BULLDOG DUO SHIPS TIGER BATS ABROAD

The pitching mound was Scott land Thursday afternoon.

Scott Eftink and Scott Wittenborn solved Cape Central's heavy hitters as the Bulldogs overcame some base running mistakes and beat the Tigers 3-2 in a SEMO Conference game that was resumed in the bottom of the first inning after rain halted play on Wednesday.

Eftink, in four innings, gave up two runs, one earned, on four hits and a walk while striking out two. Wittenborn, who relieved Eftink only because he needed some work threw only 27 pitches in three innings to mow down Central. Wittenborn allowed no hits and one walk, while inducing Central into six flyouts. Wittenborn fanned one.

Central had no hits and only one base runner after the third inning. The Tigers saw only 34 pitches in the final four frames.

"That's the best game -- maybe other than the one Wittenborn threw down in Arkansas -- that we had all year," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "Eftink didn't deserve to come out. He had a four- or five-pitch inning his last inning and looked good, but we needed to get Wittenborn some work. And that's the best velocity Wittenborn has thrown with this year. He missed some practice because of basketball and I think we're finally starting to get him in the groove."

Said Cape Central coach Steve Williams, "We want to be aggressive, but with pitches we can handle. Sometimes we're chasing pitches we can't handle and we beat it into the ground somewhere. Hopefully, that'll improve as the season goes on."

Central ace Jason Chavez, who has already proven he's one of the area's elite hurlers, pitched adequately but clearly didn't have the command he's shown this season. He allowed three runs, two earned, in five-plus innings. He gave up seven hits and four walks while striking out five.

Jay Pierce came on in relief and allowed two hits.

Notre Dame, which scored one run in the second and two in the fifth, outhit Central 9-4.

Notre Dame's Shane Kistner and Cape Central's Dusty Barrows came into the game as two of the hottest hitters in the region. Both continued their trends.

Kistner went 3-for-4 with one run scored and one run batted in, while Barrows went 2-for-3 with one run scored.

Also for Notre Dame, Lance Dohogne went 3-for-4, while John O'Rourke went 2-for-4.

Cape Central took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Zac Fidler reached on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Notre Dame answered in the second inning when Wittenborn was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Kistner single.

The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the third when Barrows singled, advanced to second on a balk and scored on a Travis Wissman single up the middle. Wissman's single was Central's final hit.

The Bulldogs added two in the fifth inning when Kistner led of with a single and John O'Rourke reached on a error on a sacrifice bunt. Kistner later scored on a wild pitch and Dohogne drove home O'Rourke with a single.