MANCHESTER - Cody pfeifer wasn't much of a threat at the plate for the Merrimack High School baseball team last spring, but something certainly changed for him between then and this summer.
Pfeifer entered this year's American Legion Baseball senior state tournament leading Merrimack Post 98 with a .439 batting average. He also completed the regular season ranked third among Post 98 players in RBIs with 14.
So, what was it that changed? "Approach. Definitely my approach," Pfeifer explained. "Just picking out what pitches to hit and then sitting on them.
"I hit around .220 and wasn't doing too well (last spring), so I learned something from high school season and knew something had to change. Basically I'm looking to hit a fastball back up the middle. That's what's working for me right now."
pfeifer had three of his team's eight hits Monday as Merrimack remained alive in the state tournament by beating Concord, 3-2, in an elimination game. Merrimack (3-1) moved on to face Lebanon on Monday night, and the winner of that contest will play Rochester's Post 7 for the championship Tuesday.
Each of Pfeifer's three hits were singles.
 

He led off the fifth inning with a single to left, stole second and scored what turned out to be the game-winning run on Landon Hensley's sacrifice fly. That run handed Merrimack a 3-2 lead.
"He's hitting like crazy - and he was all season," said Merrimack coach Michael Henzley, who also coached Pfeifer in baseball at the younger levels. "He was a .440 hitter for us and has been playing strong defense at third. He's been the quiet anchor of the team. He really has,
"He was always a strong hitter growing up. He struggled year (during the Legion season) and he struggled into the spring, but this is what we remember him as. When he was coming up he was the guy."
Monday's 3-2 triumph over Concord was the third time Pfeifer had multiple hits in a game in this tournament. He had eight base hits in Merrimack's first four tournament games, including two (double and a single) when Merrimack beat Concord 3-0 on the tournament's first day.
"It wasn't like he was a .200 hitter for us (last summer)," Henzley said. "He was still a .300 hitter last year, but he wasn't hitting the ball hard like he is nowgap to gap, hard down the lines, a lot of power. This year it's like he's always on base.
"Like I said, he's the quiet anchor of the team. He's always been a threat for us."
rbrown@unionleader.com