Haines' walk-off single in 8th gives ND a classic win

Most observers expected a tight battle between two evenly matched baseball teams.

What transpired was an instant classic in front of an overflow crowd estimated at about 350 fans at Notre Dame Regional High School Wednesday night.

In a Class 4 District 1 tournament championship game that literally could have gone either way, Notre Dame scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning and then scored again in the eighth to beat Sikeston 4-3 in walk-off fashion.

"That was a great game," Notre Dame junior center fielder Josh Haggerty said without a trace of exaggeration.

Top-seeded Notre Dame, winning its first district title since 2010, improved to 24-6 and will host District 1 champion Ste. Geneveive (20-6) in Tuesday's sectional. The game time has not yet been set.

"Oh my gosh. It was a classic Sikeston-Notre Dame game," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "It's what you expect with two evenly matched teams. I thought both teams played very well."

Sikeston, the state's sixth-ranked Class 4 squad which had split two regular-season meetings with third-ranked Notre Dame, ended its year at 19-5.

Notre Dame's Chase Urhahn lays down a bunt in the third inning of Notre Dame's 4-3, eight inning win over Sikeston in the Class 4 District 1 Championship game Wednesday, May 15, at Notre Dame Regional High School. (ADAM VOGLER)

"It's a tough way to lose," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said. "Any time you lose the championship game in extra innings to your top rival, it's tough to deal with."

Each side finished with 10 hits and there were only three errors -- two by Notre Dame -- despite the contest featuring plenty of tough defensive chances.

The final hit of the day proved to be the game-winner.

Senior catcher Chase Simmons led off the bottom of the eighth by drawing the only walk of the night from senior ace Trey Tigart. Senior courtesy runner Cambron Womack advanced to second base on a groundout to the right side by senior right fielder Cody DeBrock.

Up stepped junior third baseman Luke Haines, who had been 0 for 2 with a sacrifice to that point.

"I was just trying to fight off the offspeed [pitches] and get a fastball I could drive," Haines said.

Haines got the fastball he was looking for and drove it into right-center field for a single that easily scored Womack.

"I knew if I got it in the gap the game would be over," Haines said. "The best feeling in the world. I've never had anything quite like that."

Sikeston, which trailed 2-0 after Notre Dame's two-run third inning, scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings for a 2-2 tie.

Notre Dame first baseman Josh Jansen tags Sikeston’s Luis Matos out at first in the third inning. (ADAM VOGLER)

The visitors went ahead 3-2 in the top of the seventh but failed to capitalize further after having runners on first and second with one out.

That was a prevailing theme for Sikeston, which stranded nine runners in the game, including the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning after having already plated the tying tally.

"We left a lot of runners on. When it was 2-2 and we had just tied it up [in the fifth], we had an opportunity to tack on two or three extra," Scheeter said. "We had an opportunity in the seventh to tack on a couple more, but we just couldn't get that hit when we needed it."

Notre Dame, trailing 3-2 entering its final chance in the bottom of the seventh, nearly ended things right there.

Junior shortstop Griffin Siebert, the No. 9 batter, led off with his second single of the day. He was sacrificed to second, and Haggerty reached on an infield single as Siebert went to third.

Haggerty stole second to move into scoring position with the potential winning run. Then things got wild.

Senior pitcher Justin Landewee's ground ball up the middle plated Siebert with the tying run.

Sikeston senior shortstop Cody Sheehy made a nice play behind the bag and threw out Landewee but Haggerty, who had been on second, never stopped running as he rounded third.

It looked like Haggerty would score the winning run but junior first baseman Colton Black quickly fired to the plate.

Black's throw appeared to short-hop junior catcher Jarrett Sandlin, who scooped the ball and applied the tag on Haggerty all in one motion for the inning's final out.

"I believe in being aggressive and pushing the issue," said Graviett, who waved Haggerty around third. "It took two very good plays by them."

It was on to extra innings, where Sikeston went down in order before Notre Dame pulled out the victory.

Landewee, Notre Dame's ace, was gritty in going the distance and improving to 9-1. He allowed two earned runs, struck out nine and walked three while throwing approximately 135 pitches.

"It was a great game," Landewee said. "The feeling of seeing that [Haines'] hit was amazing."

Landewee said he would have been ready to take the mound again in the ninth inning if necessary. Graviett said he wasn't sure if he would have left Landewee in or not.

"He was begging to go back out there in the ninth if it went that far," Graviett said. "He's just a competitive young man."

Tigart (5-3) was just as gritty in going the distance. He struck out three and walked one.

"He's a great pitcher," Graviett said.

Haggerty went 3 for 4 to lead Notre Dame's offense. Siebert and DeBrock added two hits apiece. Landewee had two RBIs.

Senior right fielder Josh Hampton paced Sikeston with three hits, including a triple and double. Junior second baseman Gavin O'Brien also had three hits.

"Sikeston is a great ballclub. We just battled back. It was a great team win," Haggerty said.

And something of a redemption victory for Notre Dame, which last year saw Kennett score four seventh-inning runs -- three on one crazy, fluky play -- to post a 6-4 win in the district final.

"That loss to Kennett was a major heart-breaker," Landewee said. "This feels great."

Sikeston 000 110 10 -- 3 10 1

Notre Dame 002 000 11 -- 4 10 2

WP -- Justin Landewee, 9-1. LP -- Trey Tigart, 5-3. 3B -- Josh Hampton (S). 2B -- Hampton (S), Josh Haggerty (ND), Stephen Brennan (ND). Multiple hits -- Sikeston: Hampton 3-4, Gavin O'Brien 3-4, Tyler Anderson 2-3. Notre Dame: Haggerty 3-4, Griffin Siebert 2-3, Cody DeBrock 2-4. Records -- Sikeston 19-5, Notre Dame 24-6.