FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: ND PLAYING WITH MORE CHEMISTRY

I've had the privilege of covering nearly every Notre Dame home baseball game this season.

And I've always been impressed with the Bulldogs' lineup. It's relentless.

But I have to be honest with you. At the beginning of the season it seemed to me that Notre Dame was a very talented team that lacked chemistry.

The team could knock the ball around the ballpark, could play solid defense and could put any one of four quality pitchers on the mound on any given day.

But there appeared to be something missing -- a connection, a spark.

Granted, Notre Dame won its first 10 games of the season without this so-called chemistry, but it was talent that carried them.

Now, the Bulldogs have made me a believer.

Over the past several games, Notre Dame has played its best baseball as a unit and, as a result, it will play today in a sectional game at South Pemiscot.

There was no better example of team chemistry than in Notre Dame's 5-4 win over Kelly in the Class 2A, District 2 Championship last Thursday.

First of all, junior catcher Scott Reinagel called the pitches.

I think this was an excellent decision by Notre Dame coaches Chris Neff and Jeff Graviett, especially at this time of the year.

Reinagel has done a fabulous job behind the plate this season. He's been a brick wall back there and Notre Dame's pitchers are confident when they break off a curve ball low and outside. The privilege to call his own pitches and control the pace of the game is something that, I feel, Reinagel has earned. And Reinagel did a fine job calling the game. Starter Mark Ostendorf came up with some huge two-out strikeouts during the game.

It seems that as the season continues and the games get tighter, Notre Dame gets more and more clutch hits from unexpected parties.

For instance, Notre Dame was up 4-2 in the sixth inning last Thursday and Brian Obermann, the No. 9 batter, was warming up in the bullpen as Kelly's bats were coming alive in the late innings.

Obermann was due up with a runner at second and two outs, so Graviett sent Adam Seyer to the plate to pinch hit.

Seyer, in his first at-bat in the postseason, ripped a hit to center, driving home the eventual game-winning RBI.

For further proof of Notre Dame's improved cohesiveness, one has to look no further than the starting lineups.

Graviett and Neff experimented with lineup changes up until midseason. Then they found out what worked best and have stuck with it.

The big offensive question marks in April were who would fill in at the No. 2 hole and at cleanup.

Sophomore second baseman John O'Rourke has claimed cleanup. He has been perhaps the most pleasant surprise for Notre Dame this season. O'Rourke started the season batting eighth, but gave the coaches no choice but to move him up in the order. He's not a power hitter, but he's definitely a threat to drive in runs.

Nathan Essner, who has seen time at the No. 9 hole and at leadoff, has finally settled in at No. 2. Essner is a patient batter and runs the bases well. He's second on the team in runs scored (32) and reaches base 53 percent of the time. He has the lowest batting average of all of Notre Dame's starters, but with leadoff man Tommy Wencewicz batting .447, Essner, a switch hitter, has the job putting the ball in play and moving over the runner. He's a big reason why No. 3 hitter Josh Eftink has drove in a whopping 43 runs this season.

That's team chemistry.

Matt Bollinger is another Notre Dame player who has quietly put forth a solid season. Neff believes that Bollinger (.990 fielding percentage) is one of the best defensive first basemen in the area. And like O'Rourke, Bollinger hits a lot of line drives. Aside from Eftink, he has as much pop as anyone in Notre Dame's lineup.

Another hint that things are coming together for the Bulldogs is the improved hitting of Wes Steele. Steele started the season in a horrible slump, but started peaking toward the end of the season. His four runs batted in during the postseason is second on the team to Eftink.

Notre Dame had everything in place at the beginning of the season. The pitching was there and the desire was there. Eftink is the type of hitter that coaches can build teams around. Few leadoff hitters hit the ball as hard as Wencewicz.

But it takes guys like Adam Seyer getting pinch hits and Todd Friend throwing runners out from right field to make a team successful.

And right now, Notre Dame's supporting cast is playing the lead role.

Bob Miller is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.