solid in his two outings previously to this. He threw a no-hitter down in Tennessee for us,” HSE skipper Kory Seitz said. “He’s a kid we can put in high-pressure situations.”
Mohr struck out a pair swinging to end the threat and only allowed four more base runners the rest of the way.
Mohr tossed 6.1 innings with five hits allowed, two runs surrendered, four walks and eight strikeouts through 108 pitches thrown.
“He’s a kid I’ve coached since he was 12, too, so I know what kind of mentality I’m dealing with. Nothing intimidates him at this point,” Seitz said. “He’s got that bulldog mentality.”
Mohr’s slider, fastball and changeup combination limited Brownsburg to two hits through the final 16 batters he faced.
“It’s not about how you start. It’s how you finish,” Mohr said. “I tip my cap to (Koonce). He can swing. Those two runs are from him, so he’s good, but they ticked me off. It flips the switch for me.”
The HSE lineup, which returned eight experienced starters from 2025, logged seven hits, seven stolen bases and four walks against Brownsburg on Friday.
On Thursday, the Royals posted 13 hits and five doubles with junior Alex Shepherd (3-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 doubles), senior Jackson Bixler (2-for-5, RBI), Cole (2-for-3), senior Trey McManama (1-for-3, 2 RBI, double) and Bucher (2-for-3, RBI, double) powering the offense.
“Last year, we got swept by them in two 3-1 games, and then the Ryan Murphy kid that threw last night just carved us up last year,” Seitz said. “That’s an arm going to Creighton, and last night, we were a little bit grittier.”
Friday was no different.
Three leadoff singles in the bottom of the fourth by Cole, Shepherd (1-for-3) and senior Chase Bradle (2-for-3, RBI) locked HSE into a 2-2 tie before a sacrifice fly to center field by senior Colin Kendrick put the Royals up 3-2.
An RBI fielder’s choice by Bixler in the sixth increased the lead, 4-2. A double steal, spearheaded by Bixler between first and second base, which enticed the pitcher’s attention, opened the door for junior Carter Reed to steal home, making it 5-2.
“We’re going to generate pressure as much as we can from the offensive standpoint, and we’ve seen it super early on,” Seitz said.
Sophomore Kaden Scholl relieved Mohr in the seventh and slammed the door with a double-play grounder for the save.
“We weren’t expected to be any good, and that’s how we want it. We can play freely. We’ve got a lot of good guys playing, and we’re going to do some damage in conference,” Mohr said.
