advertisement

Zahn keeps Warren in the running

Brad Zahn's day on the bases started with an unnecessary sprint around first base.

It ended with the unsuspecting slugger making a mad dash across home plate. Which was necessary.

Michael Rosenberg's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth scored Zahn and gave Warren a 5-4 win over visiting Notre Dame in a nonconference baseball game Tuesday. Rosenberg's heroics also provided the 7-2 Blue Devils with their second walk-off victory in as many days, after Ben Perner's seventh-inning sacrifice fly beat Geneva.

"It's good to come out with a win," Rosenberg said.

"The thing about the kids on this team is that they take coaching," Warren coach Clint Smothers said. "They come out and compete every day. We don't have to tell them to do this or that."

Warren's coaches worked with Zahn before the game on staying back in the batter's box, and they saw their coaching pay quick dividends. Zahn, a 5-foot-7 senior outfielder, led off the Blue Devils' first inning with his first varsity home run. He fell behind 2 strikes against Dons lefty Scott Kutschke before crushing a curveball over the fence in left field, tying the score at 1-1.

"My original instinct was just to go the other way with it and try to push it to right," Zahn said. "He just hung it up and in, and I turned on it. I didn't know it was out until I was halfway around first base. My first base coach was yelling at me to keep going - 'Head down, run!' I looked up and saw the left fielder stopped running. Bench was going crazy, so I figured it was gone."

Facing Ranko Steovavovic - Notre Dame's ninth pitcher - with one out and none on in the ninth, Zahn started Warren's winning rally by hitting a groundball that was bobbled by the third baseman. The umpire ruled a hustling Zahn barely beat the throw.

The error was Notre Dame's sixth, matching Warren's total for the game.

"I just put my head down and ran through the bag," Zahn said. "It felt really close. Bang, bang. I thought I was safe. Tie goes to the runner."

Arkansas-commit Matt Burch (2-for-4) then bounced a single down the first-base line, and Zahn hustled to third. That brought up Rosenberg, who singled and walked earlier.

"He left the curveball up so I decided to go for it and swing," said Rosenberg, whose flyball to center field plated a sliding Zahn.

The junior catcher has been delivering with both his bat and arm for the Blue Devils. Rosenberg caught all nine innings against Notre Dame (2-1) and threw out a pair of base runners.

"He's been playing real well behind the dish and has been putting the ball in play when he's been up," Smothers said. "He's worked his butt off."

Bradley-bound Andrew Hill started on the mound for Warren, and the ace was seeking his first win of the year after getting little offensive support in his first two starts of the season. The right-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs, none of which were earned, while striking out three and walking three.

"He didn't have his best stuff, but he competed on the mound," Smothers said. "(Notre Dame) is a quality team and has a quality coach (Nelson Gord). Andrew came out and he battled."

Ryan Davila smoked an RBI double and Sean Hannigan lifted a sacrifice fly in Warren's 3-run fourth, before Notre Dame pulled even at 4-4 with 2 runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. Lefty Scott Gordon (3-0) picked up the win, allowing just 2 hits in 2 2/3 innings.

"Scottie Gordon did a great job keeping these guys off-balance, throwing the change where it runs away," Smothers said. "He kept us in the game."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.