Notre Dame High School baseball coach Chris Chiprez had his checklist out Tuesday night.
With the Nikes’ Class 1A district opener slated for Saturday, Chiprez was looking for every possible way for his team to fine-tune things for what they hope will be a deep run.
Chiprez had plenty to be pleased with in the Nikes’ 10-6 non-conference win over Fort Madison in the regular-season finale at Winegard Field.
Hitting? Notre Dame had eight hits, including a double by Landry Haberichter.
Small ball? The Nikes laid down three successful squeeze bunts in the contest.
Pitching? Curtis Randall, Tatum Warner and Maddox Diewold combined on a nine-hitter and all six runs were earned. They struck out five, but the eight walks gave the Nikes 17 free passes in two games.
Fielding? Notre Dame committed just one error, but Chiprez feels there is still room for improvement.
“Overall a victory is a victory. But knowing the postseason is right around the corner, there are some things that we need to tighten up,” Chiprez said.
Notre Dame (14-9) took command early, scoring a run in the first inning and three more in the second.
Haberichter led off the bottom of the first with a walk, stole second, took third on a bunt single by Jeremiah Crow and scored on a ground out by Eli Oleson.
Haberichter doubled in a pair of runs in the second and scampered home on a single by Maddox Diewold, which the Bloodhounds initially thought was a triple play.
Curtis Randall pitched the first four innings for the Nikes, scattering four hits, walking two and striking out three while allowing one run.
“Throwing strikes and getting outs puts momentum for our offense. Momentum carries the game,” Randall said. “I trust the defense behind me. I knew they would make the plays. I just come through on the mound and threw strikes.”
Fort Madison (7-18) stayed within striking distance. Reece Huey pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and six earned runs and walking six.
Micheal Fuller singled in Owen Huffman with the Bloodhounds’ first run in the fourth and Tateum Schelich singled in Aiden Mitchell in the fifth to bring Fort Madison within 4-2.
“I think we’re playing our best baseball of the year. It might not tell it after this game here, but I like where we’re sitting offensively. That’s something we haven’t had all year,” Fort Madison coach Albert Schinstock said. “They’re seeing the ball good. It might not show it from this score here, but I think we’re in a good spot for where we’re at this time of year.”
Notre Dame used small ball to put the game away. Payne Prottsman and Garrison Reid each executed run-scoring bunts in a three-run fifth and Diewold’s successful bunt opened the door for three more Notre Dame runs in the sixth.
“They’re too good of a team to give them that many extra outs,” Schinstock said. “They’ll bunt you to death. They’re good bunters. They’ll take advantage of that. We can’t make those errors.”
“I thought we executed some things there in the fifth inning with the squeeze bunts,” Chiprez said. “But obviously we need to tighten some things up defensively. I think we had another seven or eight walks. We told our pitchers that you have to figure out how to pitch with the lead and let our defense do its thing.”
Fort Madison responded with two runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings before Diewold got Mitchell to ground out and struck out Luke Hellige looking to end the game.
“It’s always good to end your season with a win, especially for our two seniors that we have,” Chiprez said. “The walks and some of the errors. We stress over and over and over again you have to get the outs that are given to you. It’s no more important than postseason. If we can tighten those things up, I feel we have a shot at making a long run.”