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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: Udewitz pitches Berkeley Carroll to playoff win

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See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

Berkeley Carroll’s Jacob Udewitz noticed something in between the bottom of the sixth inning and top of the seventh that gave him even more motivation to get the final three outs of his Lions’ playoff game.

The lefty starter saw right fielder Anthony Spina warming up in the bullpen as an insurance policy if Udewitz put the Lions three-run lead in jeopardy. In the end, he needed no such help.

Udewitz, who pitches to contact, fanned just one batter in the previous six innings, but struck out the first two in the seventh on his way to closing out a 3–0 win over Birch Wathen Lenox in the quarterfinals of the private school state baseball tournament on Monday at MCU Park.

“I didn’t want to give coach any doubts out there,” said Udewitz, who scattered four hits. “ I wanted to go out there an finish strong.”

He got plenty of help from his defense to in keeping Birch Wathen Lenox off the board. Udewitz kept his fastball, change-up, and curveball down. The undefeated Lions (20–0) turned three double plays behind him and first baseman Max Jen made numerous difficult scoops on low throws.

“That allows me to just pound the zone, keep my pitch count down and keep my tempo up knowing I have a great defense behind me,” Udewitz said.

His teammates used small ball against Birch Wathen Lenox starter Davis Neiger to give Udewitz a 3–0 lead after three innings. The Lions scored a run in each frame. Spina delivered a sacrifice fly that plated Richard Palacios in the first inning. A Chris Baumann ground brought in Yanai Feldman in the second and Spina’s sac fly scored Robert Graham for the game’s final run.

Coach Walter Paller wasn’t happy with his team’s performance at the plate and knew things would need to be better in a semifinal matchup with Poly Prep. The Lions couldn’t get the big hit to break open the game, especially when they had two on with one out in the seventh and couldn’t score. Berkeley Carroll stole six bases to put runners in scoring position, but did not capitalize enough in their coach’s mind.

“That was inefficiency,” Paller said. “The little things are also not striking out with the infield in. It’s either knocking them over and getting them in or getting a fly ball against a guy throwing 74 miles per hour. It was not a very good game for use offensively.”

One of the reasons for the lack of offensive production is the fact the Berkeley Carroll hasn’t seen a top-of-the-line starter in a few weeks and it has the hitters out of sync a bit at the plate. Spina wasn’t concerned with it being a problem the rest of the tournament.

“I think our guys are ready, we’re focused and we are ready to go [adjust] and play our game,” Spina said.

Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.

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