Will Ferrell turns in pitching gem, sends Notre Dame baseball past Cape Central

Sophomore Will Ferrell possesses the kind of size that's made for the basketball court, but baseball's just more of his thing.

The 6-foot-8 Ferrell made a decision to spend the winter season away from the court and instead focus on becoming a more viable pitching option for the Notre Dame baseball team.

That decision is starting to pay dividends for the Bulldogs, as Ferrell turned in a solid six innings on the mound and got things started in a four-run fourth inning, leading Notre Dame to a 9-3 win Tuesday over Cape Central in regular-season SEMO Conference action at Cape Central High School.

"He came out there and really battled," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said about Ferrell. "He really established his breaking ball late, became a little stronger there toward the end, but I really thought that as a sophomore coming off throwing yesterday and coming up against a team like Cape that really battled, he did a good job."

Notre Dame's Jake Edwards singles in a run against Cape Central during the fifth inning Tuesday at Cape Central High School. The Bulldogs won 9-3.Fred Lynch

Ferrell allowed six hits and two earned runs to secure the win on the mound. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three, displaying a consistency that has established him as the Bulldogs' unquestioned No. 2 pitcher.

"We didn't want to put that label on him early, being a young kid, but he's really responded to it," Graviett said. "... The maturity level was my big question, whether he could handle some of these big moments -- so far, so good with that."

Notre Dame (4-1, 2-0 SEMO Conference) will face plenty of growing pains early in the season after losing eight everyday starters and three stellar pitchers from last year's Class 4 state championship squad, but Ferrell's early contributions have given plenty of reason for optimism.

"Ever since little league, I've always had a drive. It's been a natural ability of mine," Ferrell said. "Honestly God gifted me with this tall body, so I use that to my advantage. It just comes natural to me."

Ferrell consistently stayed ahead in the count and set the tone early in Tuesday's game, while Central (6-5, 1-1) was unable to do the same.

The Tigers used three pitchers who combined for six walks and two hit batters, one of which led to a run in the top of the third. Ross Essner reached first after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before stealing second and advancing to third on a groundout. Essner scored and gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Nick Lindsay, and Notre Dame never trailed the rest of the way.

Cape Central catcher John Young tries to tag Notre Dame's Ethan Hunter who scored on a single by Jake Edwards during the fifth inning Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Cape Central High School.Fred Lynch

"In retrospect, they were hitting ahead in counts, getting good pitches to hit. We were hitting behind, so we had to kind of battle," Tigers coach Tatum Kitchen said. "We just lost. We didn't play bad. They just played better, and they beat us. I'm not disappointed in the way we played, but Notre Dame just played better."

The Bulldogs added some cushion in the top of the fourth when Ferrell blasted the first pitch he saw to left-center field for a stand-up double. He was replaced by courtesy runner Michael Dirnberger, who advanced to third on a single by Trevor Hahs before scoring on a wild pitch. Jake Edwards and Noah Arnzen each drew a walk to load the bases, sending leadoff hitter Tyler Essner to the plate with nobody out.

Tyler and Ross Essner each hit a sacrifice fly to plate a pair of runs, and Garrett Siebert followed with a two-out single to give the Bulldogs a 5-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the inning.

Notre Dame entered the game without an extra-base hit on the year but finished with three doubles.

"We've been looking for extra-base hits," Graviett said. "We've started out the year with a lot of singles, so to get something in the gap there is going to get some guys fired up. And a big thing is you've just got to keep convincing the kids that if you leave runners on that you're just real close to breaking that game open. As long as they don't get their heads down and stay up, they're going to have that opportunity.

Cape Central's Ryan Tegel slides safely into second base on a double as Notre Dame second baseman Noah Brown covers on the play during the third inning Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at Cape Central High School.Fred Lynch

"We did a good job of just going right at them. We got that big inning, and with the way Will was throwing the ball, we kind of knew we were going to be sitting in a good spot."

The Tigers had a promising opportunity in the bottom of the inning when Clayton Reynolds led off with a double to left, followed by a single from Jacquen Cummins. The momentum was quickly stifled by an infield fly out and a steal attempt that went awry, leaving Central with a runner at third and two down.

Cooper Crosnoe, who finished 3 for 3 at the plate, plated a run and stole second to get into scoring position. John Young followed with an infield single that was overthrown at first base, allowing Crosnoe to reach home and cut the Tigers' deficit to 5-2.

That was all Ferrell allowed the rest of the way, retiring seven straight to conclude his outing.

"I felt good up on the mound, and I felt like the umpire was calling some good strikes. My defense was working behind me," Ferrell said. "You've got to have those two things to be a successful team."

Ethan Hunter scored on an RBI single by Edwards, giving the Bulldogs a 6-2 lead in the top of the fifth, and Notre Dame tacked on three more runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run double by Tyler Essner and an RBI single by Ross Essner.

Nick Wiggs got the start for Central and was tagged with the pitching loss in four innings of work. He scattered six hits and allowed five runs -- all earned -- with three strikeouts and two walks. Lefty Brock Baugher replaced Wiggs after the four-run fourth inning, giving up four runs -- all earned -- on three hits. He struck out two, walked four and was relieved by Jacquen Cummins, who gave up two hits in the seventh.

"We don't have flamethrowers who are going to come in and strike everybody out, so we have to throw strikes and play defense," Kitchen said. "We were getting a lot of times, too, where we were getting two-strike counts, and they would battle and battle and battle and put it into play or get a walk. They were having positive outcomes, which you've just got to kind of tip your hat to them. They played a good game against us, and they won."

Hunter relieved Ferrell in the bottom of the seventh, allowing one hit and an unearned run.

Four Bulldogs -- Ross Essner, Hunter, Hahs and Edwards -- recorded two hits, while Tyler Essner finished with a game-high three RBIs.

Graviett was pleased to see his team put together its best offensive game of the season, a trend that started in Friday's 8-4 win over two-time defending Class 2 state champion Valle Catholic.

"I thought we had good approaches at the plate. That's one thing we keep getting better at. That was a big question coming in," Graviett said. "... There's not a lot of power that's going to come from anywhere, and we're really not blessed with a lot of team speed. So we're going to single people to death and take advantage of the errors and walks when we put it in play."

Notre Dame 001 410 3 -- 9 11 3

Cape Central 000 200 1 -- 3 7 0

WP -- Will Ferrell. LP -- Nick Wiggs. 2B -- Tyler Essner (ND), Ross Essner (ND), Ferrell (ND), Ryan Tegel (CC), Clayton Reynolds (CC). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Jake Edwards 2-2, R. Essner 2-3, Trevor Hahs 2-3, Ethan Hunter 2-4; Cape Central: Cooper Crosnoe 3-3.