Fast Start Helps Notre Dame Beat Signal Mountain

Ripper, Anderson Lead Fighting Irish To Second Win In 7-AA, 9-5

  • Monday, March 28, 2016
  • John Hunt

It could be long year for the Notre Dame baseball team as the Fighting Irish roster includes one junior, two sophomores and a whopping 15 freshman.

The guys in green and gold may be young in years, but they're getting better and they had one of their more positive games of the year on Monday afternoon at Notre Dame's Hunter Field.

Using a six-run first inning as a springboard, the Fighting Irish made those runs stand as they held on for a 9-5 victory over Signal Mountain in a battle of District 7-AA teams.

Notre Dame is now 3-4 overall and 2-3 in 7-AA while Signal Mountain falls to 8-4 overall and 0-1 in 7-AA.

Monday's victory wasn't the prettiest you'll ever see, but a win is a win and that's all that matters to Notre Dame coach George Oleksik.

"What a crazy win that was," Oleksik said following the early-afternoon contest.

"We have a mighty young team and we play like it at times, but I felt like we came today ready to hit.  Our approach at the plate was critical.  We knew we needed at least  one more run there at the end, because Signal Mountain has a good-hitting team and we knew that one-run lead wasn't enough," the friendly Irish leader added.

The Eagles jump on top early, scoring two runs in their first at-bat on two hits, two walks and one Notre Dame error.

Garrett Hensley scored the first run on a passed ball while Drew Lowry drove in the second with a two-out infield single.

The bases were loaded, but sophomore righty Cam Dickens escaped further trouble by getting a grounder to second for the final out.

The Irish didn't waste any time regaining the advantage.

Sending a dozen hitters to the plate and getting five hits, Notre Dame swung the momentum back by scoring six runs. The Irish also benefitted from two Signal Mountain errors and two hit batters.

Joseph Ripper drove in Calvin Sims with a single to left after Sims had led off the Notre Dame half with a double down the line in left.

Daniel Anderson also had an RBI with a double while Tarrick Nelson had an RBI on a fielders' choice.  Osborne and Trae Johnson both added RBI singles before the final out had been recorded.

Dickens seemed to get a personal lift from that six-run uprising and the score remained 6-2 until the Eagles added another run in the fourth.

Lee Nagle reached on a one-out error and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Jackson Etter.

Then in the fifth, the Eagles got a little bit closer with two more runs.

Grant Galbraith got hit by a pitch to start the inning and scooted to second when the pickoff attempt was wide of the bag.  He then scored on a single by Seth Wicker, who scored a minute later on a groundout by Ryan Sekenski.

All of a sudden, the Eagles were within striking distance at 6-5, but that was as close as they would get after leaving two runners on in the sixth and three in the seventh.

Wicker singled to lead off the seventh before Lowry and Sekenski both walked to load the bases with nobody out.  That's when Oleksik dipped into his bag of tricks and replaced Dickens with Osborne, who is just a freshman.

The young man never hesitated when offered the chance to pitch as he got Briston Reese on a fly to center for the first out, a swinging strikeout of Nagle for the second before ending the game on a weak pop back to himself by Jake Carmichael to end the game.

"I looked at Andrew in the dugout and asked if he wanted the ball.  He said yes before going out and getting the final three outs," the Notre Dame coach praised.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame made things a bit easier on themselves by adding three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.  They did so with just one hit, but it really didn't matter as that four-run lead was more than enough for the freshman hurler at the end.

As you might expect, Signal Mountain coach Josh Gandy wasn't real pleased with the outcome or the way in which his team performed.

"We just sort of went through the motions as it looked like they were more ready for a trip to the beach rather than an important district baseball game.

"Notre Dame flat outplayed us.  They put the ball in play and we booted it.  We had a couple of guys who played with heart, but we just totally disrespected the game today.  I guess we can forget about it being spring break.  We'll be out there practicing tomorrow morning at 9 a.m." Gandy added.

Ripper and Anderson had two hits for the Fighting Irish as Notre Dame finished with nine total.  Wicker had two for the Eagles.

Dickens was the winning pitcher as he allowed all five runs on four hits.  He also walked five and struck out three.

Wicker took the loss after the lanky lefty allowed six runs on eight hits while hitting three.  He also had seven Ks and didn't walk anyone.

These same two teams will face each other on Tuesday night at Signal Mountain.

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN  200 120 0 -- 5 5 3

NOTRE DAME  600 003 x -- 9 9 5

Wicker, Etter (5) and Hensley; Dickens, Florio (7), Dickens (7), Osborne (7) and Anderson.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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