Heisserer does it all in Notre Dame baseball team's victory over Kennett

~ The Bulldogs' pitcher homered to help hand Kennett its first loss of the season

Notre Dame junior pitcher Cody Heisserer has two wins in his varsity career, but he's already established a Babe Ruth-like trademark.

He's accentuated his mound performance with a home run in both of his wins.

The high-scoring Kennett Indians became the second witness to the right-hander's dual act Friday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Heisserer threw a complete game, hit a solo home run and second baseman Nathan Beussink belted a three-run home run to help Notre Dame prevail 4-0 to stay unbeaten.

Notre Dame players rush out of the dugout after teammate Nathan Beussink hit a home run against Kennett during the second inning Friday at Notre Dame Regional High School. Notre Dame won 4-0. (Kristin Eberts)

"They both were pretty exciting, but I like the shutout, pitching against a good team," Heisserer said about his pitching and hitting feats in Friday's game.

Kennett coach Aaron New also focused on Heisserer's accomplishment on the mound after the junior blanked his Indians, who came into the game undefeated and averaged 11 runs in their four victories.

"You just have to tip your hat some days in baseball," New said. "Their kid threw a great game. He kept our kids off-balance all day and probably had a little more velocity than what we've seen so far this year. And we didn't make a very good adjustment to it."

Heisserer allowed eight hits -- all singles. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter. He didn't allow a runner to reach third base until the seventh inning, and that runner was left stranded when junior first baseman Jessie Schott gloved a difficult chance behind the bag and beat the batter to the base to end the game.

"He's an ace," Schott said. "I've played with him pretty much through my childhood. He's just a stud. I don't think he's surprising anybody. We expected him to be good."

Notre Dame's Derek Landewee tags out Kennett baserunner Justin Smith at second base during the third inning Friday.

Heisserer displayed the velocity and control that helped him post an 11-0 record on the junior varsity last season.

"I had command of my fastball and hit my spots," Heisserer said. "I left a couple up and they got some hits, but my defense helped me out."

Heisserer retired the side in order only one time -- the fifth inning -- but he seemed to grow stronger as the game progressed. He struck out the side in the sixth inning, stranding two hitters that reached with two-out singles.

"I was just going to try throwing strikes and let my defense help me. And they did. And it turned out to be a shutout," Heisserer said.

The outing confirmed thoughts that Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett had last season, when he saw a sophomore mowing down opponents.

Notre Dame's Nathan Beussink prepares to run down Kennett's Justin Smith during the seventh inning Friday. Smith was tagged out on the play. (Kristin Eberts)

"He had some times last year at the JV level where I knew we were going to have something special the next two years," Graviett said. "But for him to step up and get that challenge against those quality of hitters is huge."

Heisserer notched his first varsity win against Sikeston, a game in which he also belted a home run. But going against a Kennett team that had run-ruled its last three opponents was an even taller task.

"We wanted to throw him in the fire," said Graviett, whose team improved to 4-0. "For him to come out today, I really didn't expect seven innings out of him. I let myself let him go seven innings, but he stayed under that 100-pitch count. He finished strong and still had a lot of pop left that last inning."

Kennett entered with a more well-known name on the mound in senior Andy Lack, who signed a letter of intent in November to play baseball at Southeast Missouri State.

The right-hander gave up three hits in four innings, but two of the hits went over the fence. The Bulldogs had just four hits in the game. Collin Smith pitched two innings of one-hit relief for Kennett.

Notre Dame's Cody Heisserer delivers during the fifth inning Friday.

Schott started off Notre Dame's three-run second inning with a one-out walk. Heisserer followed with a single off the glove of the diving shortstop and advanced to second when Kennett made an unsuccessful attempt to cut down Schott at third.

Beussink, a junior, came to the plate in search of his first hit of the season and looked at two balls from Lack.

"I figured he was going to throw a fastball to try and get a strike," Beussink said. "It came right down the middle and I put all I had right into it."

Beussink launched a drive to dead center that stayed its course despite a steady wind blowing from left field to right. The ball cleared the 370 mark in center and staked the Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead.

"We came today pumped," Beussink said. "We knew Kennett was a good team. We wanted to put it on them and we came out and played good."

Notre Dame's Eric Hayes singles against Kennett during the sixth inning Friday.

Graviett said the first hit was just a matter of time.

"He's been swinging the bat real well and just hitting into some back luck," Graviett said.

Heisserer added his home run with two outs in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead.

It all added up to Notre Dame's seventh straight win against Kennett. It was the first meeting of the teams since Notre Dame downed the Indians in last season's Class 3 District 1 title game.

"We wanted to see where we were at and get the measuring stick," Graviett said. "And we know where we're at. I told them, 'That group's going to get hungry and they're going to work hard. We've got one of two things. We need to go back and continue to work hard or they're going to pass us up.'"

The two teams could meet again this season, only this time with their seasons on the line in district play.

"They've played us pretty tough the last couple years," New said. "Hopefully we'll continue to get better and maybe we'll see them down the road."

Kennett 000 000 0 -- 0 8 0

Notre Dame 030 100 0 -- 4 4 2

WP -- Cody Heisserer, 2-0. LP -- Andy Lack. HR -- Nathan Beussink (ND), Heisserer (ND). Multiple hits -- Kennett: Thomas Stillman 2-3, Justin Smith 2-3; Notre Dame: Heisserer 2-2. Records -- Kennett 4-1, Notre Dame 4-0.