Notre Dame survives late rally from Kennett to knock off Indians

The bats of the Notre Dame Bulldogs showed up on Wednesday as they defeated the Kennett Indians 11-8 at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Bulldogs would score in every inning as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead through 2 innings.

“I’m very excited with how we swung the bat,” Bulldogs coach Jeff Graviett said. “We put up runs in every inning.”

Despite being down 4-0 the Indians weren’t going to lie down as they put up a 5-run inning to take a lead behind a pair of 2-run doubles from Peyton Branum and Hayden Gilmore.

The Bulldogs wouldn’t stay down for long as they bounced back to tie the game in the bottom of the third on a fielder's choice before taking a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 4th.

“When you play a team like that and you let them back in it they kind of take the air out of the balloon,” Graviett said.

As the 7th inning rolled around the Bulldogs held an 11-6 lead before the Indians had the first 3 batters reach to load the bases.

Will Dodson would take the ball with the bags full and nobody out and on the first pitch he threw, Brooks Nigut doubled to center field to make it 11-8.

Dodson would strike out the next two hitters before getting the final out via groundout to secure the 11-8 win for Notre Dame.

Will Morgan got the start for the Bulldogs on the mound as he threw 3 innings allowing 3 earned runs on 4 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Freshman Houston Crawford gave the Bulldogs 2 innings in relief as he allowed just 1 run on 5 walks and 2 strikeouts.

“I thought they rallied around him and got him some runs,” Graviett said. “I know the pitchers didn’t have their best stuff but they battled and found a way to win.”

Getting the start for the Indians was Hayden Gilmore who tossed 2 and a third innings allowing 5 runs, but just one of the runs was earned.

Cole Lemons had a 2 hit day as he also drove in a run. Logan Landewee went 1-for-4 with an RBI and 3 runs scored.

Leading the way for the Indians were Tanner Pierce and Ashton Williams who both had 2 hits in the loss for the Indians.

Kennett (12-5) is back in action at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 20 when the Indians host NMCC.

Notre Dame (7-5) is back in action on Friday, April 21 when the Bulldogs host Kelly in the opener of the Notre Dame Showcase at Notre Dame Regional High School.