ND piles it on in 4th, moves on to quarters

South Pemiscot may have thought it was dodging bullets during Wednesday's Class 2A sectional baseball game at Notre Dame High School.

But when they finally got hit, it turned out to be a cannonball.

The shot came off the bat of Notre Dame's Kyle Diveley in the form of a fourth-inning grand slam, helping the Bulldogs reach the 2A quarterfinals for the third time in four years with a 12-1 victory.

Notre Dame improved to 17-5 and will visit West County (22-2) in Leadwood, Mo., for Friday's quarterfinals. West County defeated Twin Rivers 2-1 Wednesday.

For Notre Dame, it was the second time in four years it ended the season for South Pemiscot (11-13).

Diveley, a junior catcher, provided the biggest of Notre Dame's 10 hits on a day when South Pemiscot supplemented the Bulldogs' offense with six errors, six walks and two hit batters.

Notre Dame's first seven runs were all unearned, including the four on Diveley's home run.

Walks and two-out errors helped Notre Dame score single runs in the first and third innings. It clung to a 2-1 lead entering the top of the fourth.

South Pemiscot opened the inning with its fourth error of the game, allowing Dustin Tatum to reach on a muffed grounder to second. Blake Urhahn's sacrifice bunt went for a hit and, after a sacrifice bunt by Dustin Klipfel, Shane Kistner walked to load the bases.

South Pemiscot sophomore starter Jonathan Spence looked like he might wiggle out of the jam when he got Notre Dame's leading home run hitter Tim Wencewicz to ground to third baseman Torrell Boyd, who threw home to force out Tatum.

Diveley, the No. 4 hitter, who trailed only Wencewicz in home runs and RBIs, came to the plate and worked the count full.

"You could feel it coming," South Pemiscot coach Jimmy McCulloch said. "You just can't keep dodging bullets."

Diveley cranked a Spence fastball high into the breeze blowing out to left-center field as the outfielders gave token chase.

"It was just a fastball right where I needed it and where the team needed it," Diveley said of his second grand slam of the season.

Diveley deposited it where his team needed it, in the track facility beyond the wall. The home run was his fifth of the season and he now leads the team with 27 RBIs.

"When a guy picks you up like that, that's just awesome'" Wencewicz said. "That's when you're coming together as a team. That's what we're doing right now. He broke the game open with that big hit. That was a bomb."

Notre Dame starter Jeff Brosey (5-1) escaped from his own bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth and allowed just one hit over the final three innings. He allowed just four hits overall, struck out four and walked one.

The Bulldogs added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and capped the day with a four-run seventh. They scored in every inning but the second and since the onset of districts have outscored their four opponents 47-7.

Klipfel and Urhahn each had two hits for Notre Dame.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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