ND, ST. VINCENT STRIVE FOR TITLE GAMES; BULLDOGS HAVE REMATCH WIT ST. PIUS X IN SEMIS

Notre Dame can say what it wants about its No. 1 state ranking and its glaring 22-4 record.

But until St. Pius X gets knocked off its throne, the Warriors are the team to beat.

St. Pius X (18-8) is going for its third straight Class 2A title and stands in the way of Notre Dame as the Bulldogs hope to avenge last year's loss in the state championship game when the two teams hook up at 5 p.m. today in the state semifinals in Columbia.

The winner of the game will no doubt be the favorite to win the title game, which will be against either Crystal City (12-14) or Forsyth (23-5).

"If you could pick any team you wanted to play, it would be them," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett. "It gives us something to challenge the kids with that this is the team that beat you last year so let's not give them an opportunity to win three in a row. Let's knock them off early and show them we're for real."

"They're the No. 1 team, but we've got an advantage of beating them last year," said St. Pius X coach Rick Ringel. "That's got to be in the back of their minds. I'm sure they're hungry. But it's almost like they're the ones who have to live up to a reputation with the ranking. We're just rolling along."

"We're wanting it pretty bad," said Notre Dame third baseman Wes Steele. "It's going to be fun because we're going to be out to get 'em because they sent us home last year. They have the title and we don't so we're going to have to beat them to show them we're No. 1."

St. Pius knocked off Notre Dame 13-7 in last year's championship game, a contest where a four-error, six-run inning doomed the Bulldogs.

"This is where we wanted to be since we lost to them," said Notre Dame slugger Josh Eftink. "It's been our goal to get back there and better yet we get to play the team that beat us last year. It gives us that much more to play for."

St. Pius lost four senior starters off that team, while Notre Dame lost just one starter.

But the Warriors, who play 17 games against 3A and 4A schools, come into this year's final four with more wins than they did last year when they finished the year at 17-5.

St. Pius' main hitter is senior Nick Zicarelli, who is hitting .519. Jon Crocker and Ross Kelling leads St. Pius X with five homers apiece. The Warriors have seven different players who have homered, while Notre Dame has eight.

"We've got six guys batting over .360 so we've got quite a few guys hitting the ball," said Ringel.

"They were a solid team up and down the lineup last year," said Eftink. "They had a couple of kids who really stood out and those guys were seniors but they had a lot of other great players, too. They're a team we look forward to playing."

Both teams will be throwing talented left-handers.

For St. Pius, it will be Mike Murphy, a 5-foot-10 junior who is 9-1 with a 1.42 earned-run average and 92 strikeouts.

For Notre Dame, it will be Brian Obermann, who is 6-1 with a 2.40 ERA.

Ringel seemed quite proud of the fact that his Warriors played a schedule consisting of mostly 3A and 4A teams.

St. Pius has lost to just one 2A team in the past three years, that coming to Lexington in the middle of this season.

But Notre Dame has played several large schools as well, including 4A schools Cape Central, Sikeston, Jackson and Poplar Bluff twice each and Eureka once. Notre Dame also played 3A schools Dexter, Perryville and Fredericktown. The Bulldogs were 9-3 against the large schools and 15-1 against all the rest. Notre Dame's only loss to a 2A school was an extra-inning loss to state-ranked South Pemiscot in midseason.

Notre Dame advanced to the final four by beating Senath 3-1 in sectionals and Clearwater 14-4 in the quarterfinals. St. Pius beat Grain Valley 9-3 in sectionals and Blair Oaks 1-0 in the quarterfinals.