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Berwick High School's Reed Gonzales pursues a ground ball during game 1 of Berwick's best-of-three series with Iota Thursday. Berwick won the deciding game 3 Friday 9-3 to clinch its third straight trip to the Class 3A semifinals. The No. 4 seed Panthers will meet top seed Sterlington in semifinal action Thursday at 10:30 a.m. at McMurry Park in Sulphur. (The Daily Review/Mico Aloisio)

Berwick tops Iota for 3rd straight semifinal berth

Berwick advanced to Class 3A state semifinals in Sulphur for the third consecutive year by beating Iota 9-3 in a winner-take-away game 3 Friday at Panther Diamond in Berwick.
The Panthers will play top-seeded Sterlington, Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Berwick, the No.4 seed, and Iota, the No.5 seed, split a doubleheader Thursday to setup the deciding game.
Friday, Iota jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with Berwick starter Rustin Ratcliff struggling to find the strike zone. The Bulldogs sent eight batters to the plate, stranding three runners on the base path.
“At first they were hitting me, and I had a few walks, so I tried keep my composure and throw strikes,” Ratcliff said. “(I) tried to let them hit the ball and get outs.”
Iota added another run in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead before Berwick plated a run in the bottom of the third inning.
Berwick leadoff hitter Mitchell Sanford and Hunter Landry both singled, and Brett Williams popped out, scoring Sanford.
Berwick trailed 3-1 until the fifth inning.
Sanford singled again, and Landry walked before Chad Lagrange double to plate both runs and tie the game at 3.
Sanford was 3-for-4 at the plate, and he scored three runs from the leadoff spot.
“I know a lot of my teammates look up to me, so I wanted to come out aggressive and hopefully they would follow my lead,” Sanford said. “Going to Sulphur never gets old. It’s an amazing experience.”
The Panthers added another run on Williams’ single to right field.
Iota was forced to go to its bullpen, sending Nick Duplechain to the mound. Berwick continued to pound the baseball with two outs, adding an RBI single by Zeph Delatte for a 5-3 lead.
Iota’s first two batters reached in the sixth inning on a walk and a hit by pitch, prompting Berwick to go to its bullpen. Ratcliff threw 5.2 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with three base on balls and four strikeouts.
The Panther’s sent freshman Clay Menard to the mound.
Menard got Iota’s Eric Guillet to ground out to get out of the sixth inning.
“I knew coming in as a freshman that a lot of guys are stronger than me, so I had to be mentally strong,” Menard said. “And I knew that my teammates had my back, so I just tried to make good pitches.”
Berwick added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth when Lagrange singled in two runs with two outs to give the Panthers a 7-3 lead.
Williams reached on a throwing error, scoring two more runs for a 9-3 Berwick lead.
Menard gave up a single to open the seventh inning, but the Panthers erased the base runner on a double play to bring Berwick to the brink of victory.
Menard regrouped and struck out the last batter to end the game.
“I give a lot of credit to Iota,” Berwick Coach Brandon Bravata said. “They had a lot of heart and talent over there, so it was an honor to play them. … But our team fights, and we did that the last two games, and we never panicked.”
Other leading hitters for Berwick were Lagrange, 3-for-4 with five RBIs and two runs; Williams, 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run; and Delatte, 2-for-4 with an RBI.

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