Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Every coach likes having a guy in the middle of the lineup that puts up big numbers and comes up with clutch hits.

Regina third-year head coach Jeff Pacha has that guy Blake Berns.

What Pacha likes best about Berns isn’t his batting average or his power numbers and it’s not his home runs or RBIs.

It’s what Berns does to put up the numbers that makes him so valuable.  

“He’s a gym rat,” Pacha said. “You can’t keep him from hitting extra. He’s just always working at it.”

Pacha loves the production from Berns this season.

His .375 batting average, six home runs and 44 RBI all lead the team.

What Pacha likes even more than the work ethic and production from the junior designated hitter is his attitude.

“He’s a student of the game and he loves to play,” Pacha said. “I came down to him with an hour before practice twice this week and he had already hit two buckets. He’s always at it. If he has an at bat he doesn’t like he’ll come back and work on his swing.”

How much does Berns work on his craft during a given day?

“Not enough,” Berns said. “Not enough, that’s for sure.”

That answer comes from a player that Pacha called one of the hardest workers he’s ever seen.

A guy who admittedly hits for hours before and after nearly every practice on his own.

Still, he’s never satisfied and that’s what Pacha and the rest of the Regina coaches like most.

He works on it all year round and he’s never satisfied,” Pacha said. “This whole group works very hard. I haven’t been around a group like this and Blake and Trent (Hoogerwerf) are two of the big leaders of that.”

That work has paid off for Berns and the Regals this season.

No. 9 Regina (27-7) returned to the Class 2A state tournament for the first time since 2014 with a substate upset of third-ranked Wilton.

Regina will face second-ranked Treynor (32-4) in the quarterfinals on Monday at 11 a.m. at Principal Park in Des Moines.

“At the start of the season I wasn’t confident that we would do this because we weren’t here as a team collectively,” Berns said. “Now that we are all here as a team there’s no limit to what we can do.”

Berns has played a key role on and off the field in helping Regina return to the state tournament.

In his first season of varsity baseball after transferring from West High, Berns has become a presence in the middle of the Regal lineup.

Six of the team-leading 16 extra-base hits for Berns this season are home runs, accounting for more than half of the Regals’ season total.

“He’s kind of that guy that has a chance to tie a game or put you ahead with one swing,” Pacha said.

Berns doesn’t like to take too much credit for Regina’s success this season.

Even when his first-inning grand slam spurred the Regals to a 9-3 win over Mid-Prairie in the district final Berns pointed to his teammates.

“That grand slam wasn’t what won us that game,” Berns said. “It was good team baseball that won us that game. It’s never one play that wins a game it’s a team sport.”

That attitude, coupled with his tireless work ethic has made Berns a popular figure with coaches and teammates.

Berns has played both corner outfield spots and third base this season but often is the designated hitter in the Regina lineup.

It’s a fitting spot for a guy who can’t get enough hitting done in one day.

“I get there usually an hour and a half early before practice and take a few buckets off a tee,” Berns said. “Then after we are done with everything at night I usually go inside to our cages and hit.”

The role of DH has fit Berns this season.

He has a hit in 25 of 32 games this season and his 39 hits rank third on the team.

Berns leads the Regals with a .654 slugging percentage and ranks sixth in 2A with 44 RBI.

“I went through a little bit of slump but that happens to everyone, it’s the game,” Berns said. “I just need to keep trying to stay short to the ball and let the game comie to me.”