LIGONIER – The defending Class 3A Sectional 21 champion Tippecanoe Valley baseball team wasn't favored to win it again, but it was favored to get past the first round. The host West Noble Chargers (3-20), however, proved to be a tougher out than expected, defeating Valley (9-13) by a 4-1 count Thursday evening. “We've had that game in us all year long, but it's just been one bad inning here and there,” West Noble coach Doug Brown said of his team's win. “We're not a team that should have 15 to 20 wins, but we're a team that should probably have 10 wins.” Making it hard to believe that the Chargers had just two wins coming into the game was the fact that they have senior Nick Noe, a pitcher who'll be pitching at Indiana Tech next year. Against Valley, the 6-foot-6 Noe gave up five hits and struck out seven Vikings, advancing his team to Monday's 9 a.m. semifinal against Fairfield. “He was solid,” Valley coach Brandon Cody said of Noe. “He was in the strike zone the entire time. He had a pretty good curveball and we just couldn't get anything going. We had a couple breaks go our way in the fourth inning, where we had some runners on, but other than that, he was pretty good.” In the bottom of the fourth, after West Noble went on top 2-0 in the top of the inning, Valley got a two-out rally going, loading the bases with two hit batters and an Isaac Shewman single. With the bases juiced, Jarred Littlejohn hit an RBI single, but Noe then struck out Garrett Bell, getting out of the situation with just one run scored. In all, Valley left eight runners on base, including four in scoring position, three of which were at third base. “It's one of those days where the ball fell their way and we couldn't get anything to fall in,” Cody said. “It was a tough offensive day for us.” Trailing 2-1, things got worse for Valley in the seventh, when the Chargers tacked on two more runs, while the Vikings committed two errors. Valley committed a total of four errors in the game, with two coming in the outfield. “I tried during warmups to get them some groundballs so the ball would be wet,” Cody said. “We also had some trouble with our footing, as well as grips on the ball. But, they had to play in it too.” West Noble handled the conditions better, advancing in the postseason. And with a pitcher like Noe on the mound, things got a lot easier after the Chargers went up 2-0 in the fourth inning. “We haven't played with the lead a lot this year, but the confidence level goes up right there,” Brown said.
WEST NOBLE 4, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 1 (Sectional 21, 1st Rd) WN 000 200 2 – 4 7 2 TV 000 100 0 – 1 5 4 Nick Noe (W, 7IP, 1R, 1ER, 5H, 7K, 2BB, 1HB) and Kyler Warble; Clayton Adamson (L, 7IP, 4R, 3ER, 7H, 8K, 1BB) and Garrett Bell 2B – Josh Chupp (WN) Records: West Noble 3-20, Valley 9-13
