Norse Baseball Player Builds Pitch-Sequencing App for Experiential Learning Project

Our Driftless region deserves more than postcards — it deserves a watchdog. Be that support. DECORAH — Recent Luther College graduate Brody Von Berge built a baseball pitching app designed to help young players become more consistent, strategic and effective pitchers. "There's a lack of sequencing awareness in youth baseball, and my background in both pitching and computer science helped me design realistic logic to address it," Von Berge said. Experiential learning is a core curriculum requirement at Luther College. Through experiential learning, students have the opportunity to apply their learning in a context beyond the traditional classroom setting. Many students complete their experiential learning through internships or research. Individual student-designed projects such as Von Berge's are less common, but his project demonstrates how the requirement can be tailored to a student's interests and field of study. Von Berge majored in computer science at Luther College. "At Luther College, we believe that learning in contexts beyond the traditional classroom is a critical part of developing the whole person. For that reason, we developed a requirement whereby students can connect their unique interests to experiential learning in a wide variety of settings and experiences," said Brittany Cord, director of experiential learning at Luther College. Von Berge joined Luther's baseball team after transferring in 2024. This spring, he was a key contributor to the Norse baseball team's successful season and was twice named American Rivers Conference baseball pitcher of the week. Earlier this month, the Luther baseball team won the outright American Rivers Conference championship. The Norse finished the regular season with a 19-5 conference record, earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Von Berge brought years of pitching experience to his experiential learning project. His background helped shape the app's logic, including what pitches a pitcher would realistically throw in a given count, and allowed him to test the app's recommendations against his own instincts. "The highlight of the experience was when the app began generating pitch suggestions that matched my own expectations," Von Berge said. "Seeing the model reflect realistic pitching logic was quite satisfying. It showed that the system I built was working as intended." Built using Apple's Swift programming language, the app helps young pitchers learn what to throw, when to throw it and how to build pitch sequences. The finished version includes pitch information, customizable pitch mixes featuring fastballs, sliders, changeups and other common pitches, simulated at-bats that respond to the ball-strike count, and a history tab. Logic built into the app accounts for what Von Berge calls "pitch decay," a baseball analytics theory that overused pitches lose effectiveness. The app also tracks tunnels, situations in which two pitches share a similar release appearance. "Brody being involved in creating this app is not surprising," Luther College head baseball coach Bryan Nikkel said. "He is the kind of guy whose brain is always working, and he is constantly trying to better himself and those around him. Brody is the type of student-athlete we get here at Luther. He is among the best and brightest and has a great future ahead of him on and off the field." Von Berge, of Hudson, Wisconsin, earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Luther College on May 24. "I'm very interested in staying in the baseball and sports world and using my degree for analysis or player development," Von Berge said. Make your inbox your go-to for local news! Sign up for the free newsletter and get timely updates, special features, and more.