Notre Dame softball team downs De Soto, advances to state quarterfinals

Notre Dame relief pitcher Ellie Retz thought the De Soto batter she was facing with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh of Wednesday's Class 3 state sectional was the same one that led off the previous inning with a home run, but she wasn't certain.

Emily Brewer, who stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with her team trailing by four, hit a home run off starter Haylie Santos in the bottom of the sixth and was the last batter Santos faced before she was relieved by Retz.

"She looked like she could hit, and I was worried," Retz said. "I'm glad I didn't know, though, because I really would've been freaking out."

Brewer fouled off several pitches from Retz in the final frame before taking a called third strike that sent the Bulldogs' squad running out to the circle to celebrate their 8-4 victory.

"I was [thinking], 'Just keep it outside. Just keep it outside,'" Notre Dame catcher Morgan Duschell said of the final at-bat, "and then we struck her out on the inside pitch and I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' because I did not want her turning on it and just pounding it again."

Notre Dame's Madison Landeros warms up with a teammate in the sixth inning against De Soto during a Class 3 sectional Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Glenn Landberg)

The Bulldogs held a 6-0 lead after four innings against the defending state champion Dragons, who had ended Notre Dame's season with a 3-2 loss in the state sectional round last year.

Designated player Lily Dohogne led off the top of the fourth with a home run to left-center field.

"I was hoping it was," Dohogne replied when asked if she immediately thought it was a home run. "I hit it, and then I just started running. By the time I rounded first, I saw it go out, so I was pumped."

First baseman Annie Ziegler and second baseman Payton Friga pushed the lead to 3-0 with back-to-back RBI singles.

Duschell drove both in with a double that dropped in front of a sliding left fielder and scored the sixth run of the frame on a De Soto fielding error.

The Dragons cut Notre Dame's lead to three in the bottom of the fifth.

Two walks and a double loaded the bases with one out when De Soto left fielder Brooke Gardner blasted one into right field to drive in a pair of runs. A deep fly by Wiley Lowry plated another run to make it 6-3.

Brewer led off the bottom of the sixth with her line-drive homer to left, making it a two-run ballgame when Retz came in to relieve.

Notre Dame's Haylie Santos pitches to a De Soto batter in the fourth inning during a Class 3 sectional Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Glenn Landberg)

Santos allowed four runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts, a pair of walks and a hit batsman.

"She battled, just battled," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said of Santos, who earned the win in the circle. "We kind of knew going in that they were such a good hitting team that we didn't really want them going through the lineup a third time with her, just go with Ellie and give them something different."

Retz coaxed the Dragons to line out twice to Payton Friga at second and then got a groundout to second to keep the lead intact.

"I just wanted to get it over really quick because I didn't want anybody to get down," Retz said. "Our energy had been so high, and it's easy to lose that once things start going bad. Big help from Payton Friga for getting all of the outs that inning."

The Bulldogs extended their lead in the top of the seventh. Left fielder Abby Rollet and third baseman Maddie Urhahn each hit one-out singles before right fielder Lindsey Elfrink singled in a run.

With Ziegler at the plate, Urhahn was picked off at third. Elfrink dashed for second on the play, and the throw went into right field, allowing Elfrink to score on the error to make it 8-4.

Notre Dame's Lindsey Elfrink, left, and Abby Rollet make their way to the dugout at the end of the fifth inning against De Soto during a Class 3 sectional Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Glenn Landberg)

"The way they swing the bats -- 14, 15 home runs as a team -- they're always in every game. They've got a home run hitter it seems like coming up every other hitter," Graviett said. "I felt good with a six-run lead. I didn't feel so good with a four-run-or-less lead, but once we bumped that back up to four in the seventh and you get in that situation like we're in [in the bottom of the inning], you feel a little bit better than if it had been a two-run lead."

Retz walked the leadoff batter and gave up back to back singles to load the bases with no outs.

A flyout to right and a strikeout set Retz up for the final strikeout of Brewer.

"We've been telling her for a week now, 'Be ready, be ready, be ready. Be ready at all times,' and I don't think she believed us," Graviett said with a laugh. "... She's a kid that smiles, goes out there and has a good time, and these type of big games, those are the ones that respond well.

"She's one of those players that I don't think the pressure gets to her. She's just going to go out there and enjoy herself and go out there and do her job. She was tremendous today."

ND improved to 25-3 with the win and will host Lutheran South in a state quarterfinal at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

"It's back to work tomorrow," Graviett said. "We've got bigger plans. We want to win that one Saturday and move on to Springfield. We'll take this in stride, enjoy it tonight and come back to work tomorrow and start working on Lutheran South."

Notre Dame 000 600 2 -- 8 13 1

De Soto 000 031 0 -- 4 8 3

WP -- Haylie Santos. LP -- Alyssa Rennick. HR -- Lily Dohogne (ND), Emily Brewer (D). 2B -- Morgan Duschell (ND), Abby Rollet (ND), Madeline Bone (D), Brooke Gardner (D). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Duschell 3-4, Rollet 2-4, Anne Ziegler 2-4, Payton Friga 2-3; De Soto: Krista Richardson 2-4, Gardner 2-4, Brewer 2-4.