Notre Dame's baseball season comes to dramatic end vs. Westminster

~ Notre Dame lost to defending state champ Westminster 2-1 in the Class 4 quarterfinals, with the game ending on a play at the plate

Notre Dame right fielder Hunter Eftink slid headfirst into home and looked up at the umpire for the call that would determine if he and his teammates season was over or if they still had a chance to advance to the Class 4 state baseball final four.

When he saw that he'd been called out to end the game with a 2-1 Notre Dame loss to three-time defending state champion Westminster Christian Academy he put his head down on the ground for a moment while the Wildcats celebrated a return trip to the final four.

"Well, I was trying to get to the front of the plate and slide around him," Eftink said, "but it was just a bang-bang play."

Eftink, who singled after third baseman Adam Pope drew a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh, represented the tying run on second after Josh Haggerty reached on a two-out infield single to load the bases.

Left fielder Chase Urhahn singled sharply into right field that scored pinch runner Thomas Siebert from third before Westminster right fielder Collin Einerston made the throw home to nip Eftink at the plate to end the Bulldogs' season.

"I tell the kids to be prepared for everything, and so you try to run through every scenario," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "I just got through telling myself the outfielders are short. I really felt like we were going to burn them in the sixth or seventh inning, felt like it was sitting there for us to get one over their head.

"But I had just got through telling myself, 'Hey, a ball right at them, they're shallow -- a ball right at them's going to be tough to score that guy from second base.' You know, as it happens, as tough as it's been to score runs all day, you're going to make them make the play, and they ultimately did."

Westminster (29-5) scored twice in the bottom of the third inning -- a lead it'd never relinquish.

After leadoff batter Jordan Smith and Brett Bond hit back-to-back singles to start the inning, a grounder to short resulted in a force play at second but the Bulldogs couldn't complete the double play, putting runners on the corners.

A pitch to Einertson rolled a few feet away from catcher Blake Hagedorn, but he couldn't locate it and the first run scored.

Einertson then hit a ground-rule double to center to make it 2-0.

"I came into this game knowing that all I needed was to throw strikes," Notre Dame starter Graham Ruopp said. "I knew I wasn't going to have many strikeouts. I knew there was going to be lots of hits. Those top four hitters -- Division I players -- they are amazing. I knew they were going to hit the ball, and I knew they were going to put up some runs."

Those were the only two runs that Ruopp would allow. He allowed six hits, struck out a pair, walked a batter and hit a batter.

"Normally I'm a fastball-and-then go-to-my-curveball type of guy, and [Graviett] told me that sometimes maybe today I was going to have to switch it up and go from the curveball to the fastball," Ruopp said. "Today I started off going fastball to curveball, and then I just switched it all up -- started with the curveball and went to the fastball [after the third inning.]"

Westminster's Brennan Hehner stifled the Bulldogs offense for most of the game.

The Bulldogs had a base runner in each of the first three innings but were retired in order in the fourth and fifth.

Notre Dame loaded the bases in the sixth inning when Hehner gave up a one-out walk, a double to Luke Haines and another walk with two outs. However, the Bulldogs were unable to take advantage of the opportunity as Griffin Siebert flied out to right field to end the threat.

Hehner was relieved by Caleb Hicks after walking Pope to lead off the seventh.

"You hate to see it come down to it when you're on that side of it but we had an opportunity in the sixth, opportunity in the seventh, and at the end of the day that's all you can ask for," Graviett said. "We had an opportunity to win the game. [Westminster] played one of their best games all day, I have no doubt. That's what we want to do -- make them play their best game to beat us today, and they did."

Notre Dame's season ended for the second straight year to the Wildcats in the state quarterfinals. The Bulldogs finished with a record of 24-4.

"Nothing you can say at this point that's going to make them feel any better, but I told them I was proud of them, the effort and stuff they've put into it," Graviett said. "And again, you've got to be proud that you made Westminster play today to come away with a win."

Notre Dame 000 000 1 -- 1 5 1

Westminster 002 000 x -- 2 6 1

WP -- Brennan Hehner. LP -- Graham Ruopp. 2B -- Luke Haines (ND), Collin Einertson (W). Multiple hits: Notre Dame -- Hunter Eftink 2-3. Westminster -- Jordan Smith 2-4, Einertson 2-3.