Neuqua Valley’s Gerber blanks Batavia

In the world of real estate, the most important words are location, location, location.

The same rule can apply to baseball.

Neuqua Valley junior right-hander David Gerber was a model of efficiency Thursday afternoon, as he pitched 6 innings of 2-hit ball to help lead the Wildcats (9-3, 6-0) to a 6-0 Upstate Eight Conference victory over host Batavia (6-4, 4-2).

Gerber, who faced just 1 batter more than the 6-inning minimum of 18, relied on pinpoint control to stifle the Bulldogs’ offense. He didn’t issue a walk while recording 5 strikeouts.

“It was masterful the way he performed,” Wildcats coach Robin Renner said of Gerber. “We do the scorebook on the iPad and it tells you everything — he threw 72 percent of his pitches for strikes.”

Gerber got to a 3-ball count just twice — both coming against Batavia junior shortstop Billy Zwick.

“He just pounded the zone with all three pitches,” said Renner, whose team has now won 7 straight games. “I can’t say enough about the job he did. He was just really, really good.”

It was the second consecutive strong outing for Gerber (2-0), who also blanked Elgin last week.

“I was working on locating (pitches) and getting outs,” said Gerber. “Our defense is just unbelievable this year. As a pitcher, it’s so great to be able to trust your guys so well. Let the hitters make contact and let the guys behind me do the rest.”

Gerber, who threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 19 batters he faced, was staked to a 4-0 lead before he even stepped onto the mound.

Purdue-bound Jack Amaro (2-for-3, 3 runs scored) led off the game with a single before stealing second and third base. After Jeff Evak walked and stole second, Tanner Giesel hit a fly ball to right that the Batavia outfielder lost in the sun, allowing both Amaro and Evak to score the game’s first 2 runs.

Following a 2-out walk to Nick Iarrobino, Joe Grabarits laced a 2-run triple down the right-field line to make it 4-0.

“Sitting in there (dugout) the first inning when they’re all hitting is a big confidence booster,” Gerber said of his team’s offense.

Neuqua added a run in the fifth on Iarrobino’s bad-hop single, and capped the scoring with Evak’s run-scoring double in the sixth.

“This is only the second game he has hit in the two spot,” Renner said of Evak. “He started the year in the nine hole and struggled early. The last couple games he has been more consistent so we moved him up to the two spot and he was 3-for-4 (Tuesday against St. Charles North). Today, he did a nice job getting on base three times.”

Steven Patterson (1-1) suffered the loss for the Bulldogs, who only advanced 1 runner into scoring position as Robbie Bowman reached on a 2-out infield single in the sixth before stealing second. However, Gerber retired Laren Eustace on a liner to Giesel at shortstop.

“We’ve been pretty aggressive at the plate most of the week but today they had us guessing,” said Batavia coach Matt Holm. “When you’re doing that against a good pitcher then he’s pitching his game.

“That first inning was obviously a game changer,” added Holm, whose team faces South Elgin Friday. “We were playing from behind the whole time.”