CRESPI CAN'T CELEBRATE YET; HORWITZ, N.D. PLAY SPOILER : NOTRE DAME 3, CRESPI 2.

Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer

For weeks, he was a forgotten player. Then John Horwitz went out and provided an unforgettable moment.

Horwitz hit the first pitch from Crespi's Tim Leveque into the gap in right-center field to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh to give Notre Dame an emotional 3-2 Mission League victory at home Friday afternoon.

The double, which probably would have gone over a temporary fence in right that was not set up for the game, capped a three-hit day for Horwitz, a junior who missed five weeks this season with a broken hand.

``It's the first game-winning hit in my life,'' Horwitz said. ``It felt good.''

The Celts, ranked No. 3 by the Daily News, could have won the league title outright with a win. Instead, Crespi (18-5-1, 9-1) was denied its goal of going undefeated in league.

Notre Dame (12-9-1, 4-3-1) enhanced its playoff chances and broke a four-game league losing streak.

``The last couple of weeks of practice had been pretty depressing,'' said the Knights' Kevin Jerkens, who picked up the win in relief. ``(Our) confidence was a little down.''

Jerkens gave up a two-out triple in the top of the seventh to Luke Worgan. But then he got Brian Horwitz, John's cousin, to fly out.

Along with the other Notre Dame seniors, Jerkens experienced his first win over the Celts. Notre Dame hadn't beaten Crespi since 1994.

Leveque (6-1) only gave up five hits and struck out five. He gave up an RBI single to Brendan Ryan in the fourth and allowed Horwitz to score on a wild pitch in the fifth.

The junior right-hander was trying to help the Celts' win the league title on the field where he once watched his older brother Chris play for Notre Dame. Chris Leveque was an all-section player for the Knights in 1993.