NOTRE DAME FALLS; ST. VINCENT TO PLAY FOR TITLE; KUTZ PITCHES INDIANS PAST ENGLEWOOD 10-0

COLUMBIA -- St. Vincent pitcher Derek Kutz was efficient.

Sixty-three pitches to the gallon efficient.

Kutz threw just 63 pitches, only 18 of which were balls, in a one-hit gem as the Indians, in their first-ever Class 1A Final Four appearance, trounced Englewood Christian Academy of Independence 10-0 in five innings at Simmons Field Wednesday.

The Indians, who won their ninth straight game and raised their record to 15-13, will play North Shelby at 5 p.m. today for the 1A state title.

"I just go up there with a lot of confidence in my defense," said Kutz. "I feel if I put it over the plate they'll put it in play and our defense will take care of it."

Kutz allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. He faced just one over the minimum for the game.

"He dominated the game," said St. Vincent coach Rick Wibbenmeyer. "Certainly Ryan Brown called a good game behind the plate. We had a little good luck, too, but we made our own breaks."

St. Vincent hit the ball well, though not for power. The Indians banged out 13 hits, all of which went for singles.

"We didn't overswing and didn't try to hit the ball too hard," said Wibbenmeyer.

Said Englewood coach Tim Lucht, whose squad fell to 13-7, "They did a good job of putting the ball in play. There's a simple formula: You put the ball in play and good things will happen."

St. Vincent was aggressive on the basepaths, stealing eight bases.

"There's been a lot of games where we've been outhit," said Kutz, who stole two bases. "But we've got speed. Coach picked about four or five of us out at the beginning of the year and told us to go when we want. So when we get on the bases we're aggressive and that's where we win a lot of our games."

"We were aggressive on the bases," Wibbenmeyer said. "We had a couple guys thrown out, but you know what, we took a lot of bases, too."

St. Vincent got out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Adam Bockman reached on an error to lead off the game. Tyler Wengert followed with a single, then Brandon Carroll reached on a fielder's choice.

Brown drove in two with a single and Gabe Hotop followed with an RBI single.

The Indians scored four more in the second inning. Carroll had a two-run single and Wengert singled home a run.

In the fourth inning, St. Vincent scored two runs, one on an error and another on an RBI groundout by Brown.

The Indians capped off their scoring in the fifth when Josh Robinson singled and later scored on a wild pitch.

St. Vincent had no troubles solving the Knights' pitching.

Ryan Anderson suffered the loss. He went 1 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, five earned, on six hits and a walk.

The Indians also tagged reliever Jason McClain for four runs on four hits.

Tyler Wengert led St. Vincent with three hits, while Brandon Carroll, Brown, Kutz and Amschler each had two apiece. Brown drove in three runs, while Carroll and Hotop had two RBIs each.

North Shelby (12-6) advanced to the state championship game with a 4-2 win over Norwood (19-3), which left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.

"They're a good club," said Wibbenmeyer of North Shelby. "They're well coached. They like to run and have some good pick-off plays and stuff like that. They stole home so that tells you how aggressive they are."