NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. — The Castleton baseball team swept Fisher in Saturday afternoon's doubleheader, taking 7-0 and 6-2 victories at the New England Baseball Complex.
Reece de Castro had a strong offensive showing with a three-hit day at the plate, knocking in two runs with three walks.
Hunter Perkins went 2-for-6 with a double and two RBIs and drew four walks.
Kannon Dush was 3-for-7 with an RBI while
Tyler McLain doubled twice to score a run. Also tallying extra-base hits were
Evan Keegan and
Addison Schaub with doubles as
Jackson Cardozo blasted the Spartans' (5-6) 11th homer of 2023.
Riley Orr and
Aubrey Ramey picked up wins on the mound, combining for 12 strikeouts with just one run allowed.
Brayden Howrigan earned his third save of the year, fanning six in 2.2 innings of relief in game two.
GAME 1: Castleton 7, Fisher 0
The Spartans posted a shutout for the first time this season behind a 10-strikeout, one-walk performance from starting hurler Orr.
Joseph Voli tossed the ninth inning, striking out three while stranding a runner.
Castleton's bats broke the lead open in the first frame as
Reece de Castro drew a leadoff walk, scoring on a dropped Cardozo fly ball. Keegan reached via error then Perkins knocked a two-bagger to the left side to plate two, extending the lead to three.
After the Falcons' first batter singled, Orr retired the next 18 in order but the Fisher defense stifled his offensive support until the sixth. Dush and Lawrence drew walks as de Castro followed with a base hit, scoring both. Castleton tallied another run in the seventh immediately after a pitching change as Dush singled, allowing Cardozo to cross.
Orr navigated out of a jam in the next half-inning, leaving two in scoring position to keep the blanking in tact. In the visiting half of the eighth, Boyle and de Castro reached on free passes to put runners on the corners with two away. Another defensive woe by the Falcons allowed Boyle to score, making it 7-0.
Senior right-handed pitcher Orr gave out his only free pass in the eighth as Voli stranded two in the ninth, improving the Queensbury, N.Y. native's record to 2-1.
GAME 2: Castleton 6, Fisher 2
Ramey got the game-two start, logging six strikeouts while allowing two runs and two walks. The Falcons were able to scatter eight hits against the Spartans' starter, but Howrigan held the home team to just one baserunner in the final 2.2 frames with six Ks.
The offense erupted with another prosperous first inning, beginning with
Brandon Ramirez scoring de Castro on a two-out single. Cardozo followed with his second career blast, a two-run homer, to put the second and third runs across. Schaub reached on an E5, then Dush put a ball into the outfield that got misplayed. Schaub hustled around the bases, scoring as Dush got to second. Fisher got one back in the bottom half, making the score 4-1 after the opening frame.
The score remained unchanged as Ramey held off the Falcon offense until the seventh when Fisher put together a pair of hits with one out. Howrigan entered and allowed an RBI single, but got the next two hitters to ground out to
Ryan Lawrence at shortstop for fielder's choices.
In the top of the eighth, Castleton put the lead back at three as Schaub doubled, moved over on a Dush bunt, and came across on a passed ball. Enosburg Falls, Vt. native Howrigan struck out the side in the home half, his first full inning of work. De Castro led off the final frame by forcing an error to reach second base.
Tyler McLain came up next, launching an RBI double. Howrigan closed out the bottom of the ninth with another three-K stanza, pocketing the save to get the Spartans back to .500.
The squad opens Little East Conference play on Saturday, March 25 with a doubleheader at UMass Boston. First pitch is set for noon.
