Kennett topples Bulldogs

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Class 3 District 1 baseball tournament is a test of a team's pitching depth, forcing the district champion to win three games in three days.

Top-seeded Kennett went with Heath Storey, the Indians' semifinal starter, for Wednesday's championship, while No. 2 Notre Dame put senior Lucas Dirnberger on the mound.

Both starters were gone by the end of the third inning, but Kennett's relievers were able to slow Notre Dame's bats more in the Indians' 9-6 victory at VFW Stadium.

"Pitching's getting a little thin after three games for any team, so it's the team that hits the best," Kennett coach Bart McAtee said.

Kennett managed 10 hits off four Notre Dame pitchers, scoring in five of its six innings at bat. The Indians had five doubles in the game, and cleanup hitter Jared Hughes led the attack with two hits while reaching base all four times he came to the plate.

In 12 at-bats, Kennett's Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters were retired just twice. Ryne Branum and Cody Dawson each walked twice, and Hughes was able to reach twice on errors.

Dirnberger limited Kennett's offense to just one run through two innings despite a lack of control, but the Indians took command of the game with a four-run third.

"Early in the game, we couldn't get the key hit, but as the game went on we got those key hits," McAtee said. "We came back in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings pecking away and getting some more key hits when we needed them."

The outing for Dirnberger was a stark contrast to his last start, a two-hitter against Kennett in the SEMO Conference Tournament. Dirnberger no-hit the Indians for 6 1/3 innings in the win, but had not pitched in a game since that start on May 1.

Two hits, a walk and an error to start the bottom of the third spelled the end of Dirnberger's day. He took the loss.

"He's a senior, and you always try to have your seniors go at the end of the season in big games," Notre Dame assistant coach Tim Garner said. "To his credit, there's been a lot of rain lately so all he's thrown is bullpen sessions. He's been a key player for us the last two years."

Along with Dirnberger, Notre Dame's other three pitchers to take the mound on Wednesday did not receive much help behind them. An error at shortstop in the third could have been turned into a double play that could have gone a long way to limiting the damage that inning.

Errors in the fourth and sixth innings also led directly to runs. Overall, five Kennett runs were unearned.

"That's a lot to overcome," Garner said.

Kennett (19-5) had three errors of its own, two of which led directly to runs, but the work of reliever Josh Lancaster helped the Indians overcome those miscues. Lancaster allowed just two hits in 4 2/3 innings in relief of Storey, and allowed no runs and just one hit over his final three innings.

Lancaster exited after the sixth inning, have pitched the 10 innings allowed a pitcher in a three-day span. Lancaster had pitched 5 1/3 innings in Kennett's quarterfinal win over Perryville on Monday.

"I think he was the key to the game," McAtee said. "He held them at bay for 4 2/3 innings."

Notre Dame's offense, which had produced just three hits through six innings, showed signs of life in the seventh. Shane Menz and Jordan Buchheit hit back-to-back one-out singles off reliever Eric Preyer. An error on the second baseman with two outs extended the game and pushed a run across the plate to close the gap to 9-4.

Chad Friend followed with a two-run double off the base of the fence in right. Shane Branum relieved Preyer following the double. Kirk Boeller greeted Branum with a bloop single to left in his first at-bat of the game. Dirnberger, the tying run, struck out on a full count to end the game.

"We made it interesting at the end," Garner said.

The Indians won their first district title since 1997. Kennett will face North County in a sectional game May 25 at North County.

"We've got a history of not finishing the deal," McAtee said. "We've had a lot of bad thing go against us, but maybe we've finally get that out of our system."

For the Bulldogs (18-7), this was the third straight loss in a district championship game. Notre Dame last won a district title in 2003.

Kennett 9, Notre Dame 6

Notre Dame 021 000 3 -- 6 7 3

Kennett 104 112 X -- 9 10 3

WP -- Josh Lancaster. LP -- Lucas Dirnberger. 2B -- Chad Friend (N), Scotty Bailey (K), Jared Hughes (K), Paul Harris (K), Lancaster (K), Ryne Branum (K). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame, Shane Menz 2-4; Kenett, Hughes 2-4; Lancaster 2-4; . Records -- Notre Dame 18-7, Kennett 19-5.