(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) LEAD CHARACTER: Hun School baseball player David Dudeck takes a break in action last season. This spring, sophomore center fielder Dudeck is thriving in his new role as leadoff hitter, triggering Hun’s offense as the Raiders have started 5-0. Dudeck and Hun will look to keep on the winning track when they play at the Hill School on April 14, at Princeton High on April 17, and at Pennington on April 20.

Dudeck Igniting Offense From Leadoff Spot, as Hun School Baseball Rolls to a 5-0 Record

Bill Alden

For David Dudeck and his teammates on the Hun School baseball team, rallying from a four-run deficit to win the season opener against Lawrenceville earlier this month meant much more than a victory over an archrival.

“That’s always a huge game for us,” said sophomore center fielder Dudeck, noting that the Raiders didn’t have many comebacks in 2009 as they went 6-14.

“To start a year like that with a come from behind win was awesome. It really got our momentum going and we have been carrying it ever since.”

Last Thursday against visiting Academy of New Church, Dudeck got things rolling from the leadoff spot in the Hun batting order, going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs as the Raiders cruised to an 11-1 victory.

The team’s focus on hitting has been playing off in the early going.

“We are coming along; we have been hitting a lot in practice,” said Dudeck, who smacked a leadoff homer last Saturday to help Hun top Peddie 4-1 as the Raiders improved to 5-0 on the season.

“This is a big week for us, we had four games in five days and we try to come out strong every game. The coaches do a great job of teaching us to hit; we try to stay back and see the ball.”

Dudeck was certainly seeing the ball well in the third inning of the victory over ANC, starting the frame with a sharp single and then cracking a two-run double to help spark an eight-run outburst.

“I was going into it thinking I have to lead off the inning with something,” recalled Dudeck.

“It was still a close game at that point. I was trying to make it simple for myself, going up there with the right mindset and things went through.”

Things have been going well for Dudeck as he has taken to leading off the Hun order.

“I just got moved there this year; all my life I have been more of a No. 3 or a No. 2 hitter,” said Dudeck. “Coach [Bill McQuade] moved me there this year and I took full responsibility of it. I am doing well; I’m really enjoying it.”

With Hun having scored 37 runs in its first five games, the club has been enjoying production throughout the lineup.

“On any given day one through nine, we have been hitting the ball,” said Dudeck. “We have been smoking it. If we keep on doing that and the little things, everything will hopefully piece together.”

Hun head coach McQuade likes the way Dudeck has it together in the leadoff role. “You get David leading off and he has speed and he has power,” asserted McQuade.

“He crushed a homer against WW/P-N (in a 6-1 win on April 6). He may not have the most fluid swing but he is quick and strong through the ball. He gets on base. Everyday he comes down here, he is here to get better. Every time there is a game, he walks across those white lines and he is here to win the ball game. That’s a sign of a true athlete. It doesn’t matter what he is competing in, he wants to win.”

McQuade has seen an increase in athleticism throughout his lineup from last season.

“There is a big difference from last year, the kids are a year older and a lot stronger,” said McQuade.

“Anthony Galan and Andy Levine have been two big additions because they hit the ball too. Will Mooney played a lot of summer ball and that has helped him. Mike Ford is Mike Ford.”

The addition of post-graduate and Brown recruit Galan has bolstered the Hun mound corps.

“I didn’t know how good Galan was until I really saw him,” said McQuade, whose other top pitcher, the Princeton-bound Ford, pitched a four-hitter in the win over Peddie. “Down on our trip to Florida, he was pounding the strikes out. His ball moves.”

In McQuade’s view, the seeds for Hun’s early success were sown on the Florida trip.

“There is a different attitude on the team and it started in Florida,” said McQuade.

“I told them when you go to Florida, you treat those games as real games. If you don’t treat them like that, then we are not going to be ready for the opener. We played well and only lost one.”

Like Dudeck, McQuade believes that the opening day win over Lawrenceville portended good things to come.

“I felt that if the Lawrenceville game went well, then we are off on a roll,” said McQuade, whose team will look to keep on the winning track as it plays at the Hill School on April 14, at Princeton High on April 17, and at Pennington on April 20.

“That was crucial, coming from behind. We were down four and we were not playing well. All of a sudden we picked up the pace. We got a couple of hits here and a couple of hits there and we beat them.”

Dudeck, for his part, attributes Hun’s hot start to a collective effort. “This streak has been awesome, I think we are really playing as a team which is the biggest thing right now,” said Dudeck.

“Everybody is backing each other up; everybody is picking each other up. One guy might not be hitting one day but the next guy will be. It’s really a team concept right now and that’s what is mostly winning us these games right now.

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