Notre Dame baseball team's final four run highlighted by dominant pitching

Four arms have carried the load on the mound for the Notre Dame baseball team this season, and the result has been favorable.

Seniors Graham Ruopp, Adam Pope and Hunter Eftink and junior Tyler Essner make up the Bulldogs' pitching staff. They have a combined ERA of 1.57 and have been the cornerstone in Notre Dame's run to the Class 4 final four, which begins at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Smithville at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O'Fallon, Missouri.

Perhaps the first glimpse of what this year's staff might have in store came last season when the Notre Dame pitchers combined for a 7-5 road win over McCracken County, Kentucky, according to coach Jeff Graviett.

Each pitcher went on to enjoy a fruitful summer, leading to what Graviett calls "one of the deepest pitching staffs" during his 17 years as the Bulldogs' coach.

"It carried us throughout the season, especially early on when the bats weren't there," Graviett said about the pitching. "... It's just been a luxury that at any point you can go to those guys whenever you like those matchups that come around."

Notre Dame's Graham Ruopp delivers a pitch during Thursday's Class 4 District 1 championship against Perryville in Doniphan, Missouri. (Trent Singer)

It all begins with Ruopp, a fiery competitor who started the year as the team's ace.

Ruopp signed a National Letter of Intent in November to play college baseball with Missouri, and the 6-foot-3 right-handed pitcher said he'd patiently been waiting for the opportunity to lead the pitching staff.

"Coming into this year, we knew it was our time, and what we had to go through was going to be tough. But we were going to work hard," Ruopp said. "We've all grown into the program, and we all have been helping it. We've all been working hard together and as one team."

Ruopp's unique pitching style is a low three-quarter motion, a delivery he believes "dictates ground balls."

"It puts the ball off their bat and on the ground, and I'm fortunate to have that," Ruopp said. "This year, I started out rough. It was tough for me to find my four-seam [fastball]. It was cutting in instead of in and down, and I went to Todd Pennington at Balls and Strikes and was able to get with it.

"These past two games, I've done a lot better with that, and hopefully I can keep that up."

Graviett said this year has been a learning experience for Ruopp, who is 6-2 with a 1.94 ERA in 54 1/3 innings of work.

"I think he really thought he was just going to blow through people, but he's learned that you've still got to come back and pitch at the high school level, no matter how good you are. He's really adapted and gotten better as the season went along," Graviett said. "The last few times out, he's really looked like the guy that could carry us in a state championship game."

Much of Graviett's message has centered around getting Ruopp to understand that control only goes so far once the ball has been thrown.

"You can't control whether the umpire calls it a strike. You can't control whether or not the kid hits it. You can't control whether the guy in the field catches it or not, so you've got to learn to do what you want to do and throw that pitch where you want it. After that, you've just got to be satisfied with that," Graviett said. "I think he's come a long way and grown up, as far as being that go-to guy."

Ruopp compares the pitching staff to that of a college baseball team and said that having starters, relievers and closers gives the Bulldogs a tremendous edge at the high school level.

"It's a good feeling to know that you have other pitchers behind you to back you up if it's ever not your day or something like that," said Ruopp, who has 62 strikeouts and 17 walks on the year. "Our chemistry is awesome, and we all work together. We're all working for the same goal, which is a state championship."

Notre Dame starter Adam Pope pitches to a Jackson batter during the third inning Monday, April 6, 2015 at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Fred Lynch)

After pitching only 13 innings last year, Pope has emerged as one of Notre Dame's most reliable arms this season. The 6-foot right-hander has taken the mound for a number of big games, including a 5-1 road win over Westminster Christian Academy, a team that eliminated the Bulldogs in the state quarterfinals the past two seasons. Pope gave up an earned run in the third inning but responded by not allowing a hit for the remainder of the game.

"He's a bulldog," Graviett said. "I had an opportunity to be around some of these kids when they were 12. I had a stepson who played with some of these guys in the summertime, and Adam's just one of those kids that always wants the ball in big spots. You're not going to see anything flashy out of him. He's not going to bring it upper-80s. ... He's going to keep the ball down.

"There's no fear in him at all, and that's one reason we used him early on, just to kind of see how he adapted to big situations at the high school level. And he's been phenomenal for us so far."

Pope is 8-2 on the year and has a 1.25 ERA in 67 innings of work. He has 47 strikeouts and 13 walks.

Graviett said Pope is nearly untouchable when his curveball is working best.

"If you can throw two pitches for strikes, you're lethal, and early on when he was throwing seven innings, he'd wait until that second time through the lineup to try to establish it," Graviett said. "Here lately, knowing he doesn't have to go seven, he's been doing a lot better."

Notre Dame's Hunter Eftink pitches to a Clayton batter in the sixth inning during a Class 4 quarterfinal, Thursday, May 28, 2015 in Clayton, Missouri. (Glenn Landberg)

Then there's the calm, collective left-hander in Eftink, who leads the team with a 0.45 ERA in 46 2/3 innings of work.

The 6-foot-3 Eftink has seen most of his action in relief, particularly in the postseason. He has a team-high 65 strikeouts to go along with 15 walks.

"He just goes at you," Graviett said about Eftink. "He's got a lot of movement from the left side. He's a typical lefty. He's been getting up there anywhere from 82-84 [mph] at times, and he just does a really good job. He keeps his composure. He's very calm. He doesn't let a lot get to him, and that's why I like using him at the back end of games. He just really comes in and does the best as far as pick-offs, as far as the small-ball stuff on the mound, but his demeanor is that he's going to come at you and say, 'Here it is. Come hit it.' He throws a lot of strikes. He's just been great, and stat-wise, he's one of our best pitchers."

The future of the pitching staff rests on the shoulders of Essner, who's the likely ace of next year's team.

Essner has a 5-0 record and a 1.04 ERA in 27 innings of work. He also has 20 strikeouts and five walks.

"He was a kid that you never know how the season's going to go," Graviett said about Essner. "We had a low. We needed some pick-me-up, and he stepped in there and got about four or five wins for us in a week and a half. He didn't really know where he fit in for us, and I think he'll tell you that. He came in there and proved that he belonged on that staff. ... He's definitely a guy that can come in there. He's definitely different than our other three pitchers, but he keeps the ball down, works fast, changes speeds and does the little things."

Essner's breakout performance came April 11 when he led the Bulldogs to a five-inning, 15-0 victory over Sullivan.

"When we started the season, I was basically just a baserunner and everything," Essner said. "When coach gave me the chance to start and get my first varsity innings, it really just boosted my confidence level. I just felt really confident in myself."

Essner's fastball has topped out at 79 mph, but throwing strikes has been the key to his success, according to Graviett.

From left to right, Notre Dame pitchers Hunter Eftink, Tyler Essner, Graham Ruopp and Adam Pope throw a pitch, Monday, June 1, 2015. (Laura Simon)

"I think he learned that, 'Hey, I don't have to strike people out. I don't have to do all that stuff. I've just got to put the ball into play and let them pick it up behind me,'" Graviett said.

Each of the four pitchers continue to learn from one another in order to grow and become a more cohesive unit.

Pope said he's tried to incorporate the attitudes of Eftink and Ruopp into his own game.

"Hunter is kind of calm, and Graham always has the really competitive attitude," Pope said. "I try to combine the two, just stay calm out there but also have the attitude that we're going to go out there and win every game."

Essner said he initially was intimidated by the bigger, hard-throwing pitchers, but he has grown more comfortable over the season.

"As the year progressed this year, I feel like I've grown a lot closer to Graham and Adam and all of them. I've grown more of a friendship with them," Essner said. "... I've always been really bad at pick-offs, but Graham has really kind of helped me out. We had one practice specifically where he pulled me aside and was helping me out with my pick-off move because it was atrocious before. I actually picked off one or two people this year."

Despite having no experience at the final four, pitching on the big stage will be nothing new for the Bulldogs, according to Graviett.

Notre Dame played Marshall County at Busch Stadium this year, and the Bulldogs have faced three of the five reigning Missouri state champions from last season, defeating Valle Catholic (Class 2) and Westminster Academy (Class 4) and losing to Rock Bridge (Class 5) by one run.

"These guys have been in numerous big games throughout their whole lives all the way back to 11 or 12 years old, so the stage is there for them," Graviett said. "They're excited, and I wouldn't really want to go to battle with any other guys."

Winning a state title was on the agenda since the season began, and Pope said his team doesn't want to settle for anything less.

"Of course we're going to enjoy it, but we also feel like we've got a really good shot at winning it," he said. "That's been the dream ever since I was in grade school, and we've come really close the past two years.

"We finally got a taste of it, so now we can go out there and win it."