A Classic Pitcher's Duel Between Berkeley and Union City

The Star: James Logan High School pitcher #12 Brandon Yau threw a one-hitter with 16 strikeouts and an RBI.

The Turning Point: In the bottom of the 4th inning, James Logan scored the first run of the game on a two out double with a runner on first.

What's Next: Berkeley High brings back ten players from this year's playoff squad, plus a great crop of freshmen for the 2012 campaign.

The Bottom Line: Despite a fantastic pitching performance from Berkeley ace #41 Izzy Behrman, James Logan pitcher #12 Brandon Yau had all of his pitches working and kept the Yellowjackets off of the base paths, only allowing one hit.

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No. 15 Berkeley High took on No. 2 James Logan High of Union City in the first round of the NCS playoffs on Wednesday, and despite an outstanding pitching performance from Yellowjacket ace #41 Izzy Behrmen, Berkeley’s playoff run was one and done, as the 'jackets lost 2-0 to the James Logan Colts.

Behrman only gave up two runs on five hits with five strikeouts, but his counterpart from James Logan was even better. Brandon Yau - known by his teammates as “B.Y.” -  was saying bye bye to Berkeley high batters all game long.

Half way through the contest, Yau had amassed seven strikeouts and only one hit. He finished the game strong with 16 K’s total.

Yau only gave up one hit on the night, which was a line drive single in the second inning to Berkeley High senior #23 Jacai Deneveu.

When asked about his hit off of Yau, Deneveu said, "His curveball was nasty.” Deneveu will be attending Humboldt State next year on a full scholarship to play football. “I saw him throwing first pitch fastballs to all the batters he faced so I was looking for a fastball."

Unfortunately for the Yellowjackets, they couldn’t get more runs to support the outstanding performance of their pitcher Izzy Behrmen. Behrman said he “had good movement on my pitches, my cutter was working, the fast ball tailed away, those were the only pitches I threw the whole game. I cut out my change up cause they hit it well.”

“It was a building year for this team and the seniors were great leaders," said  Behrman, who will be returning to Berkeley for his senior season. "Next year you can expect us to have ridiculous pitching and we are gonna make it further in the NCS tournament.”

The depth that this Berkeley High program has, plus the experience of playing in high pressure games like the NCS playoffs, will help this team next year as Coach Bremmer and his staff look to build on the success of this 2011 campaign.

Don’t forget to check out the video of Coach Bremmer’s post-game reaction.

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