Fishers High School

The #4 Fishers Tigers Varsity Baseball Team (24-5) trailed twice, tied the game twice, and finally took the lead in the 6th to defeat rival Southeastern Royals 3-2 in the first game of Sectional 8 at Carmel. The Royals scored 1 in the top of the 1st to take an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers tied the game with 1 run in the 2nd. Luke Cherry led off the inning with an infield single into the 6-hole. Cherry advanced to 2nd on Trevor Hall’s sacrifice bunt. With 2 outs and 2 strikes, Mayo Fernandez lined a single to center to score Cherry from 2nd. The Royals took a 2-1 lead with a run in the 4th. The Tigers again responded with 1 run in the bottom of the 4th to tie the game at 2. Once again, Cherry led off the inning with a single to center. Hall smoked a line drive to left to put runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out. After a pop up bunt, Fernandez singled to left to load the bases with one out. Carter Strole plated pinch runner Collin Bumps with an RBI groundout that was slowly hit between the pitcher, 2nd baseman, and 1st baseman. The Tigers finally took the lead in the bottom of the 6th. Hall walked with 1 out. With 2-strikes and Hall running on the pitch, Jase Ruggles singled to left where the shortstop vacated to cover the bag. Hall advanced to 3rd on the single. Once again, Fernadez lined a 2-strike single to left past the diving shortstop to score Hall with the game winning RBI. Fernandez led the Tigers with a 3-3, 2RBI night. Cherry finished 2-3 with a run scored. Hall had a very positive night at the plate, 1-1 with a walk, sac bunt, and a run scored. Ruggles and Brady Carman both had singles. Reid Garber (7-0) earned the victory on the mound with nearly 3 innings of perfect relief. Garber retired 9 of the 10 batters he faced, allowing only a 2-out hit in the 7th. Starting pitcher Owen Sanders earned a no decision in his start. Sanders pitched 4 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits and 4 walks, while striking out 2. The win advanced the Tigers to the Sectional Semi-Final where they will play Zionsville at 5:30 at Carmel’s Hartman Field.