Notre Dame baseball team wins sectional game by 10 runs

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- Park Hills Central baseball coach Ronnie Calvird hoped freshman left-hander Nick Haney could get his team through a couple innings against Notre Dame in a Class 4 sectional on Tuesday.

Calvird had watched Notre Dame's lineup, which included five left-handed batters, during its district championship win over Kennett last week.

"Also, you know, I figured [Notre Dame] gets a lot of other team's number ones -- guys that throw probably pretty hard, and so I thought throwing the lefty, it's a lefty vs. lefty matchup as well as a guy throwing a little bit softer," Calvird said. "So I thought we might kind of throw them off balance for an inning or two and then come back in with a righty. ... I was just trying to get us further in the game. That was kind of the thought process behind that."

That plan backfired after four of the first five Notre Dame batters reached. The Bulldogs took an early lead and never were threatened in a 12-2 victory.

Notre Dame (24-3) will host three-time defending state championship Westminster Christian Academy in a state quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Notre Dame’s Josh Jansen is congratulated after hitting a solo home run against Park Hills Central during the seventh inning.

Josh Haggerty led off the game with a double for Notre Dame and Chase Urhahn followed with a walk. Luke Haines struck out before Josh Jansen drove home a run with a single. Brayden Manion replaced Haney after he hit Griffin Siebert with a pitch. Haney allowed two more runs to score on a walk and a Blake Hagedorn single that gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead after a half inning of play.

"We knew pretty much one of the two pitchers we were going to get, and we got the lefty," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "He tried to offspeed us. It wasn't nothing overpowering. ... He's just not overpowering at all, so you kind of sit back and feel like you can make your adjustments there. We got a lot of lefties up there, but we've been hitting off lefties all year long."

The 3-0 cushion was more than enough for senior Notre Dame starter Ross James.

"It helps a lot," James said about the early lead. "You're not quite as worried if you get behind in the count. If you let a couple runners on, it's not as much pressure. Obviously, you don't want to let them score, but it's a nice little comfort."

James did not allow a run in his six innings of work and gave up just four hits -- two in the first inning.

Notre Dame shortstop Griffin Siebert throws to first base after fielding a grounder during the fifth inning.

"Actually this is the best, as far as throwing strikes and locating balls, as he's had all year long -- probably a little too much, especially in the first inning there," Graviett said. "He had a couple 0-2, 1-2 counts he ended up giving hits on because he still [got] too much over the plate, but he's settled in and [has] been the guy all year for us, that senior leader coming out there and getting it done, getting us to that next step."

Manion quieted the Bulldogs' bats for the next five innings, allowing just two hits, but Notre Dame broke the game open and chased Manion with a nine-run outburst in the top of the seventh inning just after a short downpour concluded.

The inning included a pair of RBI hits by Urhahn and a solo home run from Jansen.

"We got dead there for a while, and ... he shut us down, but then we turned it on in the seventh inning," Jansen said. "It's just one of those things -- a couple guys hit the ball hard. We saw it in the last inning. A couple guys lined out to the outfielders. You know, it's contagious a little bit. Guys start hitting the ball around, start hitting it where they ain't."

Haggerty allowed two runs in relief in the seventh but eventually struck out the side.

Now the Bulldogs will get a the opportunity they've wanted: A chance to end Westminster's state title run and revenge on the Wildcats, who eliminated them in the state quarterfinals last season and defeated them 8-4 earlier this season.

James started that game for the Bulldogs, who are likely to send junior Graham Ruopp to the mound Thursday.

Notre Dame 300 000 9 -- 12 12 2

Park Hills 000 000 2 -- 2 6 1

WP -- Ross James. LP -- Nick Haney. HR -- Josh Jansen (ND). 3B -- Chase Urhahn (ND). 2B -- Luke Haines (ND). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Urhahn 2-4, Jansen 3-4, Hunter Eftink 2-4, Blake Hagedorn 2-2.