AREA TEAMS GO SOUTH FOR SECTIONALS; NOTRE DAME, SOUTH PEMISCOT MEET IN BATTLE OF BULLDOGS

Notre Dame and South Pemiscot's baseball squads are similar in many ways.

Both teams have the same mascot. They have both won their respective district championships. Both teams feature dominant hitters who are batting near .500 and both teams will likely send left-handers to the mound today.

Notre Dame (23-3) will try to advance to the Class 2A quarterfinals by beating host South Pemiscot (16-10) in a 4 p.m. sectional contest.

Notre Dame coach Chris Neff said Brian Obermann will start today. Obermann shut out Chaffee in the district semifinals, then got a high-pressure save in a 5-4 win over Kelly in the district championship game last Thursday.

Neff gave several reasons for going with Obermann.

First, in Notre Dame's 7-4 win April 17 in the Tiger Showcase, South Pemiscot liked to run the bases. As a lefty, Obermann can keep runners closer to the base than Notre Dame's righties.

Secondly, South Pemiscot saw both Mark Ostendorf and Josh Eftink on the mound in that game. Generally, when pitchers face batters for the first time, pitchers have the advantage.

And the most obvious reason for going with Obermann is that he's on a roll.

"He's been strong for us all year and he's our go-to guy right now," said Neff. "Bo can hold people on and he's a guy they haven't seen yet."

Likewise, South Pemiscot will go with its left-hander Justin Depriest.

Neff had a chance to watch Depriest in the Tiger Showcase.

"He throws hard," Neff said. "And he changes speeds well."

"Our pitching has been solid all year," South Pemiscot coach Bobby McCulloch Jr. said. "But our biggest strength is probably our defense and that we've got a bunch of kids who just love to play."

When South Pemiscot visited Notre Dame earlier this year, South Pem's Greg Mathis entered the game with a .700 batting average. Since then, Mathis has dropped about 200 points, but still leads the team in every major offensive category, including home runs with seven.

Eftink is Notre Dame's offensive leader with a team-high .480 batting average, 10 home runs and 43 RBIs. Since the postseason began, Eftink is batting .714 with five RBIs and a 1.571 slugging percentage.

Eftink impressed McCulloch in the two teams' previous meeting.

"Their shortstop came in and pitched really well," he said. "He also hit a home run and a double in the gap, so he's a pretty good hitter. Their pitching was solid and they played good defense. They're a good club."

Neff shared similar admiration.

"I thought they were well-coached," said Neff. "They were a team a lot like us. They had some good pitching and some situational hitters."

If Notre Dame wins today, it will host a quarterfinal game Saturday against the winner of the Mansfield-Clearwater sectional.

BULLDOG LEADERS

Batting average

1. Josh Eftink .480

2. Tommy Wencewicz .447

3. John O'Rourke .403

Home runs

1. Eftink 10

2. Nathan Essner 1

Runs batted in

1. Eftink 43

2. Scott Reinagel 26

3. Wencewicz, Wes Steele 17

Runs scored

1. Wencewicz 35

2. Eftink, Essner 32

3. O'Rourke 25

PITCHING

Winning Percentage

1. Eftink 1.000 (4-0)

2. O'Rourke 1.00 (3-0)

3. Brian Obermann .889 (8-1)

Earned run average

1. O'Rourke 1.22

2. Obermann 1.32

3. Eftink 1.47

Strikeouts

1. Ostendorf 61

2. Obermann 53

3. Eftink 29

Innings pitched

1. Obermann 58 1/3

2. Ostendorf 56

3. Eftink 33 1/3