Austin Bergner leads way for Lakers

The Windermere Prep baseball team (8-4) scored a 6-1 victory against Colonial on March 19 thanks, in part, to a do-it-all effort by junior Austin Bergner.

Bergner, who transferred from West Orange after his sophomore season and played for USA Baseball over the summer, pitched five innings of shutout baseball and allowed just three hits while also driving in four runs at the plate — including a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Still, as head coach Scott Horvath sees it, the biggest thing the first-year Laker brings to the table is leadership.

“The first thing he does is he’s a good leader — that was one thing that we were happy to see as he came in,” Horvath said. “He’s fitting in to a new school and just becoming a leader right off the bat. He leads by example. Everything he does, he does with a routine, and that really rubs off on all the rest of the players.”

Bergner, who is being recruited by the likes of Duke, Florida State and Stanford, is the ace on a loaded pitching staff that is proving to be one of Windermere Prep’s greatest strengths this season.

“We have very, very good pitching — I have five guys who can throw over 87 mph,” Horvath said. “And my closer … he’s going to Florida State, and his name’s Chase Haney; he shuts the door when he comes in. All we have to do is get to the sixth inning with our starting pitching, and he comes in and shuts the door.”

The Lakers played rival The First Academy on Tuesday after the time of publication and are currently in the midst of a road-swing. As the ball-club looks to gear up for the stretch run, third baseman Rylan Thomas said mental focus would be key.

“We’ve just got to get serious about it,” Thomas said. “We have a great team, and we can accomplish a lot. … We’ve got a lot of studs on this team, so we’ve got to come out and practice hard.”