CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton baseball team took on WestConn Saturday afternoon in a battle for playoff positioning, dropping Game 1 8-3 before rebounding nicely with a 12-7 win in Game 2 to earn the series split on their senior day.
Game 1: Castleton 3, WestConn 8
Riley Orr (2-6) took the loss in Saturday's opener despite putting together a good effort on the mound, allowing four runs — just two earned — through six frames. At the plate,
Evan Keegan had his best performance of the season, going a perfect 3-3 and tallying two runs and two RBIs.
Castleton (10-19-1, 4-10 LEC) struck first in the second inning off an RBI single from
Jake O'Brien, before a solo shot from Keegan in the third — his second of the season — doubled their lead.
On the mound, Orr got off to a strong start as well allowing just three hits through five scoreless innings before a three-error sixth allowed the Wolves (9-16, 5-10 LEC) to score four unanswered runs to take the 4-2 lead, ending the junior's day.
Joseph Voli entered the game in the seventh but could not register an out before allowing WestConn to tack on four more runs to take the 8-2 lead before
Jack Callahan eventually ended the inning.
The Spartans showed signs of life in the bottom of the ninth, kicking the inning off with a triple from
Hunter Perkins — who scored off a sac fly from Keegan at the next at-bat — but were unable to complete the comeback, falling 8-3 in the opening game.
Game 2: Castleton 12, WestConn 7
Saturday's nightcap was a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing four times before Castleton finally took control for good in the fifth inning.
Max Olmsted made the start, allowing six runs — four earned — and striking out a season-high eight batters through four and two-thirds-innings before
Trevor Corlew (2-0) earned the win out of the bullpen.
Reece de Castro, meanwhile, continued his hot stretch of games at the plate, tallying multiple hits for the fourth time in five games with a 3-5 effort, adding three runs and three RBIs in the must-win game.
The Spartans got on the board first once again thanks to an RBI from
Tyler McLain in the first inning — one of four he would have in the contest — to take the 1-0 advantage. Both teams would score a pair of runs in the second before Castleton made it a 4-2 game after a fielding error sent
Jackson Cardozo home in the third inning for his first run of the afternoon.
The Wolves would score four runs between the fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-4 lead, but the Spartans responded well once again, using a four-run frame to take the lead once and for all in the fifth.
Cardozo got things started with an infield single, advancing to third after O'Brien and
Addison Schaub drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Capitalizing on the opportunity,
Ryan Lawrence rifled the ball into left field to score two runners, before a McLain double cleared the bases and made it an 8-6 game.
WestConn cut the lead back to one in the seventh, but a four-run bottom of the inning with RBIs coming from de Castro, McLain and
Kannon Dush gave Castleton the 12-7 lead.
The Spartans' bullpen closed out the game with ease, with
Stephen Coffey and
Owen Phelps combining to allow just one hit in two innings to clinch the win for Castleton.
Next up for the Spartans is their home-finale against Middlebury College Tuesday, May 3, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.
