Notre Dame opens SEMO Conference Tournament with Dexter win

Brycen Clark had an extra day at the plate, leading Notre Dame to a 5-1 win over Dexter in the opening round of the SEMO Conference Tournament on Friday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Bulldog catcher hit an RBI double in the first inning, a sacrifice fly in the third inning and a leadoff triple in the fifth inning.

"I just go up there with lots of confidence," Clark said. "Once you see that ball going, you're gonna hit it."

The Bulldogs bats tallied 10 hits in the game, led by multiple hits by Clark, Logan Landewee, and Wil Morgan. Landewee went 3-for-4 to lead the way for the Bulldogs.

Beau Carrier was on the mound for the Bearcats, allowing five runs on 10 hits with one strikeout over six innings.

“We saw this guy last game, and we knew he was gonna be throwing a bunch of curveballs," Clark said. "So I was sitting off the first pitch he threw me was offspeed. That's when I hit the double.”

Cole Lemons lasted six innings on the mound for Notre Dame, allowing a run on four hits with nine strikeouts. He also drove in a run off a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

"He threw a lot of offspeed pitches to get ahead of the count," Clark said, "just working pitches, working outside. It was really tough for them to hit outside pitches. So I was always setting up outside and striking kids out."

Cole Nichols went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Bearcats. Dexter will play Sikeston in the consolation round on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Cape Central High School.

With the win, Notre Dame advances to the semifinal round of the tournament, where the Bulldogs will take on the Jackson Indians on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Cape Central High School.

“Jackson is a good team, a lot of great players, Clark said. "If we have strong at-bats and put the ball in play, we'll be a really good team, hard to beat."