By CRAIG ADKINS
For The Reporter
Noblesville hit the road for the first game in their Hoosier Crossroads Conference series against Franklin Central on Thursday.
Beckett Doane showed why he’s an all-state candidate. Doane struck out 17 Flashes, walked just three and didn’t allow a hit in 6.2 innings as the Millers outlasted Franklin Central in eight innings, 11-1.
Doane was in a zone on the mound. He struck out two in the first, three in the second and third, two in the fourth, three again in the fifth, another three in the sixth and his 17th in the seventh.
Bases were loaded in the seventh when Zac Glander walked, scoring Jackson Graf for the 1-0 lead. FC scored on a wild pitch to send it to extras.
The Miller bats went off in the top of the eighth with 10 runs scoring to put the game pretty much out of reach.
Jalen Stidham was hit, followed by a Slade Hodges double. Brooks Riggs walked intentionally. Chris Martz doubled, scoring Stidham and Hodges. pinch runner Eli Hall scored on an error and Martz eventually scored on the same error for 5-1.
Ethan Clark and Aiden Reynolds singled. Then, Glander reached on an error by the center fielder, plating Reynolds. Glander moved to third on the same error, scoring Clark to make it 7-1.
Brooks Riggs lined a single to center to send Glander home for an 8-1 count. Hodges drove in Riggs on a base hit to left to push it to 9-1. Garrett Dixon walked to load the bases with two outs.
Martz’s second hit of the game sent a liner to right. Hodges and Stidham scored for an 11-1 advantage.
Brooks Muse sent the Flashes down in order in the home half of the eighth. Muse struck out two and the final batter grounded out to Reynolds at short to secure the road win.
Five players had multi-hit games. Hodges led with a 3-for-5 night, two runs and an RBI. Martz topped a quartet of hitters with two and had four RBIs. Brooks Riggs, Clark and Aiden Reynolds also had two.
Noblesville (7-6, 4-1 HCC) hosts Franklin Central (5-7, 1-4 HCC) in the second game of the HCC series tonight at Dunker Field at 6:30 p.m.
