Greer delivers game-winning single for Notre Dame

Notre Dame junior Austin Greer considered not going out for the baseball team this spring, thinking he might not play much after missing his first two varsity seasons with back injuries.

Greer, who was one of the team managers last year, said he spoke with coach Jeff Graviett, who convinced him to trust in his ability to earn a spot.

Greer listened to Graviett and he is glad he did. He has developed into one the Bulldogs' top hitters, batting fourth in the order.

He had another strong performance at the plate Wednesday in the Class 3 District 1 championship game against Dexter. The junior went 2-for-3, including stroking what ended up being the game-winning two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead the Bulldogs past the Bearcats 3-2 at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Notre Dame (17-6) won its first district title since beating Sikeston in the 2003 title game, advancing to Tuesday's sectional round.

"I haven't played in so long it feels so good to go out there and play every day and help my teammates and everything after they had a rough year last year," Greer said. "We've got some good players and I've just enjoyed it so much. It feels pretty good because [Dexter] is a good team. They played hard. It was a great battle today."

Notre Dame starter Mark Himmelberg earned the victory on the mound, improving to 5-3. He tossed five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com ABOVE: Notre Dame's Dylan Drury, right, was congratulated by pitcher Mark Himmelberg after scoring the go-ahead run against Dexter during the fifth inning. BELOW: Notre Dame baserunner Logan Glueck ran back to first base after a pop fly. The throw got past Dexter's Eric Windham during the second inning of their Class 3 District 1 championship game Wednesday at Notre Dame.

Sophomore Colton Young earned a two-inning save for his third this season. He recorded two strikeouts and walked one.

Greer has provided a great deal of power for the Bulldogs this season. He leads the team with five home runs and 23 RBIs, and is batting .328.

"I think I have the lowest [average] out of the starters, but I knock in a lot of runs," Greer said. "I just try my best to get everybody in."

Graviett said about Greer: "He's a competitor. He's one of those guys if we had nine of him on the team, we'd never lose. ... He's a nice addition to this club this year."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Notre Dame baserunner Logan Glueck ran back to first base after a pop fly, after which the throw got past Dexter's Eric Windham in the second inning of the district championship game Wednesday at Notre Dame.

Greer earned SEMO Conference first-team honors as an outfielder this season.

Notre Dame claimed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Bulldogs watched their lead evaporate when the Bearcats scored two runs in the third.

The Bulldogs had some trouble against Dexter hurler Ben Mills. He gave up four hits in the first four innings, but he was able to work his way out of jams, including pitching himself out of a couple of situations in the third inning.

"He had some decent offspeed stuff," Greer said. "He didn't throw very hard. He wasn't overpowering or anything, but he threw a lot of curveballs."

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.com Notre Dame pitcher Mark Himmelberg pitched against Dexter in the district championship game Wednesday at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame finally put together some clutch hitting against Mills in the fifth.

Blake Gaddis doubled down the right-field line with one out.

Dylan Drury came up with Gaddis still at second and two outs. He got ahead in the count 3-0 before Mills battled back to run the count full.

"We needed a little spark there to get us ahead," Drury said. "I was just trying not to hit anything too much in the air. I was just trying to hit something hard."

Drury did hit Mills' next offering hard, driving a double into the gap in left-center field. Gaddis scored to knot the game at 2-2.

Drury ended up at third on a throwing error and scored when the next batter, Greer, belted a 2-1 offering from Mills into right-center for an RBI single.

"I love situations like that," Greer said. "It's what makes the game fun. I was just thinking I had a runner on third base and I'm the four hitter. I have to get him in. I have to try to get a base hit. I have to try to hit the ball hard somewhere."

Notre Dame was able to hold on to its 3-2 lead because of some strong pitching from Young in the sixth and seventh innings.

Young retired Dexter's Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters in order in the seventh. That included getting SEMO Conference co-player of the year Caleb Miller to fly out to left.

Young entered the game with a 0.76 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings this season.

"I knew I had the lead, so I just needed to go out there and throw strikes," Young said. "I had trouble throwing the curveball over for a strike, but luckily they couldn't hit the fastball. They hit a few hard. I just got lucky. I was very nervous. Very excited."

Himmelberg added about Young: "He's been dynamite this year. He's been automatic. I don't have much worry."

Dexter 002 000 0 — 2 5 1

Notre Dame 010 020 x — 3 9 1

WP — Mark Himmelberg, 5-3. LP — Ben Mills. 2B — Dylan Drury (ND), Blake Gaddis (ND). Multiple hits — Notre Dame: Austin Greer 2-3, Gaddis 2-2. Records — Notre Dame 17-6.