Dubuque Hempstead senior Nick Barker had one previous at-bat in his varsity career when he stepped to the plate with one out in the top of the seventh inning of a tie game against Xavier on Monday night at Ken Charipar Field.

"I struck out," Barker said.

But not this time.

Barker pushed a bunt past Xavier junior pitcher Mack Mattke for a single, courtesy runner Mitch Brimeyer made it to second base on a groundout and Sean Fitzgerald ripped a liner down the left-field line for a run-scoring single that lifted Hempstead past Xavier, 9-8, in a Class 4A substate semifinal baseball game.

Hempstead (21-18) advances to play Kennedy (30-8) in the substate final Wednesday at Kennedy at 7 p.m.

Xavier finished its season 26-11.

Barker came into the game as a relief pitcher in the bottom of the sixth inning and set the Saints down after Nate Even had blooped a leadoff double. Barker was then the second batter for the Mustangs in the seventh inning.

Hempstead Coach Jeff Rapp said he thought about pinch-hitting for Barker, who then would have been out of the game.

"We felt we needed to send him back out to the mound," Rapp said of Barker. "He was certainly our best option on the hill. We thought that if we got a runner on, that he would certainly bunt. I didn't know he was going to bunt for a hit there, but he put it in a perfect spot."

Barker said he opted for the bunt when he saw Xavier junior first baseman Kevin Hosch playing back.

"I haven't had too many at-bats so I thought (the bunt) was the best chance that I had," Barker said.

The bunt did not rattle Mattke, Xavier's third pitcher of the night. He got Aaron Collins on a grounder to short, but Brimeyer, running for Barker, got a jump from first base and there was no play on him at second.

Fitzgerald fouled off a 1-ball, 2-strike pitch before turning on a hanging curveball and lacing it down the line.

"I left it up," said a terse Mattke, who allowed only the one run and fanned three in his three innings of work. "It is more disappointing that I did this on the seniors. That is the most disappointing thing. It hurts not going to state and winning here, and all that stuff. But it hurts most letting my seniors down."

Barker (5-2) walked Hosch leading off the bottom of the seventh, then retired the next three batters to end the game.

While the ball was in Mattke's hand when the deciding blow was struck, the Saints spotted Hempstead far too many runs in the early innings. Hempstead scored three runs in the first inning and four in the third for a 7-0 lead that went to 8-1 in the fourth. The Mustangs tagged Xavier starter Dane Mehring for eight hits over 2 1/3 innings and normally sure-handed Saints shortstop Blake Helms committed three errors.

"We're normally a better fielding club and we just didn't make the plays," Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel said. "I didn't know if it was the humidity or what, but we just didn't seem to be able to get a grip on the ball ... It was just one of those nights."

And, yet, it was nearly one of those nights for the Saints, who parachuted three hits into medium right field just off the foul line during a six-run fifth inning that tied the game, 8-8. Helms capped the inning with a two-out, bases-clearing bloop double that knotted the score.

"We finally got a few to fall," Schemmel said. "It was unreal."

If it was unreal for Schemmel standing in the third-base coaching box, it was downright freakish for Hempstead right fielder Adam Kennedy, who came up empty on three diving tries.

"They'd get a bloop hit that would drop in for them, then they'd smoke one right at me," said Kennedy, who tumbled hard to the turf diving for Helms' hit. "I played deep to prevent doubles and triples, and then they'd just dropped them in there. So what can you do?"

Kennedy got an easy fly ball off Helm's bat to end the game.

"One right to me, that was nice," he said.

Hempstead had 10 of its 12 hits over the first four innings in building an 8-1 lead.

Xavier collected four of its seven hits in the six-run fifth inning. The Saints also loaded the bases in the third and fourth innings, but managed only one run in each frame. The Saints were the beneficiaries of seven bases on balls and three hit batsmen.

"It comes down to spotting those guys seven runs," Schemmel said.

HEMPSTEAD (9)
Sean Fitzgerald, ss, 3 1 2 2, Kyle Wiest, cf-3b, 5 1 1 2, Adam Kennedy, rf, 4 1 2 1, Cody Leach, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Andrew Seymour, pr, 0 1 0 0, Brad Duwe, p-cf, 3 0 1 1, Chad Crabill, c, 4 0 1 0, Pete Keleher, cr, 0 1 0 0, Nick Johnson, lf, 4 1 2 0, Ben George, 3b, 2 1 0 1, Jake Bortscheller, p, 0 0 0 0, Nick Barker, p, 1 0 1 0, Mitch Brimeyer, cr, 0 1 0 0, Aaron Collins, dh, 3 1 1 0. Nick Stevenson, 2b, 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 9 12 8.

XAVIER (8)
Blake Helms, ss, 4 0 1 3, Corbin Woods, 3b, 3 1 1 0, Nate Even, 2b, 3 1 2 1, Mack Mattke, 1b-p, 4 0 1 0, Colin Brown, cr, 0 2 0 0, Alex Ries, cf, 2 2 0 1, Bryce Grimm, lf, 2 0 0 1, Dane Mehring, p, 0 0 0 0, Tyler Hines, p, 0 0 0 0, Kevin Hosch, 1b, 2 1 1 0, Eric Zenisek, rf, 3 1 1 1, Colby Brecht, c, 2 0 0 1, Andrew Sodawasser, cr, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 8 7 8.

Hempstead  304 100 1 -  9  12 0
Xavier         001 160 0 -  8   7  3

Duwe, Bortscheller (5), Barker (6) and Crabill. Mehring, Hines (3), Mattke (5) and Brecht. W - Barker (5-2). L - Mattke (5-3). 2B - Leach, Helms, Even.