Things didn't exactly start off great for Signal Mountain pitcher Jackson Etter Wednesday afternoon, but they surely finished with a bang.
A walk, a wild pitch, a passed ball and two singles allowed host Notre Dame to score two runs in the bottom of the first, but the 16-year-old sophomore settled down and pitched pretty good baseball the rest of the way as the Eagles improved to 7-9 overall and 3-3 in District 7-AA with the 7-2 victory.
Etter went the distance as he allowed just four more hits in the final six frames, striking out seven and walking just two. And if his arm wasn't enough to help his own cause, his bat came through as well as he finished with three of Signal's nine hits.
It was his bunt single in the third inning that drove in the tying run, but it was a two-run single to right in the fifth that drove in the winning runs. But wait, he wasn't finished as he started a three-run rally in the seventh with a two-out hit and scored the first run as the Eagles added a little insurance just to be on the safe side.
"I just felt great today. Chris and I had a little pep talk among ourselves and I knew I could get the job done," he said in reference to his pre-game talk with catcher Chris Feemster.
"I really just wanted to throw strikes, but I was in the zone and I was pounding it with my slider. We knew we had to win today's game to stay in the chase for second place, but everything seemed to work in my favor today," he added.
A walk to Jared Andrews and a single by losing pitcher Alex Darras put runners on the corners for the Fighting Irish with one out in the first inning.
Quinton Buckman's single drove in the first run while the second scored on a passed ball, but the Irish had the upper hand at 2-0 following the first frame.
Kaleb Menzel stroked a one-out double down the line in left to start the third for the Eagles. A routine grounder rolled through Darras' legs before a bad throw to second allowed Menzel to score. Etter's bunt single then plated Jake Carmichael.
Menzel was in the middle of the rally in the fifth as he coaxed a one-out walk on eight pitches before stealing second. Carmichael then singled to right and went to second on the throw home, setting the table for Etter's two-run single to right.
Notre Dame had a chance to rally in the sixth as catcher Patrick Johnson reached on a one-out single. Will Montgomery's single put runners on second and third, but Etter got a grounder to third from Jonathan Policari before ending the threat with his sixth strikeout.
Then in the seventh with the outcome of the game still very much up in the air, Etter singled with one out. Pinch-runner Alec Woollums stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield hit by Feemster.
Garrett Hensley had walked in the meantime and both he and Feemster scored on a double to deep center by Walter Gailmard.
Calvin Sims reached on an infield error to start Notre Dame's half of the seventh, but Etter was more than ready for the challenge and retired the next three in order to nail down his second win in three decisions.
"That was a good game as Jackson took care of business," said Signal Mountain coach Josh Gandy afterwards.
"He went out and competed today. He had a rough spot in the first, but he just kept battling. He does a lot of little things right, but we needed this win to stay in the hunt.
"We made a couple of key adjustments at the plate and we had a couple of lucky breaks, but Etter's last two starts have been solid and I'm really proud of his effort today," Gandy expressed.
For the game, Signal finished with nine hits, including Etter's three and two from Carmichael. Hensley, Feemster, Gailmard and Menzel all had one apiece.
Notre Dame finished with six hits, including one each from Andrew Lewis, Calvin Sims, Darras, Buckman, Johnson and Montgomery.
It's been a crazy past 24 hours for Notre Dame coach Greg Elie and his team.
"We were flat as our focus just wasn't there," he said after a lengthy meeting with his squad down in the left-field corner.
"Signal Mountain came to compete. It's been a crazy year and we're on spring break, but there are no excuses for us. It's hard to win when you don't play good defense, but this was a big game for us. I guess our minds may have been somewhere else," he added.
It's amazing they played as well as they did, considering the events of the last day.
It all began on Tuesday night at Signal Mountain where Notre Dame senior Gage Miller picked up his fourth win with six strikeouts in six innings.
He voluntarily took himself out of the game as he was feeling weak and somewhat dehydrated. His blood pressure was checked later and determined to be alarmingly low, so they transported him to Erlanger for further tests.
They determined that he was bleeding internally from his spleen, so he had emergency surgery to correct the problem. Add to that the fact that Elie's wife is expecting their second child any day and you can see where Notre Dame's focus may have been somewhat distracted.
The best news is that Miller is expected to recover. There is no timetable on his return to the baseball field, but at this point, all of that is irrelevant.
"Gage is our leader and our sparkplug. It was weird him not being out here today, but we're just thankful he's still alive. It could have been much worse," the Notre Dame coach concluded.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 002 020 3 -- 7 9 2
NOTRE DAME 200 000 0 -- 2 6 3
Etter and Feemster; Darras, Polcari (6) and Johnson.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)