Ratliff Beats Alemany With Gentle Dispatch

Chad Ratliff was fielding questions in front of Notre Dame High’s dugout after he and the Knights had defeated Alemany, 4-3, when a query arose as to whether he was disappointed with his final at-bat.

“Disappointed?” Ratliff echoed, then laughed heartily. “Definitely not disappointed.”

Ratliff’s one-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday did not exactly take a divot from the left-center field turf, but the blooper over shortstop was the game-winner nevertheless. It scored Tony Ljubetic from second base and earned Notre Dame (5-4) a victory in its Del Rey League opener.

Alemany, which lost its fourth consecutive game after a 6-0 start is 0-2 in league play.

“I felt real confident,” Ratliff said. “Even though I was 0 for 3 and hadn’t hit the ball well, I felt confident.

“It dropped, and that’s all that mattered.”

Ljubetic started the inning with a one-out drive down the left-field line. Alemany left-fielder Ray Cano’s throw to second bounced over the glove of second baseman Mark Scott for an error, and Ljubetic, who looked like he would be out by several feet, was safe.

After a walk, Ratliff, a junior second baseman, fluttered in his single, his 15th hit in 31 at-bats this season. He has driven home eight runs in nine games.

Notre Dame had tied the score, 3-3, in the sixth. Matt McElreath reached first when Joey Rosselli’s third-strike pitch was wild. He went to third on Jeff Antoon’s single to right and scored on Bobby Hughes’ sacrifice fly to center.

Notre Dame starter Mike Peterson (2-2) shut out Alemany after the fourth inning but needed superior defense in the seventh. With runners on first and third, Cano attempted to squeeze home the go-ahead run. Knight first baseman Kevin Milligan fielded the bunt on one hop and rifled a throw to catcher Hughes that just nipped John Lite.

“It was the turning point,” Notre Dame Coach Bob Mandeville said. “It was a close play and, fortunately, the call went our way.”