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Orange Lutheran shut out by Notre Dame’s dominant pitching in Boras Classic semifinals

April 14, 2023

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Notre Dame pitchers Levi Strider and Erik Puodziunas combined to shut out Orange Lutheran 1-0 in the semifinals of the Boras Classic South Thursday at JSerra High.

The Notre Dame pitching staff has allowed just one run in its first three games in the tournament, and it has not allowed a run in 17 consecutive innings.

“We are going to throw out some pretty good pitchers every game,” Notre Dame coach Tom Dill said. “I don’t think a lot of teams in the third game of a tournament still have this kind of pitching. When you can do this in the third game of a tournament, you’re in good shape.”

Notre Dame (19-2), ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1, will play Huntington Beach, ranked No. 5 in Division 1, in the championship game Friday at 6 p.m. at JSerra.

“They sped the game up on us and we had some at-bats where we swung at pitches where we shouldn’t have,” Orange Lutheran coach Eric Borba said of Notre Dame’s pitching. “There’s no doubt about it, their pitching staff is the best I’ve seen in a long time.”

Strider, a Texas commit, was making his first start of the season and hasn’t allowed a run all season. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed four hits with three strikeouts.

He exited the game in the fifth inning with two base runners and one out. Puodziunas entered the game and retired the next two hitters on a flyout and a strikeout.

“We have one of, if not the best, defenses in the nation, so I was just throwing strikes and attacking guys,” Puodziunas said. “We do a great job as a staff of attacking hitters and not getting ahead of ourselves.”

Notre Dame beats Orange Lutheran 1-0. Combined shutout for Levi Strider and Erik Puodziunas (below). ND has allowed just 1 run in the Boras. Knights will play Huntington Beach in the South final tomorrow. @ocvarsity @TheBorasClassic @SteveFryer @Tarek_Fattal @erik_puodziunas pic.twitter.com/qQgSGwsNsi

— Michael Huntley (@mikehuntley63) April 14, 2023

The junior has allowed only one earned run this season. He finished the game on the mound, allowing just one hit over 2 2/3 innings with three strikeouts.

Orange Lutheran (12-8-1) got a standout pitching performance from junior Vincent Hudson, a transfer from Ayala. The Arizona commit allowed just one run in six innings on two hits with five strikeouts.

“This is his third consecutive great outing for us after becoming eligible a few weeks ago,” Borba said. “He has a fastball with some movement to it and kept guys off-balanced.”

Notre Dame scored its lone run of the game in the sixth inning. Greg Pierantoni led off the inning with a walk. He advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Kai Gonzaga.

Pierantoni advanced to third on a ground out to first base. With two outs, he scored on a passed ball to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

Orange Lutheran’s best opportunity to score came in the first inning. The Lancers had runners on the corners with no outs after back-to-back singles by Josiah Hartshorn and Derek Curiel.

After an infield flyout, Notre Dame got a double play when UCLA signee Dean West caught a pop fly in center field and threw out Hartshorn at the plate.

“The message to the team is that we are close. We just went toe-to-toe with the best team in the state,” Borba said. “We have to do the little things better because when it comes down to crunch time, we have to be able to get bunts down and execute.”

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Notre Dame beat Huntington Beach 2-0 last season in the semifinals of the Division 1 playoffs.

“They’ve been a top program for years and even in that game last year we scored on two passed balls and had breaks go our way,” Dill said. “Hopefully we can stay close and maybe pull it off.”

The winner of Friday’s championship game will advance to play the winner of the Boras Classic North tournament on April 29 at Santa Clara University.

Orange County Register

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Orange Lutheran shut out by Notre Dame’s dominant pitching in Boras Classic semifinals

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