Drury's arm, bat helped Bulldogs to state title

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett and senior Dylan Drury were confident from the start of the season that the Bulldogs would play in the Class 3 championship game.

"I prepared him," Graviett said about Drury. "I told him all year long, 'You're the guy in the state championship. You're going to be the guy who gets the ball [to pitch] in that game. You have to be mentally prepared to do it.' And he focused on that."

Drury capped a terrific senior baseball season by helping Notre Dame win the Class 3 state title. Drury earned the win on the mound in the championship game and stroked three hits, knocked in two runs and scored two runs during the final four June 5 and 6 at Meador Park in Springfield.

Drury is this year's Southeast Missourian baseball player of the year.

The senior slugger and star hurler helped Notre Dame to a 29-1 record. He batted .440 with seven home runs and 41 RBIs. He smacked 37 hits, including six doubles and three triples. He posted an 11-0 pitching record with a 1.82 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. He struck out 12 batters in Notre Dame's 18-4 title game win over Carl Junction.

Notre Dame's Dylan Drury fields a grounder during the Bulldogs' Class 3 state semifinal game. (Elizabeth Dodd)

"For him to do what he did on the mound and then you've got his bat -- you just can't find a better player in Southeast Missouri," Graviett said.

Drury said he started believing his team would win the title this spring after the Bulldogs were blown out 25-8 by St. Dominic in last year's Class 3 semifinal.

"I knew from the time we lost last year that we were going to come back and win a state championship," Drury said. "I had that much confidence in our [young players]."

Drury -- whose cousin is Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Blake DeWitt and whose grandfather was drafted by the Pirates -- significantly improved his hitting and pitching statistics from last year.

"I knew I was going to have to step it up a little bit," Drury said. "I put in a lot of hard work in the offseason. And I got a lot of bullpen time. It just paid off."

Notre Dame pitcher Dylan Drury jumps into the arms of catcher Mark Hagedorn after winning the Class 3 championship game last month. (JUSTIN KELLEY ~ Special to the Southeast Missourian)

Drury feels his pitching was the most improved aspect of his game.

"I've gotten a little more velocity on the mound and a little bit more movement with my stuff, and I was more focused on the mound more than anything," Drury said.

Drury was the No. 2 pitcher in the Notre Dame rotation behind Mark Himmelberg in 2008 when Drury posted a 3.15 ERA in 40 innings and struggled in the state playoffs. He gave up four earned runs in two innings in his two appearances, including starting the quarterfinal game Notre Dame played that year.

His ERA was more than one run better this year, and he was the winning pitcher in both games that he started in the state playoffs.

"He had a decent year offensively for us last year, but really struggled on the mound," Graviett said about Drury's 2008 season. "We kind of had him in at our No. 2 role and he really got passed up by Colton as the year went along on the mound."

When asked about the work Drury did this past offseason, Graviett said, "He plays baseball for about 10 months a year, if that's possible in Southeast Missouri. He tries to find as much time in the cages as he can. He plays through the fall. He definitely put a lot of work in."

Drury also hit for much more power this season after not hitting a home run in 2008.

"He had four or five home runs as a sophomore and then kind of fell off last year," Graviett said. "When he's seeing it well, he's got as much power as anybody to all fields."

Drury said he worked with former minor leaguer Talley Haines and his summer team coach to improve his hitting.

"Last year I couldn't get any balls elevated," he said. "I've hit a lot of home runs in the past, but last year was an off year. I worked a lot in the offseason in the cage."

The 1-2 punch

Drury and Colton Young provided a dominant two-man pitching rotation for Notre Dame, as each hurler posted an 11-0 record.

Although Young was considered the ace, Drury was confident that he could step up in big games and be an ace, too.

"He wanted to be our best pitcher," Graviett said about Drury. "That was his goal. And what a 1-2 punch. You put their [Young and Drury[']s] stats on the mound side by side, there's not a whole lot of difference."

Drury had great confidence in his pitching ability. During the preseason he said, "I'm still going to have my confidence to think that I can be the ace of this staff with me being a senior. Colton has got a little bit more tools with him, throwing a little harder than I do, but I still like to go out there and think I can be the leader."

Drury showed his leadership in the championship game. Although Notre Dame won 18-4, the Bulldogs clung to a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth. The first two Carl Junction batters reached that inning, but the right-hander struck out the next two batters and got the final batter, Carl Junction's cleanup hitter, to ground out.

"The last game, I had one shot to shut up a few of those soccer guys and basketball guys because they have one or two [titles] and I didn't have any," Drury joked.

Drury pitched three complete games during the regular season and recorded three shutouts.

"Dylan gets along with everybody and I felt confident with Dylan on the mound," Notre Dame first baseman Wesley Glaus said.

The 3-4 punch

Drury and teammate Austin Greer were known as the 3-4, 1-2 punch in Notre Dame's batting order. That's because they were the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters and provided the big 1-2 punch all year. Greer batted third and Drury batted cleanup.

Drury had a productive year as the cleanup hitter, driving in 29 more runs than he did as a junior.

"He's just a solid player all the way around," Greer said. "He's probably one of the better players in the state. He's probably in the top 10, top 15."

Drury plans to play baseball at Jefferson College next year. His goal is to produce at the junior college level and then be an impact player at any level of college baseball. He said he would prefer to be a position player rather than a pitcher in college, but he might receive an opportunity to do both.

"Dylan's a tremendous hitter with a great upside," Graviett said. "If he gets in a good situation, he's definitely got a Division I bat."