Notre Dame baseball team claims Class 4 title with win over Sullivan

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Cinderella didn't stand a chance. Not against these Bulldogs.

The Sullivan baseball team entered the ball that was the Class 4 championship game on Saturday with a 14-13 record after an admirable fairy-tale run to the final four.

Top-ranked Notre Dame sent the Eagles home from the party early, routing them 17-0 in five innings at T.R. Hughes Ballpark and earning the fifth state title in program history.

Notre Dame players hold their Class 4 championship trophy after defeating Sullivan 17-0 in five innings, Saturday, June 6, 2015, in O Fallon, Missouri. (Laura Simon)

"It's awesome," Notre Dame senior Chase Urhahn said. "Words can't even explain how awesome this is."

The victory was the final emphatic statement in Notre Dame's determined, if ultimately short by most standards, quest to re-establish itself as the premier program in the state.

After winning a title in 2009, the Bulldogs were shut out of the final four for five years. They fell short of a district title twice and were stopped by four-time defending state champion Westminster Christian Academy in the quarterfinal round the last two seasons.

"We saw a couple years we were going to have to raise the bar to compete with the Westminsters of the world even though we didn't go through them this year," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "They showed us two years ago what it was going to take to win because that's what it's about. It's not about just getting here, it's about winning. They opened our eyes to the level of baseball we're going to have to play, and that's what we raised our game up to this year. Pitching, offense, defense -- all three facets at this level to win."

Notre Dame head coach Jeff Graviett beams as his players receive their medals after the Bulldogs 17-0 Class 4 championship win over Sullivan, Saturday, June 6, 2015, in O Fallon, Missouri. (Laura Simon)

Notre Dame outscored its opponents 76-11 in six playoffs games, including 30-3 at the final four. The Bulldogs (28-4) had to play all seven innings of a game just once, an 8-1 defeat of Clayton in a state quarterfinal. The rest were shortened by the 10-run rule.

"It shows we really are the best team," senior starting pitcher Adam Pope said of the dominating run. "Some people may say that we didn't play the best competition or whatever, but the competition that we did play, we showed them we really are the best team in the state."

Pope retired Sullivan in order in the top of the first, and the Notre Dame offense went to work.

After a walk and hit batter, senior first baseman Dean Crippen doubled to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 before an out was recorded. Tom Siebert added a run with a single later in the inning.

Notre Dame batted around in the second and added five runs on an RBI single by senior second baseman Logan Heisserer, a two-RBI double by Christian Job and a couple errors.

Notre Dame pitcher Adam Pope delivers to a Sullivan batter in the third inning of the Class 4 championship game, Saturday, June 6, 2015, in O Fallon, Missouri. Notre Dame won 17-0 in five innings. (Laura Simon)

"I got down 0-2 I'm pretty sure at the very beginning," Job said of his at-bat. "I was like, 'Just wait back. He's got to throw me something over the plate to try to strike me out at least, so I've got to get something I can hit.' I was just waiting, and he threw me a few balls. I just kind of felt like he was going to try to break something off on me because he'd been throwing a lot of curveballs, and he left a curveball right over the plate. And I took care of it. It felt good."

The Bulldogs were seeing Sullivan starter Matt Foster for the second time this season. They also faced him in a 15-0, five-inning win on April 11.

"He started against us last time, so we knew he had a fastball and a curveball," Urhahn said. "He was kind of struggling a little bit finding the zone at the beginning. ... Then we hit him hard whenever he found the zone."

Foster allowed seven runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings before being replaced by the first of three Sullivan relievers.

"It was a great run. This was awesome," Sullivan senior Heath Schatz said about his team's season. "We played them earlier in the season. They just hit everything. They did it again today. Cape Notre Dame is a great team."

Notre Dame players take a selfie with their Class 4 championship trophy, Saturday, June 6, 2015, in O Fallon, Missouri. Notre Dame defeated Sullivan 17-0 in five innings. (Laura Simon)

The Bulldogs added three more runs in the third on a well-hit ball by Crippen that was ruled an error on the second baseman and a two-run single by Job before putting the finishing touches on their win with seven runs in the fourth. Five Notre Dame seniors got to pinch hit in the inning and each reached base at least once.

"That's what we wanted to do," Job said. "We wanted to give everybody a chance. We were hoping we'd get up real quick and give everybody a chance to come through because it's not every day you get to play in a state championship."

Pope got the win on the mound. He pitched four innings, allowing four hits and striking out three. Senior left-hander Hunter Eftink, who is statistically the Bulldogs' best pitcher and a weapon Graviett had planned to use to close tough games that never materialized, pitched a perfect fifth to seal the victory.

"This group here, the scary part was getting up here," Graviett said. "They were so focused early in the year that they wanted to win the state championship. As a coach my fear was districts, having a letdown being too focused on the end. These guys, once we hit the stride come district time, they were on a mission one game at a time, and they just took care of business. It's phenomenal how well we played the last few weeks."

Sullivan 000 00 -- 0 4 3

Notre Dame 253 7X -- 17 14 1

WP -- Adam Pope (10-2). LP -- Matt Foster (4-4). 2B -- Heath Schatz (S), Dean Crippen 2 (ND), Christian Job 2 (ND), Pope (ND). Multiple hits -- Sullivan: Schatz 2-2; Notre Dame: Chase Urhahn 2-2, Logan Heisserer 2-2, Crippen 2-3, Job 3-4, Thomas Siebert 2-4.