It was Senior Day at Notre Dame’s Hunter Field on Friday, so the ultimate goal for the Fighting Irish was to get a win and snap a nagging losing streak in the process as they faced Chattanooga Christian.
The Irish did exactly that as they bolted to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings before winning by a 10-6 final as they improved to 8-13 overall and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Notre Dame coach Gatlyn Simmons really enjoys working with this group and he knows better than anyone just how much talent and potential his guys have. The season hasn’t exactly gone like was planned at the start, but winning on Friday as their Spring Break begins is a step in the right direction.
“It’s about time,” Simmons said after a talk with his kids following the game.
“I’m glad we finally got a win and it feels good. Our offense has struggled in years past with our defense and pitching being really strong. It has been just the opposite this time as our offense has been steller. I really liked the fast start we got, but that big inning in the sixth was huge. Hunter Johnston’s double got it all started, but it just takes one spark to start a fire.
“Cooper Jones has been our number-one pitcher all season and got off to a great start, but just couldn’t find the strike zone in the third. He’s going to ETSU where he will pitch for them next year, but he had no answer when I asked what was going on. I guess that’s just baseball, but we’ll use this as a springboard to some positive momentum and hope to carry it forward from now on,” he added.
CCS coach Ben Wharton felt like his team may have had somewhat of a letdown after taking two of three from region foe McCallie earlier in the week.
“It’s a long season and there are a lot of games left, but a couple of plays here and there and it could have been a different outcome,” he began after his team dropped to 15-9.
“They gave us plenty of free passes, but we just couldn’t seem to take advantage. We scored all of our runs with just one hit. I really don’t care how we score as long as we do, but I felt like we came out flat after taking two from McCallie. I’m proud how we came back and even had a chance to take the lead, but just couldn’t take advantage of our opportunities. We were able to find ways to score, but just not enough,” he nodded.
The Irish took a 2-0 lead in the first and did so with just one hit.
Garrett Sullivan led off with a single and later scored on a grounder to third by Jake Wagner. Jones got a walk following Sullivan’s single and he later scored on a grounder to second by Keegan Smith.
Then in the second, West Winland led off with a walk before Johnston walked and Landon Goeller reached on a perfect bunt to load the bases with nobody out. Sullivan got the first RBI on a walk while Jones followed with a two-run single to right. A grounder to short by Wagner plated the fourth run.
The Chargers cut that lead in half with three runs in the third, all without the benefit of a hit. Jones had breezed through the first two frames without incident, but ran into trouble in the third when he couldn’t find the strike zone. He had five walks during that inning and all three CCS runs scored on wild pitches.
The Chargers added another run in the fourth on a Notre Dame error. Keegan Nieckula walked with two outs and stole second. He then stole third and just kept running when the throw sailed into left field.
Notre Dame got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Sullivan walked and went to third when a pickoff throw to first was wide. He then scored on an infield single by Jones.
A sacrifice fly by Blade Paty drove in John Tinholt with the fifth run for the Chargers in the fifth while a balk allowed Nieckula to score. He had walked and stolen second before going to third on a wild pitch before scoring to make it interesting at 7-6.
It was a little too close for comfort concerning the Irish, so they did something about it by scoring three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Johnston’s double down the line in left got things started before Goeller reached on his second perfect bunt of the game. Courtesy runner Parker Coode then scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Sullivan. An intentional walk to Jones loaded the bases for Charlie Hunt, who responded with a double to left-center to drive in the final two runs.
Keegan Smith, the fifth pitcher for Notre Dame, pitched the final inning and got the final two outs on flies to left and right, respectively, after walking Paty and hitting Bently Banks with a pitch.
Catcher Devin Dobson had the only hit for the Chargers, a one-out double in the fifth.
Nieckula walked his last three times up and scored all three times while Tinholt also scored twice.
Jones was the winning pitcher for the Irish and also had the big bat as he finished with two hits and three RBIs while scoring twice. He didn't allow a hit in three innings while striking out seven and walking five.
Sullivan only had the one hit, but he scored three times and drove in two. Goeller was the only other Notre Dame player with two hits.
Holden Lyons was the losing pitcher for the Chargers after allowing six runs on four hits in two innings as the CCS starter. He also had three walks, one strikeout and one hit batter.
THOSE SIX SENIORS honored before the game began included Sullivan, Jones, Wagner, Smith, Goeller and Johnston.
CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 003 111 0 – 6 1 1
NOTRE DAME 240 103 x – 10 9 2
Lyons, Lindley (3), Visser (6) and Dobson; Jones, Hammond (4), Thomas (6), Nausley (6), Smith (7) and Goeller.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)