KELLY, NOTRE DAME ENCOUNTER BLACKOUT

For a baseball game that featured no winner, there sure was a lot of excitement at Notre Dame High School Monday afternoon.

The Bulldogs and visiting Kelly exchanged a pair of late rallies and finally had to settle for an 6-6 tie when darkness halted play after eight innings.

Notre Dame, which won three games to open the season last week, is now 3-0-1. Kelly is 0-1-1.

"I don't like the idea of a tie, but it's better than a loss," said Notre Dame coach Chris Neff. "Whenever Kelly and Notre Dame play, it's always really competitive."

Kelly coach Mike Scott would have also rather won than tied, but considering that the Hawks had to wipe out a late 5-1 deficit, he wasn't unhappy.

"We don't quit as a baseball team. That's been our trademark the last few years," Scott said. "We've got a bunch of fighters. We never thought we were out of the game."

Things certainly didn't look very good for the Hawks as they trailed 5-2 going into their final regulation chance in the top of the seventh inning.

But Kelly touched three Notre Dame hurlers for four runs and five hits to grab a 6-5 lead.

John O'Rourke, who had replaced Josh Eftink on the mound after five innings with Notre Dame ahead 5-1, allowed a single, a walk and a single to start the seventh, with one run scoring.

Scott Eftink replaced O'Rourke and gave up a walk, an RBI single to Jason Glastetter and an RBI single to Jim Hulshof that tied the game at 5-5.

On came Mark Ostendorf to pitch. The first batter he faced, Jess Pattengill, delivered an RBI single that put Kelly ahead 6-5. But Ostendorf than retired the next two batters to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.

Notre Dame tied the score 6-6 with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Nathan Essner laid down a bunt that was thrown wildly as Essner reached second on the error. One batter later, Scott Reinagel delivered an RBI single to left-center that tied the contest and forced extra innings.

Each squad was retired in order in the eighth, after which play was stopped.

Kelly outhit Notre Dame 10-7, but the Hawks struggled defensively with four errors as the Bulldogs plated three unearned runs.

"We muffed some routine plays," said Scott. "Defense is the main thing we have to work on."

Glastetter, John Welter and Barry Ziegler all had two hits for Kelly.

O'Rourke and Matt Bollinger both had two hits for Notre Dame, which got a two-run homer from Josh Eftink in the third inning that broke a 1-1 tie.

Eftink was sharp in the first five innings, allowing four hits and an unearned run. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.

"Josh pitched a complete game Thursday and he went five today. We don't want to hurt him," said Neff in explaining his decision to take Eftink off the mound. "We've already got Brian Obermann out (with a broken foot that will sideline him for a few weeks)."

Ostendorf, the Bulldogs' fourth hurler, was solid with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed just one hit.

Kelly received two solid pitching performances. Hulshof, the starter, allowed five hits and three earned runs in four innings. He fanned eight and walked one.

Justin Simpher, a sophomore, gave up just an unearned run and two hits over the final four innings. He fanned four and walked one.

"Our pitching was very good," said Scott. "It was Jim's first time out and he was impressive. And Justin has really looked good for a sophomore."

Notre Dame won a wild JV game 19-16.