ND, ST. VINCENT STRIVE FOR TITLE GAMES; INDIANS FACE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

St. Vincent snuck up on Oran.

Then it snuck up on Advance.

Then Holcomb. Then Winona.

But once a team gets to the Final Four, it isn't called sneaking anymore. It's simply called good baseball.

A confident, albeit non-flashy, Indian team will head to Columbia early this morning to take on Englewood Christian Academy of Independence in the Class 1A semifinals. The first pitch is slated for 11 a.m.

With a record of 14-13, few would have expected St. Vincent to make it to the final four, but the Indians' losses to much larger schools prepared it for the 1A playoffs.

With his team in unfamiliar territory, St. Vincent coach Rick Wibbenmeyer is hoping that the Indians use any nervousness to their advantage.

"The kids will be a bit excited, but the key is to channel that in a positive direction," he said. "You can either have fear or have faith and I have confidence in this team.

"They'll have a few nerves, but this group has had some good experiences in other sports. They just need to remember the bases are still 90 feet away and it's still baseball. They know it's an honor to be there, but we're going not just to play but to win."

St. Vincent left for Columbia at 5:30 a.m. today.

"They're going to get to sleep in their own beds and be ready to go," said Wibbenmeyer. "They can catch some sleep on the bus, too."

Englewood brings a modest record of 13-6 into today's game.

The Knights have three batters hitting better than .400 on the year. They are pitcher/outfielder David Anderson (.468), catcher/infielder Ryan Anderson (.462) and pitcher/infielder Cory Hubbard (.449). The team has hit just two home runs on the season, one each by David and Ryan Anderson.

Englewood Christian reportedly has not played a brutal schedule the likes of St. Vincent's.

Knights' ace David Anderson (4-1, 0.83 earned-run average, 108 strikeouts) may not be able to pitch today after throwing a lot of pitches in the Knights' quarterfinal win over Lakeland on Sunday and the sectional game against Santa Fe last Thursday.

And it's apparent that after David Anderson, the Englewood pitching falls off dramatically. No other pitcher on the team has near as impressive numbers as the ace. The pitcher with the next-lowest ERA is Ryan Anderson at 4.38. Cory Hubbard has got the second-most decisions with a record of 4-2. But his ERA is 7.32.

St. Vincent, on the other hand, has two quality pitchers in Derek Kutz and Tyler Wengert.

Kutz will get the start today. He is 3-7, but has an impressive ERA of a little more than 2.00.

"Derek's a good control pitcher and he hits his spots well," said Wibbenmeyer. "He throws strikes and makes the opponent put the ball in play. He's done a super job all year long, really."

St. Vincent has not put up eye-popping offensive stats.

Gabe Hotop leads the team with a .354 average and Ryan Brown leads the team with three home runs. The Indians are batting just .250 as a team this year. But St. Vincent's emphasis all year has been on its pitching and defense.

"We believe in our pitching and defense and hopefully we'll score more runs than they do," Wibbenmeyer said.

Many outsiders may have been surprised at St. Vincent's rise to the final four, but Wibbenmeyer isn't.

"I think to some people it has, but it really hasn't taken me or the players by surprise," he said. "I told them at the beginning that our goal was to go to Columbia and win it. We didn't hit well at the beginning of the year and we wanted to be playing our best baseball at district time. And the kids have really come together and they've done a great job."