Bulldogs place third in Jackson tourney

Cape Girardeau Notre Dame manager Jeff Graviett told freshman Britney Schott that she would have three chances to get a bunt down with the game on the line against St. Louis Notre Dame on Saturday in the third-place contest in the Jackson Invitational Softball Tournament at Shawnee Park Sports Complex.

The game was tied 1-1 when Heather Menz drew a walk to open the bottom of the seventh.

On the third try, Schott put down the bunt between home and third base. Rebels third baseman Kristin Taylor threw the ball past first base and Menz came around to score the game-winning run in a 3-2 triumph for the Bulldogs.

"It was a little nerve-wracking when I got two strikes," said Schott, who was making her first varsity start. "But I was confident I could get it down."

The play ended the long day of softball that began at 8 a.m. and did not finish until almost 9 p.m.

"We wanted to get the runner in scoring position with our [Nos.] 3 and 4 hitters [Kristain Burger and Miranda Schlosser] coming up," Graviett said. "We didn't expect to win the game on the bunt but things happen when you put the ball in play."

Both teams had scored a pair of runs in the first inning.

The Rebels had a double by Kelly Bauer on the first pitch of the game and a home run by Renee Kertz with two outs.

The Bulldogs got those runs back with the help of another sacrifice bunt by Schott. Burger drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and Bailey Reutzel the other on a groundout.

The Bulldogs had chances to pull ahead early in the game off freshman Kate McCurren, who was making just her third appearance of the season on the mound. They loaded the bases in the second but Schott and Burger grounded out to end the threat. They had runners on first and second with one out in the fourth but Kaitlyn Scheeter hit into an inning-ending double play.

When Bauer entered the game for the Rebels in the fourth, the Bulldogs' chances diminished.

"Kelly had pitched three games, and I didn't want to start her in this game," Rebel manager Jen Pranger said. "But I could tell that she was really pumped after getting that double to start the game. She came in and pitched extremely well."

Bauer retired the first eight batters she faced until Scheeter singled with two outs in the sixth inning.

The Rebels had plenty of scoring chances off both starter Schlosser and reliever Beth Schnurbusch. Bulldogs catcher Reutzel picked off a Rebels runner at second in the fourth inning and the Bulldogs pulled off an inning-ending double play in the inning.

The best scoring chance though for the Rebels came in the sixth when they loaded the bases with one out. Lisa Meyer grounded to Schlosser, who had moved to first base in the fifth when Schnurbusch came in to pitch. Schlosser threw home for the forceout and the throw back to first resulted in the second double play of the game for the Bulldogs.

The Rebels also got a runner in scoring position in the seventh inning but Schnurbusch struck out Amanda Umlah and retired Bauer on a grounder back to the mound.

That set the stage for the late heroics by the freshman.

"You hope to face top notch pitchers in a tournament like this," Graviett said. "Their second pitcher was very good. We didn't have an answer against her and had to try to manufacture a run. We got the bunt down on the third try and found a way to win. We wanted to be in the championship game but I felt that we played well overall today."

The Bulldogs needed extra innings to defeat Fox 6-5 in the opener after they relinquished an early 5-0 lead. Schlosser pitched a shutout in a 4-0 win against Cor Jesu in the quarterfinals.

Poplar Bluff scored five times in the first two innings and held on to win 5-1 over the Bulldogs in the semifinals. Poplar Bluff went on to win the tournament with a 5-0 win over Sullivan in the championship.

Kelly had a thrilling finish to the tournament, as it went 2-2. The Hawks scored a run in the bottom of the eighth and two in the bottom of the ninth to answer Nerinx Hall's scoring. They then added a run in the bottom of the 10th to win 7-6. Kellly lost its opener to Goreville, Ill., 9-5, and came back to beat Perryville 8-1 before losing 3-2 to Fox.

Central outscored its opponents 25-18 in its four games but came away with just one win. The Tigers defeated Perryville 18-4 but lost to Cor Jesu (7-3), Fox (3-1) and Vienna (4-2).

Jackson lost their first three games -- 6-4 to Farmington, 7-2 to Nerinx Hall and 4-0 to Vienna -- before finishing with a 3-0 triumph against Perryville.

Perryville was the only team to leave without a vicotry. The Pirates lost by 8-1 scores to Poplar Bluff and Kelly before the big loss to Central and the 3-0 loss in their finale to Jackson.