ND blanks Chaffee, breaks skid

The Notre Dame Regional High School baseball team failed to break out of its offensive funk.

But the Bulldogs did break their losing streak, which made for a happy Senior Day.

Notre Dame scored all its runs over the first two innings and Justin Landewee fired a five-hit shutout to beat Chaffee 3-0 Wednesday in a well-played and well-pitched battle of area powers.

"We came out ready to play and focused," senior right fielder Cody DeBrock said. "We were prepared from the start."

The Bulldogs believe a lack of focus was a primary reason for their rare three-game losing streak -- the program's longest since at least 2007 -- during which they totalled just one run and nine hits.

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett, who notched his 299th career win with the Bulldogs' baseball program, is still waiting for the missing offense to appear.

Not that Graviett thought things would be easy against his alma mater, led by junior ace Cody Payne, who matched Landewee with a five-hitter.

"It's all mental. At some point the siwtch is going to go off," said Graviett, a 1994 Chaffee graduate who is 299-87 at Notre Dame. "But Chaffee is a good team. We knew it going in. We knew it would be a good game for us, especially with the Payne kid on the mound."

Notre Dame second baseman Cambron Womack dives for a hit by Chaffee’s Lane Henson in the third inning of the Bulldogs’ 3-0 win over the Red Devils. (ADAM VOGLER)

Notre Dame, which prior to its recent skid had not been shut out since 2008, improved to 21-6. Chaffee fell to 20-6.

"They made us work for it," DeBrock said. "They didn't make any defensive mistakes and they didn't walk people. We had to earn it. It was just a good all-around game."

Chaffee had at least as many solid scoring opportunities as Notre Dame, if not more.

The Red Devils had at least one baserunner in six of the seven innings. In three of the final four innings they had a runner reach third base, twice with one out.

But Landewee came up with big pitch after big pitch every time Chaffee threatened.

"Hits were the same. For the most part we battled, but we need to put the ball in play better with two strikes," said Chaffee coach Brian Horrell, whose squad stranded seven runners compared to just one for Notre Dame. "We had chances all day, but you have to tip your hat to their pitcher. He beared down."

Landewee, Notre Dame's senior ace who entered the day with a 1.16 earned-run average, lowered that as he pushed his record to 8-1.

Graviett said Landewee's fastball wasn't as sharp as normal but his curveball was working well.

"Justin threw well. He made some big pitches with his curveball when he had to," Graviett said.

Landewee struck out 11 and walked two.

"I usually got ahead wth the fastball and then finished them off with the curveball," said Landewee, recently voted the SEMO Conference co-player of the year. "My curveball was really working."

The Red Devils' best scoring chance came in the fourth inning, when they had runners at first and third with one out. Landewee struck out the next two batters.

Chaffee had runners on first and third with two outs in the fifth inning before a strikeout ended that threat.

The Red Devils threatened Landewee's shutout in the seventh inning when they placed a runner on third with one out.

Landewee closed out the victory in style, striking out the final two batters as he fanned the side.

"They're a good team. I knew I had to be on top of my game," Landewee said.

The Bulldogs broke on top with a first-inning run they probably shouldn't have scored.

Junior center fielder Josh Haggerty beat out an infield single with one out. He stole second and advanced to third on a groundout.

Senior catcher Chase Simmons walked, then sophomore courtesy runner Logan Heisserer was caught straying too far off first base.

But, in a mental lapse, the Red Devils paid no attention to Haggerty as he easily raced home and crossed the plate before Heisserer was tagged out on his way to second base.

"We didn't execute in the first inning. We let them have a run," Horrell said.

Notre Dame earned its two second-inning runs. Junior third baseman Luke Haines led off with a double and DeBrock followed with an RBI triple. DeBrock scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Matt Westrich.

Payne faced just one hitter over the minumum during the final four innings.

Payne, who entered with a 1.32 ERA, fell to 5-3. He struck out six and walked one.

"Cody pitched a great game," Horrell said.

Haggerty led the Bulldogs with two hits, including a double, while Payne paced the Red Devils with two hits.

Notre Dame committed the game's only error -- it came on a tough chance -- as both squads turned in several nice defensive plays.

"This is the kind of game you want to see, to get ready for districts," Horrell said.

Notre Dame and Chaffee are the top seeds for their respective Class 4 and Class 2 district tournaments they will host beginning Saturday, although they won't play until Monday.

Each squad has one final pre-district tuneup left today, Notre Dame hosting North County as Graviett goes for victory No. 300 and Chaffee hosting Perryville.

Chaffee 000 000 0 -- 0 5 0

Notre Dame 120 000 x -- 3 5 1

WP -- Justin Landewee, 8-1. LP -- Cody Payne, 5-3. 3B -- Cody DeBrock (ND). 2B -- Storm Estes (C), Josh Haggerty (ND), Luke Haines (ND). Multiple hits -- Chaffee: Payne 2-3. Notre Dame: Haggerty 2-3. Records -- Chaffee 20-6, Notre Dame 21-6.