Siebert's walkoff homer lifts Notre Dame baseball to district crown

Notre Dame's Garrett Siebert made good on a chance that every kid dreams of -- hitting the walkoff home run in a championship game.

"It feels like I'm living a dream," Siebert said moments after he powered a two-run homer to help the host Bulldogs beat Kennett 8-6 on Wednesday in the Class 4 District 1 final.

"When you're a young kid, you want to get the game-winning home run ... so it's good," Siebert added with a smile as his teammates celebrated the win.

Now the Bulldogs move on as they look to defend their state title.

The home run was a fitting end to a back-and-forth battle that saw the top-seeded Bulldogs trading the lead with the second-seeded Indians.

"Us and Notre Dame have had some of these in the past, and this is just another one," Kennett coach Aaron New said. "I was telling the kids -- about five years ago, we had hit a ball about fifteen feet out in front of the plate, and it led to three runs late in the game. Then today they hit a walkoff home run."

Wednesday's battle marked the fifth time Kennett and Notre Dame battled one another for a district title. They followed each other from Class 3 to Class 4, but their battles for the top prize in the district continue.

"I told Coach New before we started, 'Any time we get together you know you're in for some exciting baseball,'" Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said.

Kennett carried an early 2-1 lead until the bottom of the fifth when Notre Dame's Ben Womack drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to tie the game at 2-2. Tyler Essner followed up with a base-clearing triple to give the Bulldogs a 5-2 lead.

"We didn't make some pitches there," New said following a long postgame talk with his players.

Jahaida Childress got the start for Kennett but was replaced by Payton Burke after four innings.

"The pitch that the guy hit the triple on to score the runs was the pitch we wanted to make," New said. "It was the right pitch to make. Sometimes in baseball the right pitch to make ain't the right thing, and the kid hits it off the wall and clears the bases."

Kennett answered with four runs of its own with two outs in the top of fifth. The Indians loaded the bases before Heath McHaney singled to center to bring home two to make it 5-4.

After Notre Dame starting pitcher Will Ferrell was replaced by Ross Essner, Tyriek Thomas drove home two more with a single. Thomas tried to stretch out for a double but was tagged out to end the inning.

Kennett's 6-5 lead was short-lived, as Notre Dame (17-9) quickly answered to score one and force a dramatic finish.

"I knew we would have Ross in there to close it out, and they jumped right back -- not only tied it up but took the lead," Graviett said. "It took a little bit of wind out of our sails, but then our first guy comes up and turns around a double.

"A lot of guys stepped out today, and we just rode that momentum."

Both teams went scoreless in the sixth before Ross Essner quickly worked past the top of Kennett's lineup. Essner drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Burke remained on the mound and got one out before Siebert homered to end the game.

"I wanted to get a pitch gap to gap, but instead I got a little more," Siebert said. "I just wanted to do a little to get the run in, but I got a little more of it so that's good."

"He's got a little bit of power, but it's more gap to gap stuff," Graviett said about Siebert. "So it seemed like it was going to go when it left his bat. He just got a good bat on it, and there it went."

Although his team surrendered more runs than he anticipated, Graviett was happy to see his offense show up after struggling throughout the year.

"One thing we've struggled with all year is scoring runs," he said. "So to put up [eight] and to come back in the way we did when we were down, it's going to hopefully bode some confidence in us coming into next week."

The Bulldogs move on to face the winner of the Class 4 District 2 championship between North County and Park Hills Central on May 24.

Kennett's season ends with a record of 14-11-1, falling just short at its chance to upset the defending state champions. New praised his team for battling through injuries and giving itself a chance at the district title.

"People don't realize this, but through the last month of the season, we've been without our No. 1 and No. 2 starter," New said. "Payton Burke is a guy that went two years with arm problems and was never on the mound. Then he comes on the mound and stabilizes for a month and keeps us going in the right direction.

"I'm so proud of our seniors and the way they battled for us and really gave us a chance to be district champs today. It just didn't happen."

The Bulldogs' state championship win last year came with 13 seniors on the roster. Graviett looks to show the success of this year's squad runs deep.

"We've just got to come out and keep competing," he said. "That's been our goal from Day 1. Everybody knows we lost 13 seniors last year, and we wanted to come back and make another trip to the final four and show them it's about this program. It's not as much about the kids we lost. It's about the program, so it's been our goal from Day 1. And we're just two days away from it."

Kennett 110 040 0 -- 6 9 1

Notre Dame 100 410 2 -- 8 5 2

WP -- Ross Essner. LP -- Payton Burke. 2B -- Patrick Maddox (K), Garrett Siebert (ND), Winston Welter (ND). 3B -- Tyler Essner (ND). HR -- Siebert (ND). Multiple hits -- Kennett: Maddox 2-4, Ty Ellis 2-3, Tyriek Thomas 2-3; Notre Dame: Siebert 3-3.