Sikeston pitching silences Bulldogs' bats

The Notre Dame Regional High School baseball team's offense has been in a serious funk the past two days.

Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett and his players are quick to credit opposing pitchers, but senior catcher Chase Simmons said some of the blame lies with the Bulldogs.

"Just nothing's working right now for us. The mentality's not there," Simmons said. "The mentality has to be there from the first pitch."

Sikeston held host Notre Dame to one hit Wednesday -- a first-inning single by Simmons -- and won 4-1 in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament.

That came after Notre Dame suffered its first shutout since 2008, a 4-0 loss to Poplar Bluff in Tuesday's tournament semifinals at Capaha Field.

Notre Dame first baseman Josh Jansen fields a ground ball hit by Sikeston’s Josh Hampton during Notre Dame’s 4-1 loss to Sikeston. (ADAM VOGLER)

"When you only get one hit, you can't take anything away from them," Graviett said of Sikeston's pitchers. "The last two days we saw two first-team all-conference pitchers [Sikeston's Trey Tigart and Poplar Bluff's Wesley Pyles]."

Notre Dame (20-5) recently won 10-1 at Sikeston (14-4) by exploding for 10 runs in the fifth and sixth innings.

There was no explosion for the host squad Wednesday as the Bulldogs' Tigart and Doug Still dominated.

"You have to tip your cap to Sikeston. Trey Tigart was on. ... Both pitchers. They did everything right," Simmons said.

Tigart ran into first-inning trouble, issuing his only two walks and Simmons' RBI single, but retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

Notre Dame’s Ross James delivers a pitch during the Bulldogs’ 4-1 loss to Sikeston in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference Tournament on Wednesday. (ADAM VOGLER)

"That's what your're going to get out of Trey every time out. He's going to spot his pitches and compete," Sikeston coach Alan Scheeter said.

Tigart went just the first four innings, striking out four, because Scheeter wanted to get Still some work.

Sikeston didn't miss a beat with Still on the mound. The junior left-hander struck out five, walked one and hit a batter over the final three innings to notch a save.

"Just the same as Trey, he [Still] had good velocity, good movement," Scheeter said.

Notre Dame junior Ross James ran into first-inning trouble before settling down, but the Bulldogs couldn't make up Sikeston's two runs in the opening frame.

Josh Hampton singled with one out, stole second and scored on Tyler Anderson's triple. Anderson came in a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.

James wound up allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits in six innings. He struck out four, walked two and hit a batter.

"The last two outings he's had trouble early," Graviett said. "Once he got out of it [the first inning], he threw well."

Notre Dame cut the deficit in half during the bottom of the first. Chase Urhahn led off with a walk, Justin Landewee drew a one-out walk and Simmons' ground-ball single through the left side plated Urhahn as Landewee advanced to third on the throw home.

But Notre Dame failed to do any more damage in the inning as the next two hitters were retired.

"We had a chance in the first inning to tie this thing up and maybe do even more. That's what's disappointing," Graviett said.

Notre Dame had just three baserunners over the final six innings -- on a fourth-inning error, a fifth-inning hit batter and a seventh-inning walk -- and never got a runner to second base.

Sikeston added insurance with an unearned run in the sixth inning, then touched sophomore reliever Graham Ruopp for four hits and a run in the seventh inning on Drew Harper's RBI single.

"That's not a safe lead," Scheeter said of Sikeston's 2-1 advantage, noting how important the late runs were.

Anderson, Patrick Smith and Gavin O'Brien all had two of Sikeston's nine hits.

There is a very good chance Notre Dame and Sikeston, who both have several regular-season games remaining, will have a third meeting in less than two weeks.

Notre Dame is seeded first and Sikeston second for the Class 4 District 1 tournament that Notre Dame will host. The championship is set for May 15.

"If the seeds hold up. ... But we're not looking at that right now," Scheeter said.

Sikeston 200 001 1 -- 4 9 1

Notre Dame 100 000 0 -- 1 1 1

WP -- Trey Tigart. LP -- Ross James. S -- Doug Still. 3B -- Tyler Anderson (S). 2B -- Patrick Smith (S). Multiple hits -- Sikeston: Anderson 2-4, Smith 2-4, Gavin O'Brien 2-4. Records -- Sikeston 14-4, Notre Dame 20-5.