Bulldogs' year ends with loss to Lancers

ST. LOUIS -- Notre Dame High School's impressive softball season came to a crashing halt Monday as Lutheran South romped 6-0 in a Class 3A quarterfinal game.

The Bulldogs end the year with a 21-7 record while the Lancers move on to the state's final four with a 25-5 mark.

Kamin Hawkins, one of the state's top pitchers, blanked Notre Dame on five hits. Hawkins (16-3), who lowered her 0.23 earned-run average entering the contest, struck out five and did not issue a walk.

"Believe or not, I think we hit the ball as hard as anybody has against her," Notre Dame coach Chris Janet said. "We had the five hits, and we probably hit five other balls hard. We only struck out five times and she was averaging 12 strikeouts a game.

"We had some opportunities, but against a pitcher like that they come few and far between. She's really tough."

Lindsay Reinagel (19-6) suffered the loss, allowing nine hits. She struck out three and walked three.

Lutheran South jumped on top with four runs in the first inning, using three hits and two walks. The big blow was Hawkins' two-run double.

"Falling behind like that against a pitcher like her made it really hard on us," Janet said.

The Lancers added single runs in the third and fifth innings.

Sarah Michel and Laura Weissmueller each had two hits for the Bulldogs.

Despite the loss, Janet had no regrets.

"It was an awesome season, getting to the final eight for the second year in a row, especially being bumped up to Class 3 this year," he said. "We would have liked to take it a step further, but we had a great group of girls and it was a lot of fun."