A 'W' ETCHED IN STEELE: ND WINS 2A SECTIONAL, 4-3, WITH DRAMATIC HIT

Notre Dame's Wes Steele was hoisted by teammates after his two-out, two-run hit extended the Bulldogs' season.

STEELE -- Notre Dame High's third baseman was the man of Steele.

Playing in a small town that is the same as his last name, Wes Steele bore the proverbial "S" on his chest and rescued Notre Dame's season from the South Pemiscot Bulldogs Thursday.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh and his team trailing 3-2, Steele stung the first pitch to deep rightcenter, plating the winning runs and advancing the Notre Dame Bulldogs (24-3) to the Class 2A Quarterfinals with an exhilarating 4-3 victory.

Notre Dame will host Clearwater, a 9-2 winner over Van Buren Thursday, at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Steele's opposite-field hit off relief pitcher Eric Wright one-hopped the fence and easily scored Nathan Essner and Josh Eftink from second and first base, respectively.

The hit sent Notre Dame's players and fans into ecstasy and Steele was mobbed by his peers near the pitcher's mound.

"It was a fastball tailing away," Steele said. "(Former Notre Dame) coach (Gregg) Muench was telling me before the at-bat to watch the fastball tailing away. He told me not to use my hips so much, but to get the barrel of the bat out there and take it the other way."

It was timely advice well executed.

"That was such a huge hit," said Notre Dame coach Chris Neff. "I saw it go down and I was partying. I was jumping up and down this (first base) line and I couldn't find enough people to hug."

Notre Dame started the inning against starter Justin Depriest, who will be pitching at Arkansas State next year.

Depriest had fanned nine batters entering the final inning, including Nathan Essner three times in his previous three at-bats.

But Essner, one of two seniors on the team, provided a leadoff single up the middle, bringing Notre Dame's best hitter, Josh Eftink, to the plate.

Eftink, Notre Dame's only serious home-run threat, singled through the right side setting up a two-on, no-out situation.

Wright then entered the game and fanned cleanup hitter John O'Rourke and Scott Reinagel, setting up his confrontation with Steele.

"That's just baseball," said South Pem coach Bobby McCulloch. "That's the way it's supposed to be done. It comes down to the final out. If you make the play you win, if you don't you lose. Somebody's got to be the hero."

South Pemiscot (16-11) scrambled for each of its three runs.

Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, South Pemiscot took the lead on a two-out, two-run single by Doug Weber. One run could have likely been prevented by Notre Dame as Depriest advanced to second on a single on an ill-advised, albeit accurate, throw to third by center fielder Tommy Wencewicz.

South Pemiscot scored its final run of the game in the fifth on a two-out, rundown-designed double steal.

"We didn't execute well at all today -- at the plate or in the field," Neff said. "We did a terrible job on that double steal. A lot of things didn't go the way we wanted them to. We missed a few bunts and we missed a hit-and-run call."

Notre Dame, though, had as many defensive highlights as letdowns.

Reinagel threw out two runners trying to steal. Wencewicz made a diving catch to end the top of the fifth inning, saving at least one run. Notre Dame starter Brian Obermann picked off a runner in the second; first baseman Matt Bollinger picked two throws out of the dirt; and left fielder Nathan Essner ended the top of the seventh with a nice running catch.

"Defensively, I thought I had to come out and keep everything in front of me and throw them out if they tried to go," said Reinagel. "Bo kept them close and I just did my job."

Obermann (9-1) picked up the complete-game win, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out two.

"As the game went on, I found my groove," Obermann said. "I messed up on a few pitches and came in on them and they hit me hard a few times.

"That was a complete team effort, though. Either we mess up and lose as a team or we win big games as a team. And that's how things went today."

Notre Dame scored its first run in the third on a first-pitch single by Reinagel that plated Eftink, who also reached on a single.

Steele was responsible for Notre Dame's second run, though he didn't get the RBI as South Pemiscot shortstop Robby Holt let Steele's grounder go through his legs. The error allowed Eftink, who walked, to score from second base.

Eftink was the only Notre Dame player with more than one hit. He was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

Weber and Adam Burton each had two hits for South Pem.

South Pemiscot's Greg Mathis, who entered the game batting in the upper .500s and who has signed to play baseball at Southwest Missouri State, went 0-for-3, though he hit the ball hard to center twice.