Baseball: Burdick, Vikings Blank Columbia to Stay Unbeaten

Written by Braydin Adams 

Adams is a senior at Northern Lebanon High School.

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Burdick, Vikings Blank Columbia to Stay Unbeaten

Northern Lebanon carried a 6-0 record into Monday’s road game at Columbia, and the formula that has fueled the Vikings’ strong start showed up again. Even with the bats still searching for more consistency, Northern Lebanon continued to come through with timely hits, while its pitching remained nearly untouchable in a 4-0 win over the Crimson Tide.

After a quiet 1st inning at the plate, Northern Lebanon broke through in the 2nd. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a single, moved into scoring position, and eventually came home on a sacrifice fly from Landon Copenhaver to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

That slim margin held up for much of the afternoon thanks to Blake Burdick, who turned in another strong performance on the mound. Burdick worked through traffic early, piled up strikeouts, and kept Columbia off the board as the Vikings carried their one-run lead into the 6th.

That was when Northern Lebanon finally created some breathing room. Owen Fahringer opened the inning with a single, and after moving into scoring position, Burdick lined an RBI double to make it 2-0. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a single, and Kaden Beamesderfer dropped down a bunt that brought home another run while an error allowed the Vikings to keep the pressure on. Copenhaver then added an RBI single, and another errant throw helped Northern Lebanon push its lead to 4-0.

Burdick was sharp from start to finish, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings while allowing 3 hits, striking out 7 and walking 1. Andrew Via came on in relief and got the final out on a fly ball, helping Northern Lebanon complete the combined shutout.

Northern Lebanon finished with 8 hits in the win.  Gonzalez went 2-for-3 and scored twice, while Beamesderfer added 2 hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Burdick and Copenhaver also each drove in a run, while Fahringer reached twice and scored a run. Hitting back-to-back in the lineup, Beamesderfer and Gonzalez helped set the tone by combining for 4 hits.

The Vikings also played a clean defensive game without committing an error. Gonzalez handled a team-high 11 chances in the field. Columbia managed 3 hits in the loss, with Cameron McClair, Chase Marley, and Nick Boyer each recording 1. The Crimson Tide also turned a double play, but could not break through against Northern Lebanon’s pitching staff.

Coach Thome said, “We challenged Blake Burdick today to step his game up on the mound because we knew we would see Gilbert, one of the top arms of the league, and Burdick stepped up throwing a strong game shutout plus getting a clutch double at the plate. But that was another team win, offense, defense, and pitching, everyone did their job.”

After the win, Burdick added, “We just need to get the bats to wake up.”

Northern Lebanon is now 7-0 and will travel to Lancaster Catholic on Wednesday.

Northern Lebanon 4, Columbia 0

Northern Lebanon Leaders

Adrian Gonzalez: 2-3, 2 R
Kaden Beamesderfer: 2-2, RBI, 3B
Owen Fahringer: 1-3, R, BB
Blake Burdick: 1-3, RBI, 2B
Andrew Via: 1-3, BB
Landon Copenhaver: 1-2, RBI, SF

Pitching
Blake Burdick (W): 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Andrew Via: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Columbia Leaders

Chase Marley: 1-3
Nick Boyer: 1-3
Cameron McClair: 1-3

Pitching
Peyton Gilbert (L): 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Chase Marley: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Full Box Score

Last Game: Gonzalez Reaches Milestone, Vikings Stay Unbeaten with Shutout Win Over Hamburg