‘I had a job to do’: Miller focuses on taming Hannibal’s hitters, not missed opportunity while pushing QND to one-run victory

QUINCY — Bob Seger sang it a half-century ago, but the words remain meaningful today.

In fact, Dalton Miller carried their theme to the mound with him in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday.

Turn the page.

Leading Hannibal by a run in the bottom of the sixth inning at Ferd Niemann Jr. Memorial Ballfield, the Quincy Notre Dame baseball team had the opportunity to pad its advantage after loading the bases with one out and the No. 3 hitter in the order coming to the plate.

That was Miller. The senior right-handed slugger, who had singled twice and driven in a run, worked the count full before flying out to right fielder Tre Hoskins, whose relay throw to home resulted in pinch-runner Evan Kenning getting tagged out for an inning-ending double play.

“Obviously, I was a little frustrated with it,” Miller said.

But he had to turn the page. Immediately.

Called on in the sixth inning to get a five-out save and facing the heart of Hannibal’s order in the seventh, Miller retired the Pirates in order to finish off a 4-3 victory.

“I had a job to do the next inning,” Miller said. “So you have to keep a short-term memory. Move on. I couldn’t let that at-bat affect me on the mound. I had a job to do.”

He did so by pounding the strike zone as 10 of 16 pitches in the inning went for strikes and 15 of his 22 pitches overall found the zone.

“I wanted to get ahead early so I could tickle with my fastball a little bit and tickle with my offspeed stuff,” Miller said. “Keep them off-balance and then blow the fastball by them.”

He knew that wouldn’t be easy. Those three hitters — second baseman Colten Dryden, shortstop Kane Wilson and third baseman Ryan Ross — had combined for 21 RBIs this season with Dryden leading the way with 12.

“In that big of a setting, and obviously I’m playing against my hometown, I knew I had to bring it,” said Miller, who is from Hannibal and played youth league baseball with or against most of the Pirates. “I knew they had some good bats up there in the lineup. So I couldn’t miss very much.”

QND coach Rich Polak knew how treacherous that trio could be.

“That’s the meat of their lineup,” he said.

That didn’t faze Miller. He had struck out seven batters over three innings in two previous appearances, but this was his first save opportunity. He struck out two overall and allowed one hit in 1⅔ innings.

“Dalton is one of those guys where you trust him,” Polak said. “He has good stuff. He’s a guy, when you put him in there, he’s going to do the job for you.”

That’s at the plate, too.

Hannibal (8-5) seized the lead in the top of the first inning, getting a two-out RBI single through the left side of the infield by Alex Friday. QND (8-1) answered in the second with Michael Stupavsky scoring on Nolan Robb’s sacrifice fly, and the Raiders took the lead with two runs in the third.

Tucker Tollerton singled with one out, stole second and scored on Miller’s single to right field. Miller stole second and scored on Brady Kindhart’s double to left field. Another run in the fourth capped QND’s scoring as Mason Winking doubled with one out and scored on Jake Schisler’s single for a 4-1 advantage.

In the fifth, the Pirates greeted Raiders sophomore reliever Abram Wiewel with back-to-back singles before Dryden drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the sixth, Hoskins tripled to center field with one out and Aaron Daughtery followed with a walk, forcing Polak to turn to Miller.

He allowed Bodie Rollins to single to plate a run before getting a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning. Miller then saved the victory for senior right-hander Tyler Dance, who struck out six, walked three and allowed three hits over four innings.

Graysen Crabill took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks over five innings.

“Crabill pitched really well today,” Polak said. “He kept us off-balance. They’ve got some guys who can swing the bat. That’s a really good team.”

The Pirates gave the Raiders the type of test they need.

“We needed a nail-biter to find out who we are,” Miller said. “Whether we like it or not, it feels good winning by 20, but it’s not helping us. Winning close games against good opponents are going to be the deciding factor in what we ultimately do, so a game like this is going to help us later on.”