SHS clips Notre Dame

Sikeston's Scott Drodd dives back to first base.

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs clinched at least a share of the SEMO Conference regular season championship as they defeated Notre Dame 2-1 on Monday at VFW Stadium.

The game was originally scheduled for March 20 but inclement weather kept getting the contest pushed back on the schedule.

Sikeston (16-6) rallied from a 1-0 deficit and won the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when Josh Jackson led off with a double. He scored the game-winning run when Nick Lambert drove a 0-2 curve ball into left centerfield.

"We didn't hit a lot of balls hard but those were a couple hard hit balls to win it," Sikeston coach Kevin Self said. "I think the pressure was off a little bit once Josh doubled because we had a guy at second with nobody out. Nine times out of 10 we ought to score from that point. Nick didn't get the bunt down, but he got a pitch to hit when Drury made a mistake. He threw an 0-2 pitch, hung a breaking ball and Nick just drove it."

If the Bulldogs win that game they will win the conference outright, one game ahead of second place Dexter.

Sikeston's Jerod Scott throws a pitch.

Notre Dame, which defeated Sikeston 3-2 in a game that didn't count towards conference standings two weeks ago, got a strong performance on the mound from sophomore hurler Dylan Drury, but it was Sikeston's Jerod Scott that proved to be unhittable in a relief role.

"He threw extremely well," Self said of Scott. "His change up was good today. His breaking ball was sharp today. His fastball had good pop. He had more pop on his fastball than I've seen in a while. He's a senior and he sees that this is it. He understands this is his last couple starts if we don't turn it up a notch."

Scott came in for relief of starter Joey Williams in the third inning. Scott allowed just one base runner, who reached after striking out when the ball got away from the catcher. Other than that, he was perfect, striking out nine of the 15 batters he faced.

"He's probably their No. 1 pitcher," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said. "He did a tremendous job of keeping them in the ballgame and giving them an opportunity to win. We're going to have to make some adjustments to hit him. He threw his curve ball and fastball for strikes and he kept our hitters off balance."

Notre Dame struck first in the top of the third inning when Drury hit a long flyball to right centerfield. Sikeston centerfielder Jackson was able to get a glove on the ball as he reached the hill, but couldn't secure the flyball as it dropped, allowing Abe Dirnberger to score.

Williams then walked the next batter to load the bases, forcing Self to make the switch to Scott, who got out of the jam with a strike out and a pop out.

"Joey just didn't have his best stuff today," said Self. "The reason I took him out is because he was behind every hitter. He was 2-0, 2-1 on every hitter and they were fixing to start teeing off. They missed some pitches. He didn't have it and I couldn't wait because basically the conference championship's on the line. Jerod was available and he came in and really shut them down."

Sikeston had opportunities to score but stranded seven runners in the first three innings.

Drury stayed in and out of trouble for most of the game, but the Notre Dame defense was solid behind him with no errors.

"He walked several guys early and we had opportunities but we just never could get a hit," said Self. "We had stolen bases and had guys at second with one out but we couldn't get it done."

The Bulldogs finally broke through to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on Seth Baker's single to bring in Josh Pierce, who was courtesy running for Chase Ferrell.

Drury threw six-plus innings in taking the loss. He allowed two runs off seven hits with four strikeouts and five walks.

"I thought that was the best baseball Dylan Drury has thrown all year for us," said Graviett. "He is capable of pitching like this every day. He has a tendency to work behind hitters but today he got ahead of them. He probably ran out of gas at the end, but I wanted to push him. He's a sophomore and I wanted to see what he could bring to us in the seventh inning. We came on the short side of it but I thought we played a pretty good game."

Dirnberger went 2-4 with a run and a stolen base for Notre Dame. Drury had the Bulldogs' only other hit.

Jackson went 2-3 with a run and a steal for Sikeston.

Williams got a no-decision in 2 1/3 innings of work, allowing three hits with two walks and one strikeout. Scott threw 4 2/3 innings to pick up the win.

Notre Dame falls to 11-9 on the season and 4-4 in conference play.

The Kennett Indians forfeited Friday's makeup game with Sikeston, so the Bulldogs are now 7-1 in league play with one conference game left Wednesday at New Madrid County Central.

The Sikeston junior varsity team defeated Notre Dame 8-5.

Sikeston (7-5) hurler Charlie Bohannon was the winning pitcher, throwing 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs off seven hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Logan Kirkpatrick threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run off three hits with a strikeout and two walks.

Sikeston was led by Jordan Williams' two hits and an RBI.

Josh Carlyle added a solo home run.

Jason Issacs, Darin Dicus and Steven Beydler each had a hit with Dicus also recording an RBI. Vince Howard also had an RBI.

Sikeston 2, Notre Dame 1

WP - Jerod Scott. LP - Dylan Drury. 2B - Josh Jackson (S). Nick Lambert (S). Multiple hitters - Dirnberger 2-4 (ND). Jackson 2-3 (S). Records - Sikeston 16-6. Notre Dame 11-9.