Baseball: Tristan Klier generates excitement with home run

Everywhere Sherman Oaks Notre Dame junior baseball player Tristan Klier seems to go with his girlfriend, Disney actress Bella Thorne, usually means cameras nearby.

But on Friday night, with Notre Dame’s season hanging in the balance, Klier produced his own memorable moment, hitting a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Culver City, 3-1. It gives Notre Dame a 13-12 record and means the Knights only need to find a way to defeat Harvard-Westlake on Tuesday or Thursday to be considered for a Southern Section Division 1 playoff berth.

“There haven’t been very many home runs hit at night at our place,” Notre Dame Coach Tom Dill said. “When he hit it, I assumed it wasn’t going to get out. It was half way up the net. It was a bomb. It was exciting.”

Klier is a junior outfielder, part of a group of promising underclassmen that Dill believes will make Notre Dame a strong team for next season. But first up is a road game against Harvard-Westlake ace Jack Flaherty, then a regular-season finale at home.

Look out for celebrity sightings.