MERCY -- Notre Dame needs five innings to reach final four

~ Young tossed a two-hitter in the win over Lutheran South.

Notre Dame hurler Colton Young has experienced some pain in his throwing arm ever since earning the victory in the district championship game against Kennett on May 20.

Young received electric muscle stimulation, rested for a full two days and took some medicine to prepare for his quarterfinal start Friday against hot hitting Lutheran South, which entered with a 17-game winning streak and its top four batters hitting .390 or better.

"I haven't thrown in two days or swung a bat in two days," Young said. "I wasn't even sure if I'd be able to go that long today. ... I took about eight Ibuprofen before the game."

Despite some concern whether he would be able to last a single inning, Young pitched a complete-game two-hitter as Notre Dame rolled 11-1 in five innings at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame players rush the field after defeating Lutheran South 11-1 in a Class 3 state quarterfinal Friday at Notre Dame. (Elizabeth Dodd)

"I don't know if he came out with his best stuff, but Colton is always strong on the mound," Notre Dame catcher Mark Hagedorn said.

The Bulldogs (27-1), the top-ranked team in Class 3, advanced to play Harrisonville (23-6) in the state semifinals at 4 p.m. Friday at Meador Park in Springfield.

Notre Dame is making its second straight trip to the Class 3 final four. Last year, the Bulldogs were eliminated in the semifinals by St. Dominic, which was coached by Steve Pfund.

Pfund moved from St. Dominic to Lutheran South this season. He was impressed with Notre Dame, which scored five times in the first inning and led 11-0 after the third.

"I think they are a lot better than they were last year," Pfund said. "I knew they had everyone coming back and they would be hungry. They hit the ball better than last year, I think. And their pitching was very good today. So they've got a good chance.

Notre Dame's Colton Young delivers a pitch during the fifth inning Friday.

"I don't know if it was nerves, but we were chasing a lot of stuff up in the zone and helping him [Young] out. But he kept us off balance with his curveball and slider and did a good job. We could've been a little more patient."

Young struggled some with his control. He walked five and hit one batter. The run he allowed came in the fifth when he surrendered a walk and double.

Young's most important inning was the bottom of the first when he retired Lutheran South in order on two strikeouts and a fly out after Notre Dame built a 5-0 advantage in the top of the inning. It was important for Young to have a shutdown inning because the hot Lutheran South hitters had overcome a 5-0 half-inning deficit by scoring six times in the bottom of the first against DuBourg in the district championship May 20.

"The fact that they scored five put us down a little bit," Lutheran South No. 2 hitter Brad Vogelsmeier said. "But we had been in the same situation in our district final game and then scored six in the bottom of the first. But for [Young] to come out and shut the door 1, 2, 3 was really big for their team. He did a really good job of mixing his pitches and keeping the ball low. I applaud him for his effort today. He definitely had good stuff out there."

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett's main concern entering the contest was Lutheran South's offense, which had scored 10 or more runs 12 times this season.

Notre Dame's Colton Young makes it safely back to first as Lutheran South's Brad Vogelsmeier fields a pickoff throw during the first inning Friday at Notre Dame. (Elizabeth Dodd)

"I felt coming in the hitting was their strength," Graviett said. "The few people I talked to in St. Louis said they swing the bats extremely well with not a lot of power but with a lot of base hits and they bunt the ball and put a little pressure on. But when you jump out and put a five spot up in the first, that takes all their small ball stuff out of it. So we were fortunate to get ahead early on and Colton did what he had to do to get us through today."

Graviett added about the pain Young has been experiencing: "[It[']s] a muscle in his back. It's not really arm related. It's more of something with the rib cage. That's what they tell me. It's not really even a pull. It's just something that he feels tightens up on him a little bit. He has trouble getting loose. It might have affected his control."

Young, who batted leadoff, homered to begin the second inning, putting Notre Dame ahead 6-0. He also walked twice and scored three runs.

Young improved to 10-0 on the mound. Graviett does not know yet if he will start Young or Dylan Drury on the mound against Harrisonville.

Graviett said he will see how Young feels next week. Young did say he felt better during his five innings he pitched Friday.

Notre Dame's Ryan Bass makes it safely to second in the second inning against Lutheran South's Ben Eckrich in the Class 3 state quarterfinal baseball game Friday at Notre Dame. (Elizabeth Dodd)

"It loosened up real good and it felt good actually," he said about his arm. "They had several hitters over and around .400, so we knew they could hit the ball. I was trying to get ahead in the count and mix things up and just stay ahead."

Notre Dame 524 00 -- 11 10 0

Lutheran South 000 01 -- 1 2 3

WP -- Colton Young, 10-0. LP -- Mike Krumm 8-2. HR -- Young (ND). 2B -- Jake Pewitt (ND), Austin Greer (ND), Wesley Glaus 2 (ND), Brad Vogelsmeier (LS). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Pewitt 2-4, Greer 2-3, Dylan Drury 2-3, Glaus 2-3.