When Burlington Central’s Aidric Arndt steps on the mound, he certainly stands out.
The 6-foot-6 junior right-hander starts with a distinctive windup which features him kicking his front leg up near his head, then comes from an over-the-top angle with pitches that naturally sink.
People may have tried to change him through the years, but this is what Arndt is now.
“It kind of happened over time,” he said. “It just kept getting higher and higher as I kept pitching.
“It’s me. This is my thing. I will go to camps and stuff and people will be like, ‘You’re the guy with the high leg kick.’ People recognize me. That’s pretty cool. That’s the thing that sets me apart.”
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It set him apart Thursday against Hampshire. Arndt struck out eight and scattered seven hits in seven innings, pitching the visiting Rockets to a 5-3 Fox Valley Conference victory.
Getting those long levers organized and finding the strike zone, Arndt only allowed two earned runs and three walks in the complete-game effort for Burlington Central (7-8-2, 4-4).
Jaxton Bovee led a balanced offensive attack for the Rockets with two hits, including a double and three RBIs. Hampshire (10-6. 3-5) was paced by Shane Pfeiffer, who narrowly missed a home run on his RBI double and also scored twice.
Burlington Central coach Kyle Nelson, meanwhile, knows when Arndt puts it all together, he has the potential to be the ace and one of the area’s top pitchers.
“He’s been pretty good all year,” Nelson said of Arndt. “Couple times he lost the zone, but he was in the zone (Thursday). When he’s in the zone, he’s tough to hit. The angle is tough.
“He’s just getting better. He’s going to get even better. He’s still pretty young in his varsity career.”
Nelson believes Arndt can be an intimidating presence on the mound, adding to his effectiveness.
“He throws right over the top,” Nelson said of Arndt. “He throws a heavy ball. It’s kind of sinking even though it doesn’t look like it should. It’s like it’s coming straight down at you.
“I think that helps his breaking ball a little bit. He gets a good break on his breaking ball because he’s so tall. Then obviously, he’s a little bit closer to home plate too, which helps.”
Hampshire coach Frank Simoncelli confirmed it’s unique to see a pitcher like Arndt.
“We don’t see that too often, a 6-6 kid who brings his foot all the way up to his head,” Simoncelli said. “Once he lands, it’s like anything else. You have to be ready for it.”
Arndt allowed baserunners in each of the first five innings but wiggled out of most of the jams. The Rockets took a 3-0 lead on an RBI single from Bovee in the first and a two-run double from Bovee in the second.
Arndt and Hampshire starter Gavin Weston both put up zeroes until the Whip-Purs got on the board in the fourth with an RBI single from Cameron Ortega. They tied it at 3-3 in the fifth on Pfeiffer’s RBI double and an error.
But the Rockets took the lead back for good in the sixth with two sacrifice flies.
“We haven’t put a ton of runs on the board,” Nelson said. “The nice thing (Thursday) was it’s not like we scored five runs with 10 doubles. We moved runners. We ran the bases aggressively.”
That’s what Arndt pointed to after the game.
“I think I did my job,” he said. “I think it was really our batting. We’ve had a rough time lately, but we really pulled it together.”
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Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.