Thies keeps Bulldogs cold for a Central shutout

Central left-hander John Thies made sure the Notre Dame bats were like the weather Tuesday at Tiger Field.

Cold and breezy.

With temperatures in the 40s throughout the game, Thies hurled a three-hit shutout at the visiting Bulldogs. The senior was in complete control from the outset, striking out 14 batters without a walk and not allowing any of the three Bulldog runners past second base.

The final result was a tidy 6-0 victory for Central in a SEMO Conference game.

Central improved to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference, while Notre Dame fell to 4-3 and 3-2.

"John owned the game," Central catcher Aaron Dohogne said. "He just came out and mowed them down."

Thies struck out the game's first batter and finished up by striking out the Bulldogs in order in the seventh. He was just as effective between, retiring the first eight batters he faced, fanning at least one batter in every inning and striking out each of the first eight hitters in the Bulldog lineup at least once. Five of the strikeouts were on called third strikes.

Notre Dame's No. 9 hitter, Wayne Essner, was the lone Bulldog to experience success. Essner went 2-for-2, including a two-out double to deep center for the Bulldogs' first hit in the third inning.

Kyle Diveley added a fourth-inning single, and Essner singled in the sixth.

"John pitched a great game," Central coach Steve Williams said. "He's been pitching all year like that."

Thies improved to 3-0, matching his win total of his junior season when he went 3-8 despite an earned-run average under 3.00.

"He pitched every tough game we had last year," Williams said. "He pitched against all the good conference teams and all the good nonconference teams. And that's going to happen sometimes when you don't score runs like we did last year."

"He's our No. 1 so he's throwing against the best teams we face," Dohogne added. "Whenever we see someone's ace, they're going to see our ace -- John."

While Thies didn't have many wins last year, he won the respect of opponents and colleges.

He recently accepted a baseball scholarship to Meramec Community College in St. Louis.

"He's the best pitcher in the conference," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "No doubt about it. When he's on, he's as tough as anybody. And they're a great ballclub when he's on."

Thies used his complete repertoire of fastball, curveball and straight change on the Bulldogs.

"My fastball ain't nothing without my off speed," Thies said. "I have to use my off speed to keep people off balance so they don't know what's coming."

The Tigers backed up their ace with flawless defense on Tuesday and handled the seven chances they got.

The Tigers scored the only run they would need without the aid of a hit in the second inning. Central capitalized on a spurt of wildness by Notre Dame starter Blake Urhahn, putting together a hit batsman, an error, a wild pitch and a Colin Schermann RBI groundout for the game-winner.

Central employed its no-hit offense again in the fourth off Urhahn, upping its lead to 3-0 on a hit batter, a walk, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly by Dohogne.

"It should have been 0-0 going into the last inning," Graviett said. "If you're going to play with good teams, you've got to make plays. And right now we're not making those plays."

While Central had just six hits, Bulldog pitchers issued four walks and hit three batters. Notre Dame's defense also committed three errors.

Central scored three unearned insurance runs in the sixth off reliever Jared Jinkerson. Schermann opened the inning with a single and later scored when a bases-loaded pop fly fell just over a drawn-in infield. With two out, Josh Ford, who had three of Central's six hits, drilled a two-run triple into the right-center field gap to cap the scoring.

Central won the JV game 4-1.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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