Notre Dame's Young quiets Kennett in battle for crown

Mark Hagedorn's catcher's glove starting popping a little louder in the third inning.

That's because Notre Dame pitcher Colton Young's velocity picked up in the third after the Bulldogs had a run erased from the scoreboard.

Young threw a three-hitter to lead the Bulldogs past Kennett 4-1 in the Class 3 District 1 title game Wednesday. It was Notre Dame's third consecutive district title.

It appeared Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a fly ball to center field by Wes Glaus. Bulldogs courtesy runner Eric Hayes tagged from third on the play and slid across the plate.

But the third-base umpire ruled Hayes left third base before the catch and he was ruled out, keeping the game scoreless.

Notre Dame's Colton Young pitches to a Kennett batter during Wednesday's Class 3 District 1 title game. (LAURA SIMON)

Young responded in the top of the third by striking out the first two batters he faced by leaning on his blistering fastball.

"You've got to come back and stay focused out there no matter what happens," Young said. "We felt like we should have got a run there, but you can't do anything about that. You've just got to come out and pitch your game."

Young, who will pitch at Tennessee-Martin next year, only got into trouble in the fifth inning. Kennett scored an unearned run, but Notre Dame's senior right-hander got Logan Dollins to fly out to left field with the bases loaded to escape the jam.

"The fastball felt good and the breaking ball was working pretty good, too," Young said. "It allowed me to have hitters off balance a little bit."

Young finished with 10 strikeouts and three walks.

"Sometimes it takes him a few innings to get going," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "But at some point he usually hits it. When he hits his stride, he's just as good as there is at the high school level around here."

Young played a vital role during the Bulldogs' run to the Class 3 state title last season, but he pitched with soreness in his arm and back during the postseason. He said he's fortunate that the pain hasn't returned this season.

"This year I feel great," he said. "I feel like I'm stronger than I was at the beginning of the year. It's a good time to feel this way going into the postseason."

Young struggled some in mid April, so Graviett said he decided to give Young more rest in preparation for the postseason. That decision seemed to pay off Wednesday.

"We went back and worked on a few things mechanical wise," Graviett said. "We gave him a little more time off. He said his arm really wasn't bothering him, but you never really know. We kind of been extending him out as far as rest time because he's going to have it now."

The Bulldogs finally scored runs that remained on the scoreboard in the fourth inning. Jeremy Essner led off with a single and went to second on Ethan Essner's walk. A wild pitch allowed both runners to move up a base, and Coby Holland roped a single up the middle with two outs to score the Essners.

"I just wanted to put the ball in play," Holland said. "That's kind of my goal on the team. I haven't hit a home run all year, and that's fine. He gave me a 2-1 count and I just knew he was coming with the fastball. I got a curveball right before that."

The ball looked destined to hit Kennett pitcher Trey Bazzell, but it whizzed past him and into center field.

"It went right back through him," Holland said. "As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going to go in his glove. It never did. It went through the outfield and scored those two guys."

Young said he felt like the district title belonged to the Bulldogs after they plated the two runs in the fourth inning.

"Two runs, I felt confident with my stuff today that I could go out there and get us a win with that," he said. "The insurance runs always give you a little more confidence."

Notre Dame provided the insurance in the fifth inning when Jacob Pewitt and Trenton St. Cin hit back-to-back sacrifice flies.

When Kennett tried to rally with a one-out double in the top of the sixth, Young responded by striking out the next two batters to extinguish the threat.

"He came out and threw the fastball well," Hagedorn said. "The slider was working well for him."

Notre Dame advances to the sectional round, where it will face the winner of the District 2 title, which is scheduled to be played today.

Kennett 000 010 0 -- 1 3 4

Notre Dame 000 220 x -- 4 6 2

WP -- Colton Young. LP -- Trey Bazzell. 2B -- Adam Grantham (K), Mark Hagedorn (ND). Multiple hits -- Notre Dame: Jimmy Obermark 2-4. Records -- Notre Dame 23-1.