The Westfield Shamrocks will venture away from home to take on the Noblesville Millers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Westfield has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Noblesville will arrive with three straight wins.
Westfield is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Indiana's top teams: Center Grove, who was ranked third at the time (Westfield was ranked 12th). The Shamrocks fell just short of the Trojans by a score of 7-5 on Monday.
Westfield got a good showing from Aiden Grabowski, who tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, Grabowski gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since April 3rd.
On the hitting side, Westfield saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lincoln Hoffman, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one run.
Meanwhile, Noblesville was not the first on the board on Monday, but they got there more often. They blew past Hamilton Heights 14-4. That ten run margin sets a new team best for the Millers this season.
Noblesville also got a great performance from Adam Gaskill as he tossed 4.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Gaskill has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Aiden Ramsey was a standout: he got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and four RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in May of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Aiden Reynolds, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
Noblesville always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .528. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive contests.
The victory got Noblesville back to even at 8-8. As for Westfield, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-4.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Westfield has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Noblesville struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 9.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Westfield couldn't quite get it done against Noblesville when the teams last played back in April of 2024 as they fell 8-4. Can the Shamrocks avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
