By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Dave Dudeck started the baseball season slowly at the plate, but put in some extra work to make sure he hit his stride at the right time.
Dudeck helped The Hun School win the Prep A state championship, then stayed hot at the plate even as the Mercer County all-stars dropped their opener, 9-7, to Chester County (Pa.) in the single-elimination Carpenter Cup in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Dudeck was the lone Packet-are representative on the Mercer team.
”It was a fun thing to get together with a lot of the guys I used to play with,” said Dudeck, who grew up playing for the Nottingham Little League all-star teams. “It was definitely an awesome experience, something I come out of saying it was a good time. Of course, we would have wanted to move along and go further. For that purpose of playing with some guys I used to, it was a good time for me.”
Dudeck didn’t take long to show his bat skills. He gave the Mercer all-stars a first-inning lead as he tripled to the fence to score a run, then scored on a wild pitch.
”We jumped out early to a 2-0 lead,” Dudeck said. “But we started fading towards the end.”
Dudeck walked in his second plate appearance and flew out to left field in his final appearance while playing the first five innings of the nine-run game. He started in right field and batted fourth in a powerhouse lineup. Just getting the chance to be a part of the team was special.
”It was something that I’ve always known about, especially growing up in Hamilton around the Steinert kids,” Dudeck said. “It’s a big honor. For me to be chosen, I felt honored to represent not only The Hun School, but where I grew up, Nottingham.”
Dudeck represented them well. He was able to show his power at the plate even though it was difficult to get in a groove with the pitchers constantly changing. The tournament format prevents pitchers from throwing more than three innings, which means batters are always facing fresh arms.
”It was a fun thing going there,” Dudeck said. “You’re facing all the best competition from all different counties. I knew the pitching would be with the top kids. The pitchers that threw against us did a good job of keeping their velocity with their fastballs and mixing speeds.”
Dudeck had the answers as he had over the second half of the season with Hun. He started the year slowly for the Raiders.
”Any slump is bad,” Dudeck said. “It’s tough when you’re going through it. I tried not to focus on me, I tried to focus on the team. And the team was doing well. However I could help the team, I was going to do it.”
With extra work in the batting cages and hard work, Dudeck started to find his groove midway through the year, and he produced an impressive second half of the season that included all seven of his home runs.
”It’s part of baseball,” Dudeck said. “It’s a crazy sport. Probably the biggest thing was being mentally right and confident when you go to the plate, you’re going to get on and do your job. It happens to the greatest players in the game. It’s part of the game. You have to get through it mentally. Getting through that, it’s all a mental game.
”What helped me the most was doing the extra work,” he added. “If that meant getting up at 5 a.m. to take extra swings at the cage or staying late to get extra swings, I did it. What helped was learning to trust my hands and driving the ball to the gaps in right center and left center. That’s when I’m at the best, when I can stay back and trust my hands on a curveball.”
Dudeck hasn’t slowed down since the end of the high school season. He performed well at the Carpenter Cup, and has started well with his summer baseball team, the New Jersey Super 17 team that plays out of Diamond Nation in Flemington.
”I’m staying on that roll now,” Dudeck said. “I’m back on it. Going up there with the confidence helped. At the end of the year, all seven of my home runs were hit in the second half of the season. Staying on that streak has to help my confidence.”
His Carpenter Cup showing helped to bridge the gap between high school and his summer schedule, which also includes preparing for football season. He recently attending football camps at Wake Forest and Duke, but baseball is what he sees in his future, and getting and chance to showcase his talent at the Carpenter Cup was important.
”I want to accomplish my goal of playing at the next level for baseball,” Dudeck said. “I think that was big going into my summer.
”I do think it was really beneficial to play in it, but it’s not all about that,” he added. “It was a great time playing with all the kids I grew up with. Coach (Brian) Giallella and the other coaches did a really good job of making it a fun but competitive environment. There were scouts looking. I’m sure they noticed some kids that day.”
Dudeck is hoping to catch their attention more this summer. It’s why he’s playing at Diamond Nation for a second straight summer.
”That whole program up there, they really do a great job of getting kids exposed to the next level,” he said. “Last year, I went to Georgia for the national wood bat championships. Getting exposure and playing in front of the right people, that was important for playing up there. They do a real good job with it.
”It all goes back to doing everything you can to be better than the guy next to you. Whether you’re in the weight room, in the cage, or doing stuff for football, that’s where it pays off.”
