Kindhart stays in ball-meets-barrel groove as QND baseball team keeps piling up victories

QUINCY — With each swing he took, Brady Kindhart sensed he was inching closer to where ball and barrel would meet in harmony.

Once that happened, the Quincy Notre Dame junior third baseman has done nothing but string hits together.

Friday, he bookended the Raiders’ 14th consecutive victory with sweet-spot connections.

Kindhart delivered a run-scoring single as part of a five-run second inning that gave QND the lead, and he ended the 13-1, four-inning victory over Marceline (Mo.) with a two-run walk-off home run into the teeth of a strong wind blowing out of west on the first night of the QND/Palmyra Spring Slam at the Ferd.

It was Kindhart’s third home run in the last three games.

“I was at a low point in the season,” Kindhart said. “It was the middle of the year and I wasn’t hitting. I found a way to get back in a groove, and the boys kept putting me in position to come through. Everything just fell back into place.”

It reaffirms how deep QND’s lineup is.

The top four in the Raiders’ order went a combined 2 for 8 with two runs scored, while the bottom fiver were a combined 8 for 10 with 11 runs scored and eight RBIs. 

“Everybody’s had a good attitude,” Kindhart said. “We’ve just come ready to play this week. We’re playing really well.”

Kindhart epitomizes that. After going 2 for 14 in his previous five games, he is 5 for 6 with a triple, three home runs, seven runs scored, 10 RBIs, two walks and a hit by pitch in the last three games. 

It all comes back to grinding through the tough to enjoy the big moments.

“That’s the game of baseball,” Kindhart said. “It’s ups and downs.”

One thing that has been consistent throughout the season is solid starting pitching, and Evan Kenning’s effort Friday was no different.

The right-hander allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts and one walk. The Tigers scored a single run in the third inning and got the leadoff hitter on base in the fourth with a single, but Kenning retired the final four batters he faced.

The Raiders (23-2) put the cap on the victory in the bottom of the frame.

Alex Connoyer led off with a walk, Harry Oden singled and Jake Schisler followed with a two-run double to left field. Kindhart followed with his home run to deep left field.

QND finished with 10 hits as Schisler went 3 for 3 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs, while Oden went 2 for 2 with three runs scored and was hit by a pitch.

“We played the ball around the ballpark. That’s what we do,” Kindhart said. “Our approach has been good all week. Our approach, for the most part, has been good all year. That’s one thing about this club, we’re a good hitting team.”