Notre Dame Throws Itself into Picture in 12-2 Victory

There’s plenty to discuss about Notre Dame High’s offense after the Knights had 15 hits in a 12-2 victory Friday over South Hills in a Southern Section Division IV baseball quarterfinal game at Notre Dame.

But one thing the Knights didn’t have to worry about was getting into a slugfest because pitchers Daniel Browne and Matt Kohon continually frustrated the Huskies.

“Everyone keeps saying that we don’t have the pitching, but time after time [our pitchers] show they can do it,” said shortstop Jonathon Brewster, who was three for three with five runs batted in. “Daniel and Matt work as hard as they can and they make pitches to get ground-ball outs.

“Everybody did a great job. It was a huge team win.”

The Knights will play Ridgecrest Burroughs, a 3-1 winner over Chaminade, on Tuesday. The location will be determined by a coin flip today.

The third through sixth hitters for Notre Dame (18-9) were seven for nine with six RBIs and scored six runs--through five innings.

The obvious occurred in the sixth. Chris Dickerson, who bats third, doubled for his third consecutive hit, Brendan Ryan flied out to deep center to advance Dickerson, and Matt Cunningham and Brewster doubled to finish the rout.

Factor in Alec Moss, who bats second and had a home run in the second, and Steve Moss, who bats seventh and had a run-scoring bunt in the first and had a run-scoring single in the third, and the heart of the order was nearly unstoppable.

It wouldn’t have mattered if the Knights hadn’t scored after their five-run first. Browne pitched 3 1/3 innings, scattering seven hits, striking out three and walking two. He allowed a run in the first on a bases-loaded walk with two out.

After Browne walked a batter to put two runners on in the fourth, Kohon came in and induced two consecutive groundballs. An error on the second grounder allowed the other South Hills run.

But the Huskies (19-7), perennial playoff participants who won section championships in 1997 and ‘98, had only a bloop double and seven singles.

“That was one of our best [performances] of the year,” said Coach Tim Dill of Notre Dame. “We were selective at the plate, so we were going deep into the count.”

The fifth was the only inning Notre Dame didn’t score. Left-hander Ricky Pijuanwent 3 1/3 innings and gave up nine hits and eight earned runs. Every time either Pijuan or Jason Carr left a pitch up or over the plate, the Knights capitalized.

Cunningham finished three for three with three RBIs, three runs and a walk. Ryan had two hits and an RBI.