Milligan Keeps Notre Dame in Thick of Del Rey Race

Not often is a player afforded such an early shot at redemption, so when Kevin Milligan was given a second opportunity Friday, the Notre Dame High sophomore jumped at it.

Actually, he jumped at a 2-and-1 fastball from Loyola’s Tommy Martin. The resultant hit fell into the gap in right-center field to drive in the winning run in the eighth inning of the Knights’ 4-3 victory at Notre Dame.

The outcome clogged the top of the Del Rey League standings: Notre Dame, Loyola and Alemany have 6-4 records with two league games left.

“It was either going to be a big win or a real big loss,” said Milligan, who left a runner on third with two out in the seventh in an 8-7 loss Wednesday to Crespi.

Had the Knights lost, they would have fallen two games behind Loyola and a game behind Alemany. Instead, the race remains wide open going into the last week of the regular season.

“This was as big a game as we’ve had,” Notre Dame Coach Bob Mandeville said. “All we have to do now is worry about our two games and we’ll be all right. All we have to worry about is Notre Dame.”

The loss exasperated Loyola Coach Kelly Nicholson, who saw a 3-1 advantage slip through the fingers of his ace--Martin--on Jeff Antoon’s two-run homer in the fifth.

“This is the toughest loss I’ve ever experienced as a coach,” Nicholson said. “We had ‘em, 3-1, and Tommy’s pitching a good ballgame. Now the league’s a mess and we’re back in a dogfight.”

The Cubs (12-8) hit Notre Dame starter Rob Kostenbader hard in the early innings, including three doubles in the second that gave Loyola a 2-0 lead. Art Saldivar led off with a drive down the left-field line and Sean Chatman followed with a bouncer over Antoon’s head at third that scored Saldivar. After a groundout, Tim Heinen doubled into the gap in right-center field.

Notre Dame (15-9) got one run back in the fourth when Martin threw high to first after fielding a chopper, allowing Bobby Hughes to score from third.

Loyola’s Troy Burnett tripled to lead off the fifth and scored on Jason Evans’ sacrifice fly to left field, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

But Notre Dame’s Chris Lohman doubled with one out in the fifth, and, one out later, Antoon hit a Martin fastball 360 feet over the left-field fence. It was his third homer of the season.

“I owed myself that one,” Antoon said. “I’ve hit the ball well all year and they haven’t been dropping. I had to hit one out to get it away from the players.”

That was also the juncture at which the game got away from the Cubs and into the hands of Milligan, who had plenty on his mind when he approached the plate in the eighth. Kostenbader, aboard on a fielder’s choice, was at second.

“I was up at the plate, thinking, ‘Don’t do Crespi, don’t do Crespi,’ ” Milligan said. “I got up there and thought I want to hit the ball deep and someplace far.”

He did, and, as a result, Notre Dame is someplace big--tied for first.