By MATT SCHUCKMAN

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

Timothy Haley didn't want to assume too much.

Although his spot in the rotation was due to pitch Monday night, the Quincy Notre Dame junior right-hander waited for Raiders coach Chris Martin to fill out the lineup card before starting his pregame routine.

By then, he had to work in hurry-up mode.

Haley found out he was starting five minutes before warmups, which may have been to his benefit as he retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced and tossed a three-hitter in a 3-1 victory at Quincy High School.

"I really didn't have any time to get nervous," Haley said.

Nor did he have time to scout who he was facing.

"Throw strikes, keep it low," Haley said. "That's what I was thinking."

It worked well. He allowed one earned run, struck out four, walked two and stranded four runners.

"The one thing we've tried to emphasize with Tim is that he doesn't have to go so deep into counts all the time," Martin said. "He has pretty good stuff and he's gotten better as the season has gone on."

The Raiders seem to be doing that, too.

QND (13-7) has won five of its last six games, posting three shutouts and allowing only three runs thanks largely to its defense.

The infield was responsible for 15 putouts Monday night, including turning a double play on a popped up bunt.

Third baseman Blaise Haxel said that's a result of pitchers consistently throwing strikes.

"It keeps our defense on their toes," Haxel said. "It keeps us ready to go and let's us make plays."

Haxel is making plays in every regard.

Leading off the second inning, he worked the count to 3-1 before hammering an Adam Bailey fastball deep over the left-center field fence for a 1-0 lead.

"I had a hunch," Haxel said of the pitch. "I got exactly what I was looking for."

Two innings later, Bailey made a better pitch to Haxel, but it resulted in another run being scored.

Brandon Miles led off the inning by hitting a fly ball to left field that eluded the Blue Devils' Logan Wilson and allowed Miles to end up at third base.

Haxel followed by dumping a line drive into center field that QHS's John Wert snared with a spectacular diving catch.

Still, it allowed courtesy runner Brett Cramsey to score.

"And right now, every run is like gold," Martin said.

Runs are just as precious for QHS (2-19).

In the bottom of the fourth, Wilson made amends for his error by belting a stand-up triple into the right-center field gap. Andrew Moulton followed with a single to left field to trim the lead to 2-1.

However, it was the only inning the Blue Devils had two or more runners on base.

"We need to get hits," Bailey said. "Definitely, definitely."

Bailey could have used them.

In his third varsity appearance against QND in the last two years, the senior left-hander again held his own. He allowed one earned run and four hits, struck out four and walked two in seven innings.

Last year, he pitched five scoreless innings of relief against QND, earning a victory and a save.

"We just didn't produce offensively for him," QHS coach Randy Mettemeyer said.

That's a familiar refrain. It's the 11th time this season the Blue Devils have been held to less than two runs as they lost their 17th in a row.

"We have to find a way to win a game," Mettemeyer said. "We've been trying different things, trying different lineups. We can't wait for breaks to come our way. We have to make our own."

-- mschuckman@whig.com/221-3366