Notre Dame Starts Fast to Finish Harvard

The temperature is not all that has cooled since last weekend. Less than a week after upsetting highly-rated Arcadia, Harvard High was cold cocked by Notre Dame in a San Fernando Valley League baseball game Wednesday at Balboa Park.

The Knights scored six runs in the first three innings on their way to an 8-2 victory in the league opener for both teams. Notre Dame (14-1 overall) had six hits, including two doubles, in the first three innings.

“They’ve got a heck of an offensive lineup,” Harvard Coach Jim Brink said of Notre Dame.

Said Notre Dame outfielder Chris Lohman, who has a team-high 22 runs batted in: “We have a great hitting lineup. We’ll get the hits, there’s no doubt about it.”

The Knights wasted no time Wednesday. Kevin Crosby doubled to the left-field gap on the first pitch and came around to score on Lohman’s sacrifice fly two batters later.

Bobby Hughes followed with a walk, then scored on Kevin Milligan’s double.

“We started the game well,” Notre Dame Coach Bob Mandeville said. “Crosby set the tone for our offense.”

Crosby also started the Knights’ four-run third inning with a walk. Chad Ratliff singled, Crosby and Ratliff each stole a base and Lohman singled both runners home.

A sacrifice fly and an error accounted for Notre Dame’s two other runs in the inning.

Lohman also knocked in the Knights’ final run in the sixth inning, giving the senior outfielder two hits, two walks and four RBIs for the game.

“He’s a clutch hitter,” Mandeville said of Lohman. “When he’s going good, it’s hard to find a guy with a better stroke than his.”

Notre Dame pitcher Cary Wichmann shut down the Saracens to benefit from the offensive support. The sophomore right-hander struck out four of the first six batters he faced and allowed only four hits and one run in five innings.

“He was overpowering us for a little while,” Brink said of Wichmann. “We’ve seen some good pitching, but day in and day out, we don’t see that kind of pitching.”

Trailing, 7-0, Harvard (6-9) scored a run in the fourth inning on a double by Robby Thayer and an RBI single by Marty Holly. But Wichmann struck out two batters to get out of the inning.