Baseball: Who’s going to be the next David Berg?

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There could be a lot more high school pitchers volunteering to become sidearmers the way former La Puente Bishop Amat standout David Berg has performed at the college level as a freshman for UCLA.

Berg has appeared in a Pac-12 record 43 games and appeared in 18 consecutive games. He was named to the all-Pac-12 team. He joined UCLA as a walk-on this season.

Bishop Amat pitching Coach Chris Beck turned him into a sidearmer as a junior. ‘He might be the steal of the century,’ Beck said.

There’s one high school pitcher who could get lots of attention next season because he’s already a sidearmer. That’s Andy Frakes from Encino Crespi. He was a first-team all-league choice as a junior.

Crespi Coach Scott Muckey has had great success with sidearmers, including past Celt standouts Dan Carroll, Jon Cuccias and Pat Bennett.

Frakes will be a pitcher to watch in 2013 and there could be more after all the attention Berg figures to receive in the NCAA playoffs that begin on Friday.

-- Eric Sondheimer