Notre Dame baseball routs Kennett to claim Class 4 District 1 championship

The Class 4 District 1 baseball championship was expected to be a clash of two Southeast Missourian baseball titans, pitting the Kennett Indians against the Notre Dame Bulldogs.

It turned out to be a bad dream for Kennett and a good one for Notre Dame that the Bulldogs hope to keep living.

The defending district champion Bulldogs made quick work of the Indians, dispatching Kennett 12-1 in five innings Wednesday night to claim the district crown.

It was a slightly different story from the one on May 5, when Kennett knocked off Notre Dame 7-5 to claim the SEMO Conference tournament crown.

"Last time we hit it hard, we just hit it right at them," Notre Dame senior Josh Haggerty said. "Today we seemed to find some holes and put up some runs on the board."

Notre Dame pitcher Graham Ruopp reacts after striking out a Kennett batter in the third inning of the Bulldogs' Class 4 District 1 championship game against the Indians, Wednesday, May 21, 2014, in Sikeston, Mo. Notre Dame won 12-1. (Laura Simon)

The Bulldogs certainly found holes, and Graham Ruopp seemed to close any hope the Indians had with a stellar performance on the mound.

The senior starter allowed two hits over five innings. He walked a pair and hit a pair while striking out nine.

"I was able to get the curveball over and I was able to get the fastball moving to the outside and inside corners," Ruopp said.

Ruopp's most impressive inning was also the sequence that changed the momentum of the game.

Notre Dame took a 3-1 lead heading into the third when Kennett placed its first three runners on base to open the inning.

Declan Wallace was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a Landon Vaughan single.

Kevonte Mitchell then walked on four straight pitches to load the bases and set up a potentially big inning for the Indians.

No sweat for Ruopp.

Ruopp got Tyson Campbell swinging on a nasty curve and fanned Dalton Craig with high heat before coaxing a fly ball out of Trevor Shaver to end the threat with no runs allowed.

"That was definitely tough," Ruopp said. "I didn't really think I was going to get out of that. They got the three on base and I was like 'Oh, here it comes.' I just happened to push through it and get those two strikeouts and then the pop-out happened to go my way luckily."

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett believed it cemented Ruopp's place among the area's finest.

"You're seeing the growth in him," Graviett said. "He really stepped up today to be a bona fide top pitcher in the area. That situation, bases loaded and nobody out, to get out of without giving up any, like I said you're starting to see the maturity and what he's capable of on the mound."

The Bulldogs added salt to the Indians' wounds in the bottom half of the inning.

Notre Dame scored seven runs -- five unearned -- and bashed out four hits, drew four walks and was hit by a pitch in the decisive inning.

Adam Pope led off with a single and Hunter Eftink struck out looking before Blake Hagedorn lined a single.

Logan Heisserer followed with a fielder's choice that made it first and third but advanced to second on a botched pick-off attempt by Kennett.

Josh Haggerty delivered the crucial two-out hit.

Haggerty roped a two-RBI double over the right fielder's head to make it 5-1 and chase Kennett starter Edward Wilson.

The Indians fell apart from there.

Vaughan relieved Wilson and walked a batter to make it first and second before coaxing a harmless groundball to shortstop Mitchell off the bat of Luke Haines.

Mitchell threw short and the ball scooted away from the first basemen to plate one run and continue the inning.

The Bulldogs made them pay, scoring four more runs on a hit by pitch, two walks and an infield single to bust the game open and make it 10-1.

"That's what you do, you take advantage of what other teams give you," Graviett said. "They made a mistake out in the field and you want to make them pay. The momentum carried over from Graham on the mound, we got some runs, and once the error happened we kind of put the game away. That's what you need to do."

The only positive for Kennett came in the first inning.

Wallace led off with a single, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout before coming home a batter later to make it 1-0.

The lead was short lived. Notre Dame senior Haines hit a towering two-out home run to left-center field to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.

A single, hit batter and walk later, Eftink drove a ball into left field that was nearly caught by the Indians' diving left fielder but dropped in for a double and plated two more runs.

"It was a good pitch, and I felt like I hit it good and we got on the board early and I was really excited," Eftink said. "With two outs it was really big. "

In the teams' previous meeting in the SEMO Conference title game Kennett jumped on Notre Dame early with four runs in the first inning and never relinquished the lead.

"We've had trouble with the top of their order for three games now," Graviett said. "So really just to survive that first inning only giving up a run with the way those guys have been swinging it against us was big. But to get those runs back and take the lead early on in the first inning was big, and it gave Graham confidence to go back on the mound."

Notre Dame advances to take on Park Hills Central on Tuesday at Park Hills in a Class 4 sectional.

Kennett 100 00 -- 1 2 2

Notre Damw 307 2X -- 12 11 0

WP -- Graham Ruopp. LP -- Edward Wilson. HR -- Luke Haines (ND), Josh Haggerty (ND). 2B -- Haggerty (ND), Chase Urhahn (ND), Hunter Eftink (ND). Multiple Hits -- Notre Dame: Haggerty 3-4, Haines 2-4, Eftink 2-3.