Berwick dominates Jennings en route to series sweep

No. 4 Berwick advanced to the Class 3A baseball quarterfinal round for the second straight season after taking a series with No. 13 Jennings, 2-0, in Berwick.
After winning game 1, 13-1, Friday in five innings, the Panthers took game 2 Saturday, 10-0, in five innings in the best-of-three series.
In Saturday’s closeout game, Berwick’s standout pitcher Kyle Pitre continued his stellar play, throwing all five innings and surrendering just one run on one hit with two walks with four strikeouts.
“We pitched well in both games and had just two errors in the series, and that’s what you want to hear this time of year,” Berwick’s first-year coach Brandon Bravata said. “And the year that Kyle has had, has been incredible. He works so hard, and that kid deserves every bit of the success he’s had.”
Berwick’s bats also remained hot, pounding out 12 hits as the Panthers grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning batting as the visiting team.
Jennings (17-11) answered with its only run of the series in the bottom of the first inning.
Berwick (25-8) added two runs in the second and five in the third to push the lead to 10-0.
“My guys pitched pretty well today,” Jennings coach James Estes said Saturday. “You have to give it to Berwick. Those guys can swing the stick. We were trying to locate the outer half of the plate, trying to keep the ball down low in the zone, etc., but even with those types of pitches, they were driving balls into the gaps.
“They hit the ball well all the way through the lineup,” Estes added. “I knew the first four would be tough, and they didn’t hurt us today. It was the rest of their order that killed us.”
The Panthers added a single run in the fourth and two in the fifth inning.
Leading hitter for Berwick were: Mitchell Sanford 3 for 4, a double, a triple, two runs, a stolen base and two RBIs; Patrick Robertson, 2 for 2, a double, a triple, two runs and two RBIs; Lucas Hatch and Pitre, each 2-for-4 with an RBI; Brett Williams, 1-for-2, a run, an RBI and a stolen base; Reid Wiley, 1-for-2, a triple, a run and three RBIs; and Kyle Boudreaux, 1-for-3, a run, a stolen base and three RBIs.
Kole Myers suffered the loss. In two innings, he surrendered nine runs (eight earned) on eight hits with one walk and one strikeout.
Nick Zeman had Jennings’ lone hit as he finished 1-for-2.
Berwick will continue postseason action this weekend when it hosts No. 5 Eunice (29-8) in a best-of-three series. Game 1 is set for Friday at 6 p.m., while game 2 will be played Saturday at noon. If necessary, a third game will be played Saturday at 3 p.m.
Eunice advanced to the quarterfinals after sweeping No. 12 North Vermilion, Berwick’s district foe, 2-0. The Bobcats won game 1, 12-2, in six innings and took game 2, 6-2.
Berwick 10, Jennings 0 (Game 1)
Berwick High School began the weekend series with Jennings Friday with a 10-0 run-rule victory in five innings.
The Panthers did all of their damage in three separate innings, scoring two runs in the second, three in the third and five more in the fifth to end the game via the 10-run mercy rule.
In the bottom of the second, the Panthers scored a run on Robertson’s RBI-triple, while Boudreaux followed with an RBI groundout to second base.
The Panthers added three more in the third as after Jennings pitcher Nick Zeman walked the bases loaded, Pitre drove in the Panthers’ base runners with a bases-clearing double for a 5-0 lead.
In the fifth, Berwick scored five more runs via Robertson’s run-scoring single, a hit by pitch to Boudreaux with the bases loaded, an error in right field and Chad LaGrange’s two-run single to end the game.
Sanford earned the win. In five innings, he surrendered two hits, walked two and fanned seven.
Offensively, Robertson led Berwick with a 3-for-3 performance with a triple, two RBIs, a stolen base and two runs. Other top offensive contributors were: Pitre, 2-for-2 with a double, three RBIs and a run; LaGrange, 1-for-2, two RBIs and a stolen base; and Boudreaux, two RBIs and a run.
Zeman suffered the loss. In four innings, he surrendered seven runs (six earned) on four hits with six walks and two strikeouts.
Offensively, Kye Cary led Jennings with a 1-for-1 performance with a stolen base, while Kamran Richard was 1-for-2 with a stolen base.
Additional reporting by Review Sports Editor Geoff Stoute.