Baseball: Textbook execution leads No. 6 Eastern over Shawnee in division showdown

A senior right-hander, Jesse Barbera scattered four hits and struck out five as Eastern defeated Shawnee in an Olympic American matchup Thursday. (Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

A senior right-hander, Jesse Barbera scattered four hits and struck out five as Eastern defeated Shawnee in an Olympic American matchup Thursday. (Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

  • 04/19 - 4:00 PM BaseballFinal
    Shawnee 1
    Eastern 2
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Sometimes it takes a big inning to win a game; maybe a walk-off home run in the seventh.

Then there are those days when manufacturing a run in the middle of the game proves to be the difference.

In the home half of the fifth inning Thursday, Eastern strung together three consecutive at-bats. Each served a unique purpose and was delivered with textbook execution.

Jack Herman singled and stole second. Dylan Stezzi hit a ball to the right side, allowing Herman to take third. Isaac Fendrick connected on an 0-2 pitch for a single to plate a run.

The sequence proved to be enough on the offensive side and Jesse Barbera handled things on the mound as Eastern held off Shawnee 2-1 in an Olympic American matchup of division leaders.

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“Playing a team like Shawnee, you’ve got to grind out every single at-bat,” Eastern coach Rob Christ said. “Eventually it’s going to pay off and in that inning it did and ended up being the difference.

“That at-bat was critical. (Fendrick) just threw his hands and sometimes it’s not going to be the scorcher that makes the difference. Isaac is one of those players who started the year pretty rough and he has just had a meteoric rise. He’s just been playing well.”

Eastern (9-1), No. 6 in the statewide NJ.com Top 20, extended its winning streak to nine games. The Vikings lost their season opener on a walk-off balk to Bishop Fenwick (OH) during its road trip to Walt Disney World.

“The beginning of the year … We were not a very good baseball team in the preseason, but we’ve worked really hard,” Christ noted. “Our defense had been a question mark, but it’s improved. I wasn’t worried about the hitting.

“Collectively, they believe in themselves.”

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In helping Eastern improve to 4-0 in the Olympic American, Barbera scattered four hits and struck out five in a complete-game effort. The senior right-hander was as sharp in the seventh as he was in the first.

Barbera held Shawnee’s top four batters in the order without a hit - 0-for-12 with four strikeouts.

“I’m just trying to keep it down and pound the strike zone, get ahead early in the counts,” he said.

Shawnee’s lone run was unearned, coming on a two-out double by Dalton Short in the fourth. It tied the game at 1-1 after Eastern took the lead on Matt Karpousis’ sacrifice fly in the third.

“We have to find guys who are going to come up and hit good pitching,” said Shawnee coach Brian Anderson, whose team dropped to 6-3 overall, 3-1 in division.

In the decisive fifth, Fendrick hit a ball up the middle ball and over a drawn-in infield off Jackson Balzan to drive in the winning run. The junior was thrilled with the result, especially after suffering a torn labrum as a freshman and being relegated to pinch-running last season as he continued to get healthy.

“I just tried to shorten up,” Fendrick said. “Jesse was pitching a great game and I was just trying to help him out, help the team out.

“It was awesome.”

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“It’s exciting to see that,” Barbera said. “As a pitcher, you see your team is working hard for you. They want to get you a run.”

Herman and Fendrick each went 2-for-2 for Eastern, while Sam Portnoy walked three times. Jack Winsett singled and scored the team’s first run, while also making a handful of defensive plays at shortstop.

“We try to play fundamental baseball, try not do too much. We do the little things,” Barbera said.

“The preseason was iffy. We lost a lot of starters, so it was a different atmosphere. But coach whipped us into shape. We take a lot of ground balls and hit in the cage for a long time. It’s helped us get to where we need to be. We have a nice energy and we’re just trying to get better every day.”

Kevin Minnick can be reached at kminnick@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @kminnicksports. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.

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